The Royal Malta Yacht Club hosted the Yacht Lift Round Malta Race, which saw one of the biggest fleets in recent times, when over 20 boats, split into four classes were on the starting line in Marsaxmett ready to race in great racing conditions, where a west, south-west wind was shifting between 18 to 22 knots making it for a fast race.
Race Officer Peter Dimech, sent the fleet on a Northbound course of approximately 50 nautical miles.
The first fleet to leave was the IRC and RMYC Cruising classes.
Leading the fleet out of the harbour mouth was Kevin Pisani Zammit’s Dimm, followed by Mario Debono’s Janissah and Ferdinand Grech’s KonTiki.
Although Dimm had a good start, technical issues forced them to retire. In the end Janissah prevailed, approximately five minutes ahead of KonTiki.
In the RMYC Cruising Class, Gino Cutajar’s Beneteau 57 Kira took the honours.
In IRC1, Artie III skippered by Christian Ripard took the lead out of the harbour, with Elusive 2 and Ton Ton Laferla Insurance trailing behind.
Artie III was the first to cross the finish line in front of the Royal Malta Yacht club after nearly five hours of racing, however, it was the Podesta’s Elusive 2 who won the overall Race and their class on corrected time with an advantage of approximately seven minutes. TonTon Laferla finished in third place
The Ripard’s Calypso took the lead of the IRC2 fleet, with Vivace (Andrew Agius Delicata/Matthew Gabriele) reaching them near Comino.
An overtaking game took place until Filfa, when Vivace took the lead to finish ahead of them both on elapsed and corrected time.
Maltese Falcon II (Jonathan Camilleri Bowman) finished in third place.
Prizes, included a full service consisting of lift and power wash at the Yacht Lift Malta facility, were presented to the winners by Daniel Gatt, representing Yacht Lift.
Yacht Lift Round Malta Results
Overall: Elusive 2 (Aaron, Christoph & Maya Podesta).
