| Break on through to the other side. |
| By the Rolex Middle
Sea Race Media Team. |
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| Photos by Kurt Arrigo
for Rolex, edited By Peter Andrews. |
| 10:00 CEST, October 23, 2011. |
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| Overnight, the 2011 Rolex Middle Sea Race fleet parked up off the coast of Sicily near Catania within the shadow of Mount Etna. So far, Igor Simcic’s Reichel Pugh 100 Esimit Europa 2 (SLO) and Niklas Zennström’s JV72, Rán (GBR) were the only boats to have slipped through the Messina Strait; Esimit around 03:30 Sunday morning, followed by Rán at 08:30. Esimit, which rounded Stromboli four hours later, has since slowed down and leads Rán by about 50 miles. |
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Igor Simcic's Reichel Pugh 100 Esimit Europa 2 (SLO), during the Rolex
Middle Sea Race 2011.
Photo © Rolex / Kurt Arrigo.
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| The bulk of the fleet is nearing the Strait, including Laurent Pellecuer and Oscar Kouyukhov’s 90-foot maxi Med Spirit (FRA), which is reporting 16 knots of boat speed. There is no doubt that they are also riding a favourable current. Andres Soriano’s Mills 68 Alegre (GBR) is further east, hugging the Italian mainland coast. |
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Niklas Zennström’s JV72, Rán (GBR), during the
Rolex Middle Sea Race 2011. Esimit Europa 2 and Rán were
the only boats to have slipped through the Messina Strait; Esimit around
03:30 Sunday morning followed by Rán at 08:30. Esimit, which rounded Stromboli four hours later, has since slowed
down and leads Rán by about 50 miles.
Photo © Rolex / Kurt Arrigo.
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| Current Class 2 leaders on the water are Pit Finis’ Ker 53 Dralion (MLT) and Germana Tognella’s Cookson 50 Cantankerous (ITA). Leading Class 3 are the Benucci Roberto’s Grand Soleil 50 One (ITA), skippered by Paolo Podestà; and the XP44 Vikesha II (MLT) co-skippered by Oleg Evdokimenko and local Maltese sailor Timmy Camilleri. This is Camilleri’s 17th Rolex Middle Sea Race, a race he has won overall three times. |
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Laurent Pellecuer and Oscar Kouyukhov’s 90-foot maxi Med
Spirit (FRA),
during the Rolex Middle Sea Race 2011.
Photo © Rolex / Kurt Arrigo.
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| Sandro Musu’s GS40 Aziza (MLT); Renzo Grottesi’s X40 Pita Maha (ITA); Roberto Bruno and Paolo Bonomo’s Canard 41 Aurora (ITA); and Pavel Satoransky’s Benneteau First 40.7 Three Sisters (CZE) skippered by Milan Hajek; are all close together leading Class 4, around 40 nautical miles south of Messina. |
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Pit Finis’ Ker 53 Dralion (MLT) and Vincenzo Addessi's Mylius Fra
Diavolo Naxos, during the Rolex Middle Sea Race 2011.
Photo © Rolex / Kurt Arrigo.
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Atame (GBR) is a 42-footer being sailed double-handed for the second year in a row by Beppe Bisotto and Ian Knight. The duo on the Fast 42 sailed through the night just off the Sicilian coast. Bisotto from Venice, Italy, reported on what was indeed a challenging night at sea.
“What a night! Tacking against other boats, alone helming! This afternoon we expected the gusts and did not hoist the large spinnaker. Nonetheless, we changed eight times the sails and exploded one spinnaker. Our race is against all the fleet and we do not hesitate to keep our performance up.” |
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Renzo Grottesi’s X40 Pita Maha (ITA), during the Rolex Middle Sea
Race 2011.
Photo © Rolex / Kurt Arrigo.
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He may have been rethinking his choice to sail shorthanded, as he added: “My kid Attilio, nine years old, called me tonight asking ‘what are we doing just two on board?’ It is like playing soccer against a team of eleven, with just one goalkeeper and one midfielder!”
Nearby Beppe Fornich, skipper of the Dufour 34 Nigno (ITA) called in to verify a slow night with the breeze at only four to five knots. But Nigno was within sight of the formidable Mount Etna and the crew was enjoying their tea and brioche, while looking forward to the next meal prepared by their onboard chef, Mario Cudio. |
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Reichel Pugh 60 Wild Joe (HUN) skippered by Marton Jozsa, during the Rolex
Middle Sea Race 2011.
Photo © Rolex / Kurt Arrigo.
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The crew of Sonke Stein’s J/133 Oiltanking Juno (MLT), skippered by David Anastasi, are clearly enjoying themselves. Despite one or two issues yesterday, they also reflected on their early adventures from the start in Valletta.
“Once out of the harbour, some local storm clouds brought with them squalls. We saw some boats tear their code zeros and spinnakers. On Juno, we were not free of problems either. Even though we made the correct sail calls at the right times. At one point, we lost both our spinnaker sheets and tack lines, giving us major problems with one of our spinnakers. Due to great teamwork, we managed to make a good recovery and now find ourselves sailing up the east coast of Sicily towards the infamous straights of Messina.” |
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Marco Rodolfi's Swan 80 Berenice Bis (ITA), during the Rolex Middle Sea
Race 2011.
Photo © Rolex / Kurt Arrigo.
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| Another report will be issued this afternoon, by which time the Royal Malta Yacht Club expects many more of the fleet to have passed through the notorious Messina Strait. From there, they will be making their way towards the next turning marks of the Rolex Middle Sea Race course, Stromboli and nearby Strombolicchio. |
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Edoardo Ziccarelli's Cori 53 Moon Shine (ITA), at the start of the Rolex
Middle Sea Race 2011.
Photo © Rolex / Kurt Arrigo.
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| Part of the Aeolian island chain, Stromboli is located in the Tyrrhenian Sea, off the north coast of Sicily. The active volcano is approximately 900 m (3,000 ft) high, and its most recent eruption was in August 2009. There are two villages on the island with several hundred inhabitants. Stromboli gained acclaim in 1950 when Italian director, Roberto Rossellini set the classic movie “Stromboli” starring Ingrid Bergman, on the island. |
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The Rolex Middle Sea Race fleet passing Stromboli, during the Rolex Middle
Sea Race back in 2009.
Photo © Rolex / Kurt Arrigo.
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| In 2007, George David’s Rambler (USA) established the current Course Record of 47 hours, 55 minutes, 3 seconds. To beat this record the first boat must finish by approximately 11:30 CEST Monday October 24. A total of 70 yachts started the 32nd Rolex Middle Sea Race on Saturday October 22 and the final prize giving is at 12:00 CEST on Saturday October 29 at the Mediterranean Conference Centre in Valletta. |
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Stromboliccio, photo taken during the Rolex Middle Sea Race 2009.
Photo © Rolex / Kurt Arrigo.
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| For further information about the Rolex Middle Sea Race, go to: www.rolexmiddlesearace.com. |
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| Outimage and Rolex © 2011 |
