Pep, Calypso win IRC and ORC Categories Respectively
The Syracuse – Malta Race is the oldest race in the Mediterranean and co-hosted by the Royal Malta Yacht Club and the Lega Navale Italiana (Sezione di Siracusa). The start of this offshore race alternates each year, with Syracuse responsible for the start of this year’s edition.
The Fleet which consisted of 21 boats competing in the ORC Class and seven boats competing in the IRC Class, left Syracuse on Saturday morning at 1008hrs. With the prevailing weather conditions being less favourable than hoped for, the Race Committee amended the course which saw the race start from Capo Murro di Porco rather than from Syracuse port. Further more the committee bypassed the island of Gozo to enable the fleet to finish directly in Marsamxett Harbour.
Malta has had a successful history in this race and this year was no exception with two Maltese boats taking first place in both the ORC and IRC classes. First to finish the race was Lee Satariano’s Artie III, however with ratings coming into play Mark Camilleri’s J92 Pep emerged winner of the 80 nautical mile race, having been able to skillfully make the most of the scarce wind.
Camilleri remarked, that “This race had calm conditions which allowed us to be close to the bigger boats. We have a great young crew, and everyone’s contribution was important . We are humbled to have achieved a result competing with many great racing sailors for whom we have a lot of respect”. He concluded by thanking the Royal Malta Yacht Club and the Syracuse Lega Navale for the well organised event.
The ORC Class was won by the J99 Calypso, which was raced double handed by Sebastian Ripard and Saul Vassallo.
“This year’s edition had a nice variety of conditions, albeit on the light side. The race was mentally challenging and had a few different features to navigate. The seabreeze conditions along the coast created two critical transition zones at Murro di Porco and Capo Passero which kept us on our toes,” noted Ripard after the race. “The passage to Malta was also tricky as the wind totally disappeared in the early morning hours, but luckily returned just before dawn allowing us to finish without having spent too many hours doing circles at 0.0knts. We’re really enjoying doing these mid distance offshore races double handed, there’s something satisfying about getting a boat to perform when sailing short handed” he concluded
The Syracuse – Malta Sailing Race came to an end with a celebratory evening, this year hosted by the Royal Malta Yacht Club. The evening proceeded with live music and loud cheers as the winners of the various classes were presented with their trophies.
Presenting the trophies on the evening were Club Commodore David Cremona and Martin Azzopardi and Luca Lacitginola, members of the Club’s Race Officers team.
RMYC Commodore David Cremona thanked the Lega Navale Italiana (Sezione di Siracusa) for the ongoing collaboration that has been going on for decades.
The next event being hosted by the Royal Malta Yacht Club will be the Twilight Series, a five race evening series starting on the 26th July.