Update: Kristina Plattner’s Z-86, Morning Glory has claimed line honours in the Rolex Middle Sea Race. The German Maxi crossed the finish line at the Royal Malta Yacht Club on Tuesday, 22 October at 04:02 19sec, in an elapsed time of 2days 16hrs 12mins 19secs.

“I have only raced offshore with my father before, so this was a new experience for me and I was a bit anxious before the race about how it would turn out. However, so many of the crew are old friends and they really looked after me, so it was not too difficult and I really enjoyed the race.” commented Morning Glory skipper, Kristina Plattner.

“It is a beautiful race course and watching the sunrise at Stromboli will be a lasting memory. It was so beautiful and calm but at the same time my four hour watch was just finishing, so the dawn meant we could get some rest. The long beat near the finish was very tiring but it was so nice to get a warm reception when we crossed the line.”

Volvo Ocean Race skipper, Chris Nicholson was one of the after-guard on board Morning Glory. “The conditions were lighter than predicted but that doesn’t surprise anyone. This is a very changeable racecourse, which definitely keeps your concentration. Weather forecast and routing software are not that useful, you have to see what is happening around you and react. We definitely lost a lot of ground in the latter part of the race. It was a dead beat to Lampedusa with a lot of tacks that really slowed our speed towards the end.”

Andres Soriano’s Mills 72, Alegre was the second yacht to finish the race just before dawn. Alegre beat her close rival Luca Simone’s JV72, Robertissima III to the line by more than an hour. Alegre will have to wait until other yachts complete the race before the British crew will know if they have won overall.

Andres Soriano spoke dockside after the race. “This is the first proper offshore race that the new Alegre has done and the boat and the crew have performed well, which gives the team a lot of satisfaction. A real attraction of this race is that it is so unpredictable, I have completed a few and none of them have been the same, maybe when I have done ten races I will get to know it more but I don’t think anyone can ever really know all of this race.”

I love coming to Malta for the race, the competitors and the Royal Malta Yacht Club members are what I would describe as ‘real people’. The variety of the yachts and the sailors makes the occasion so special and fascinating. The high profile yachts like Alegre get a lot of media attention but I really admire yachts like the classic Infanta and all of the crews on the smaller boats taking part. Without them this race would not have 99 boats of all shapes and sizes and I feel everyone is of equal importance.”

More yachts are expected to finish today and a clearer picture of the class winners and the overall contenders for the Rolex Middle Sea Race will feature in the next update.

At 1400 local time on Day Three of the Rolex Middle Sea Race, Kristina Plattner’s Z-86, Morning Glory was approaching Lampedusa, 115 miles from the finish. Unless there is a significant change in the weather, the German canting keel maxi should take line honours in the early hours of tomorrow morning.

Andres Soriano’s Mills 72, Alegre is 40 miles behind Morning Glory and 7 miles ahead of their close rival, Italian JV72 Robertissima III, skippered by Vasco Vascotto. Unless Morning glory suffers gear failure, the Line Honours win for the Rolex Middle Sea Race awaits. Alegre is still leading IRC Class One. However, there is a new overall leader for the Rolex Middle Sea Race, Michele Galli’s B2.

At Favignana for the first time in the race, the IRC modified TP52, B2 was leading the entire fleet under IRC, after time correction. B2 was nine miles ahead of Italian Baltic 65, Nikka Sixty Five at Pantelleria and still is in pole position for the overall win. B2 has the combined talents of Francesco de Angelis calling tactics and Nacho Postigo as navigator. The Italian/Spanish afterguard is proving to be a formidable combination.

At 1400, none of the yachts competing in IRC Three and IRC Four had reached the fresh breeze past the north west tip of Sicily. Any chance of an overall win looks unlikely for these yachts. However, the battle for class honours is very much wide open.

All of the thirteen Maltese entries are in IRC Class 3 & 4 but they are also vying for the honour of being the first local yacht to cross the finish line. Oiltanking Juno currently leads the pack but with fresh winds expected, the order may well change.

Shaun Arrigo called in from J/122 Otra Vez, 324 miles from the finish. “The mood on board is most definitely positive and we are pushing as hard as we can,” confirmed Shaun. “We always have six on deck with just two off watch and we are sailing the boat pretty well. The race is still very much on in our class and we have two Maltese entrants ahead of us, which is a real incentive to push us on. Much depends now, on how many more parking-lots the Lord has to offer.”

A list of Maltese entrants with distance to finish in the Rolex Middle Sea Race at 1400 hrs 21st of October 2013 is shown below.

Photograph Top – B2 and Emma Rolex/Kurt Arrigo

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