A GOOD INVESTMENT by IIG BANK…IN GOZO
Last Friday 16th November, a confused swell and a dying easterly breeze welcomed the the 15 yachts for the annual weekend pilgrimage to Gozo organised by the Royal Malta Yacht Club and sponsored by IIG Bank. It was to be a fetch to the North Comino Channel and a short kite sprint to the finish characterised by menacing current. Depending on which side of the channel one chose, was to be a deciding factor in the result, as OTRAVEZ was to find out. TONTON, MOONDANCE and XPLANE dominated their respective classes. As the sun set, the yachts rushed to secure a berth and crews made their way for evening prayers at the Gleneagles waterhole!!
Day two greeted the fleet with both ends of the spectrum with a long shifty sometimes windless conditions in the first race and a breezy short second race. The race committee wisely opted not to have problems with drifting marks, using the Fessej Rock as the windward mark. Racing was very close with OTRAVEZ, playing its joker to overcome Friday's disappointment, came back stronger to dominate its class, while JLANCE and SAILAWAY, XPLANE and ABOUT TIME shared the spoils in their respective classes. It was off to SICILIA BELLA for an enjoyable club organised feeding frenzy for the hungry crews!!!
Day three, with racer class I and the cruiser class basically decided, it was all up for grabs in racer class II. A stiff WSW breeze with prospects of looming black clouds greeted the yachts for the fourth and final passage race home. The twenty knot breeze eventually eased off, but provided a spectacular start in the North Comino Channel and a fast reach through the South Channel, and a procession with kites up to the finish. COMANCHE RAIDER II took line honours but it was not enough to knock OTRAVEZ off the podium in racer class I, XPLANE won the race and its class in the cruisers, while SAILAWAY sailed away with racer class II.
The weekend overall results were: In Racer Class I 1st OTRAVEZ, 2nd COMANCHE RAIDER II, 3rd ELUSIVE 2 In Racer Class II 1st SAILAWAY, 2nd MOONDANCE, 3rd J-LANCE In the Cruiser Class 1st XPLANE, 2nd ABOUT TIME, 3rd KON TIKI
Martin Meachen