The Mediterranean’s oldest race, co-hosted by the Royal Malta Yacht Club and Lega Navale Italiana (Sezione di Siracusa), saw the Syracuse to Malta Race return to its traditional starting point inside Porto Grande, having started outside the harbour in recent years.
The fleet enjoyed good breeze on a reach towards Marzamemi, although several tacks were needed as the wind occasionally shifted. After Marzamemi, a South-Southwest wind at Force 3 carried the boats forward but gradually eased into a light breeze. The previous days’ swell had completely dissipated, leaving calm seas. As evening fell, the wind reduced further, and with the rise of the moon, it dropped off completely, creating a frustratingly still night for racing. A gentle breeze returned later on in the evening, holding on through to sunrise, after which the fleet again faced several hours of calm before reaching the finish in Marsamxett Harbour.
The overall winner was the Italian boat Option B skippered by Michele Gallo. Option B won the overall IRC and ORC Classes as well as Classifica Regata Crociera, as well as the Easy Perfection Trophy awarded to the overall winner of the ORC Category, the RMYC IRC Trophy and the Pietro Piazza Trophy for line honours.
The Royal Malta Yacht Club was well represented, with several boats having already undertaken this race several times. Amongst them are Alecto (Charles Cronin), Calypso 3.0 (Seb Ripard), Dimm (Kevin Pisani Zammit), Inspiration (Godwin Zammit) and Ton Ton Laferla Insurance (Jonathan Gambin).
First Maltese boat in the IRC Category and winning the RMYC Trophy was Ton Ton Laferla Insurance. Placing second overall, they faced a challenging race, having made a tactical call at the start that saw them exit Syracuse towards the back of the fleet. Steady progress through the race brought them within reach of first place, but a patch of light wind some 20NM from Malta cost them dearly, holding them up for 25 minutes. With winds blowing dead upwind at 8-11 knots, the team pushed hard to recover but ultimately had to settle for a place further down the leaderboard than they had been poised for.
Another Maltese boat with a solid showing was Sebastian Ripard’s Calypso 3.0, which was competing in its first race of the season. The crew delivered a strong performance, finishing third in the overall IRC Class and securing second place in both the ORC and Regata Crociera classes.
RMYC Commodore Mark Napier, who together with Rear Commodore (Sailing) Adrian Gauci Borda, Lega Navale Italiana (Sezione Siracusa) Commodore Sebastiano Floridia and Race Officer Maurilio Carpintieri presented trophies to the winners remarked that “This is a very special race, and we know how much participants enjoy it — many keep coming back year after year. The friendship between the Royal Malta Yacht Club and the Syracuse section of the Lega Navale Italiana remains strong, and it’s an annual event we both look forward to.”