The first offshore event for the Royal Malta Yacht Club,
after the resumption of racing was a weekend regatta to Marina di Ragusa.
The event was put together soon after it became possible to
sail to Sicily again and in spite of the short notice managed to attract a
good-sized fleet.
Under the direction of Race Officer Peter Dimech and his
team of Race Management volunteers the fleet set off on Friday morning.
Although the fleet was split into three classes – IRC Class,
Club Cruiser and Multihull Class, Dimech decided on one start for all, with the
fleet leaving Marsamxett at 8.30am, with approximately 5 knots of wind.
The forecast of very light wind was not very encouraging for
the Malta-Ragusa leg, but the breeze turned out to be better than expected and
steady enough to allow the boats to make fairly good progress without ever
stopping.
The faster boats made it to their destination by early
evening with Sean Borg’s Xpresso crossing the finish line at 6.46pm. He was
followed some time later by Jonathan Camilleri Bowman’s Maltese Falcon.
Comanche Raider III despite having a good start had some mechanical challenges
which put paid to their racing efforts.
The rest of the fleet, however, could not make the time
limit established by the sailing instructions. Godwin Zammit’s Inspiration
finished just 12 seconds after the 10.30pm deadline whilst the remaining boats
retired.
Better wind was expected for the return race to Malta on
Sunday and a steady North Westerly breeze made for a fast crossing despite a
short period in which the wind faltered.
Once the breeze picked up again, it was a swift reach under
spinnaker all the way to the finish at Tigne Point giving the bathers in Tigne
Beach something to watch.
Having undergone the necessary repairs in Ragusa, Comanche
Raider III was the first boat home having had a close battle over the last mile
to the line against Sean Borg’s Xpresso. Comanche Raider pipped Xpresso
to Line Honours with just a 13-second advantage.
In the end, however it was Time Out who prevailed over the
lot on corrected time.
Mario Sant after the race commented on how having been
cooped up, like every one else, for most of the winter, the crew of Time
Out were eager to get going and this was clear from the start.
Showing a clean pair of heels to the rest of the fleet, they
eventually were overtaken by the larger and faster boats, namely Xpresso &
Comanche. However, they did hold their own till the end, knowing that every
second counted.
Meanwhile, a close battle between Maltese Falcon and
Inspiration for most of the course ended in a spectacular photo finish with
Inspiration crossing just marginally ahead.
Zammit’s decision to keep Inspiration further offshore in a
straight line to the finish paid off as opposed to Maltese Falcon’s decision to
gybe downwind thus taking a longer course. Zammit made his experience
count and this also resulted in him being the sole finisher in the Club Cruiser
Class.
“It was a great weekend and a good start to the resumption
of the racing programme,” said Godwin Zammit, Commodore Royal Malta Yacht Club.
“Many thanks go to the Porto Touristico of Marina di Ragusa
for their hospitality, the Circolo Velico Kaukana and the Capitaneria di Porto
of Marina di Ragusa for their help in setting up the finish, as well as the
RMYC Race committee and staff for the overall organisation.”
Syracuse race
The next event on the club’s Racing Calendar is the 60th
edition of the Malta Syracuse Race which is scheduled to take place on
Saturday, August 1.
The race will start from Malta and a good number of Sicilian
boats are expected to take part alongside the Maltese fleet.
Together with the Lega Navale Italia, the RMYC is also
organising a second race from Syracuse to Taormina which will take place on
August 3.
