Kinsale skipper Conor Doyle is third in the fourth class after the first 24 hours of the Rolex Middle Sea Race.
Kinsale Yacht Club’s Irish XP-50 Freya was 30 minutes from the Podesta family’s Maltese First 45 Elusive 2 across the Strait of Messina and is ranked third in class.
Aboard Freya – the only Irish boat in the race – is a superpowered crew that includes Kelvin Harrap, Rory Harrap, Will Byrne, Barry Hurley, Nick Jones, Malcolm McCormick, Cian Guilfoyle, James Lyons, Conor Doyle and Nin O’ Leary.
Crew Ireland Freya skippered by Conor Doyle of Kinsale ready for the start of the Middle Sea Race 2022 this morning in the port of Valletta includes Kelvin Harrap, Rory Harrap, Will Byrne, Barry Hurley, Nick Jones, Malcolm McCormick, Cian Guilfoyle , James Lyons, Conor Doyle and Nin O’Leary
At this time last year, race reports were struggling to keep up with the leaders. The Maxi Multihulls had burned 450 nautical miles of the 606nm course. What a difference a year makes: identical or similar boats, opposite polar conditions. So far, the story of the 43rd Rolex Middle Sea Race is one of determination and true courage, covering the miles one by one, sometimes taking over an hour to do so. Accepting pats on the back and slaps from the wind is normal for this edition. The fleet is currently split between the Aeolian Islands north of Sicily, 220 nautical miles along the track, just north of Syracuse, just 83 nautical miles from the race. If that makes it difficult to observe from the shore, imagine life on board.
The MOD 70s Zulu skippered by Erik MARIS and leeward Snowflake skippered by Frank Slootman in the Rolex Middle Sea Race Photo: Kurt Arrigo
Currently the MOD70 Mana, just north of Filicudi, is making just over 7 knots, 2nm ahead of the Maserati Multi70. Meanwhile, Zoulou, another MOD70, appears to have dipped south toward Snowflake, perhaps to stay or find better pressure. All four are well north of the rhumb line. Flagship monohulls are one of them. The maxi monohull Bullitt, sailing alongside Maserati at a similar speed, outpaces the larger Leopard 3 by around 3.5nm. According to the tracker, the French Ker 46 Daguet 3 – Corum – at Stromboli – is leading the general classification in the battle for the Rolex Middle Sea Race Trophy under IRC time correction, but this is really only an indication with so many race still to do. Course.
Yesterday’s departure from Grand Harbor was a taste of the 24 hours to come. The wind was continually falling in and out. Some boats were able to progress quickly through the breakwater in open water. For others, it was more missed than successful. The 55 nm passage north to Capo Passero at the southeast corner of Sicily followed a similar pattern across all classes: heading northeast out of the harbor for about 20 nm before to choose the right time to turn north towards Sicily. The speed of the boats rose and fell with the force of the wind until about halfway through the channel when the five racing trimarans took off, displaying speeds in excess of 20 knots. The Maxi Monohulls did their best to keep up with average to tall teens (at least according to the tracker). Mid-sized boats also benefited from this welcome respite from light airs.
The relief did not last. While the multihulls kept a good breeze until the start of the Strait of Messina, which they reached around midnight, the wind died down over the rest of the fleet when the leading monohulls reached Etna. In the dark, spotting the wind from signs on the water became nearly impossible. Navigating the traps seems to have been frequent and being the lead boat in the water was not always the best position.
Chocolate 3, for example, had an exceptional start and Bouwe Bekking signaled at the start of the evening: “It’s a beautiful sunset, and so far we have had a very good race. Francois (Bopp) did a really good job on the start squirming, the crew work was good and right now Bullitt, one of the biggest in the fleet, is only a mile and a half away. half in front of us, so we can’t complain. A few hours later at 03:00 CEST, after sailing well up the east coast of Sicily in line with her IRC 2 class competitors, the Swiss boat seems to have hit a hole and was right to complain. The boats further offshore continued to advance, leaving Chocolate 3 behind. It took much of the day to get back in order, and the crew will soon be passing the Stromboli in a platoon of other IRC 2 yachts.
