On their debut in one of the oldest races in the Mediterranean – the Malta to Syracuse Offshore Race – Sean Borg’s Jubatus brought home a good trophy haul as they were the first boat to finish and the first on corrected time.
Their trophy haul included the RMYC IRC Trophy – overall IRC winner, the Easy Perfection Trophy presented to the overall winner in the ORC Class and the RMYC Trophy for the first Maltese boat in IRC.
The Malta-Syracuse Offshore Race, hosted by the Royal Malta Yacht Club and the Lega Navale Italiana (Sezione di Siracuse), started in Malta on Saturday. The 80 nautical mile race start alternates each year, this year finishing in Syracuse.
The race started just off Tigne Point, where boats had a course up to a windward mark, followed by a free course up to Syracuse. Wind conditions are the start were light with flaky winds from the North, reaching approximately six knots. These conditions persisted for the first part of the race.
Sean Borg’s Jubatus took the lead establishing a comfortable gap ahead of Andrew Agius Delicata and Matthew Gabriele’s Vivace and Riccardo Schininà’s Donna Rosa 2. Winds picking up close to Capo Passero, enabled front runners Jubatus to gain further mileage ahead of the fleet. A wind transition close to the finish saw Jubatus slow down but nonetheless were able to take the win.
“This was the Jubatus’ first time racing his course. Whilst the usual team was not available we joined forces with other sailors. Having a great start and being first off the line hyped us up for what was coming for the next 19 hours. A crawl to the finish due to light winds meant that we were not able to beat the course record, but we will try again next year,” enthused Sean Borg, Jubatus Skipper.
Second-placed boat was Vivace, which was raced double handed by Andrew Agius Delicata and Matthew Gabriele. Anton Calleja’s Lartista, finished in third place.
In the Cruisers’ Section Kevin Pisani Zammit’s Dimm topped the leaderboard, followed by Mario Debono’s Janissah.
“The Malta-Syracuse Race continues to attract a varied fleet – from veterans of the race like – Capitano Corragiosi – who won the race trophy in 2008 and finished in third place in ORC to Jubatus who made her first appearance and already left her mark on the race’s history.
“The club’s and the Syracuse section of Lega Navale Italiana have a long-standing friendship and we both look forward to our annual appointment in July,” commented David Cremona, Commodore, Royal Malta Yacht Club.
Race Management duties for the start of the race were led by Martin Azzopardi.
The latter was assisted by Michelle Caruana. Mark laying duties were undertaken by Arthur Van Der Deijl and Guy Baranyay.