Life aboard the fastest yachts in the fleet was easier until halfway to Stromboli. After negotiating the narrow strait in relatively good condition, out at 01:30 CEST on Sunday morning, Paul Larsen reported at dawn on the approach to Stromboli: “It’s oily calm conditions. We’re holding a very timid lead on the good Mana ship by the nails. The sun is barely rising and behind us we can see Zulu, Maserati and Snowflake. We’re trying to hang on to every little gust we can get, as we glide along at 3.5 knots, which believe me is hard to come by and much appreciated.
Christopher Sherlock’s Leopard 3, a Farr 100 is competing in ORC:X, IRC:Class 1 in the Rolex Middle Sea Race Photo: Kurt Arrigo
For a long time Leopard 3 sought to have the legs on the slightly shorter Bullitt. Their ascent from the Sicilian coasts was harder than for the multihulls, but easier than for many yachts behind. Reaching the start of the 20nm strait around 0300 CEST, the two did well to cross it in two hours. Then shortly after leaving the Strait of Messina around 05:00 CEST on Sunday morning, Leopard appears to have run into difficulty, nearly coming to a standstill and losing 5nm to her Italian rival, a gap that hasn’t changed much in the hours that followed. followed.
The fight at the front of IRC 3 was no less intense, with Lee Satariano and Christian Ripard on Maltese yacht Artie taking a lead over Frenchman Tonnerre de Glen and UK sistership Ino XXX. . Just before midnight, off Syracuse, Artie and Thunder seemed to get stuck in the glue while Ino XXX further offshore continued to move. Artie did a better job on the puzzle than Thunder, but lost a lot of ground to Ino XXX. While these two have distanced themselves from the rest of their class, Artie has yet to be able to recoup the ground lost to Stromboli’s approach. Ripard and Satariano have raced enough to know it’s not over and if the wind forecast ahead of them is as tricky as it looks, there will be plenty of opportunities.
Yves Grosjean’s French Neo 430, NeoJivaro, also in IRC 3, gave a taste of the experience so far for most crews: . There’s not a single sail we haven’t tried.
The night ahead doesn’t look any easier, with a light easterly wind forecast for much of the hours of darkness, uneven throughout and diminishing over time. There will be no respite for any of the crews as they work hard to exploit every puff and gain an advantage.
DAY 2 COURSE UPDATE 1700 CEST
IRC 1 AT STROMBOLI TRANSIT (12 YACHTS AROUND)
All but two of IRC 1 passed the northernmost transit. Hungarian entry, Marton Jozsa’s Wild Joe, leads Jean Pierre Barjon’s French Botin 65, Spirit Of Lorina, corrected by just 22 minutes, with Niklas Zennstrom’s CF520 Rán of Sweden five minutes more. On the water, Andrea Recordati’s Italian Wally Yacht Bullitt holds a 3.5 nm lead over the Spanish Farr 100 Leopard 3 skippered by Chris Sherlock, who in turn has a 7 nm lead over Wild Joe. All are now sailing west of Stromboli between seven and eight knots.
IRC 2 AT STROMBOLI TRANSIT (3 YACHTS AROUND)
The German TP52 Red Bandit skippered by Carl-Peter Forster, the French NMYD 54 Teasing Machine skippered by Eric de Turckheim… and the French IRC 52 Arobas2 skippered by Gerard Logel occupy the first three places at one hour corrected time. Meanwhile Hagar V (ITA), Daguet 3 – Corum (FRA), Maverick (AUS) and Chocolate 3 (SUI) are close to the passage of Stromboli.
IRC 3 AT MESSINA TRANSIT (5 YACHTS PASSING THROUGH)
Only five yachts made it through the Messina transit. Britain’s HH42 Ino XXX of James Neville holds the lead from Maltese Artie, co-skippered by Lee Satariano and Christian Ripard, by 23 minutes. Gilles Caminade’s Ker 40 Chenapan 4 (FRA) is third, three hours behind the current pace. Tonnerre De Glen (FRA) and Mahana (FRA) are the other two qualifiers. Ino XXX and Artie are approximately 22 nautical miles from their next transit at Stromboli.
IRC 4 AT MESSINA TRANSIT (3 YACHTS PASSING THROUGH)
The lead boats on the water in IRC 4 recorded speeds of over nine knots exiting the Strait of Messina, but slowed as they entered open water north of Sicily. The Maltese First 45 Elusive 2 from the Podesta family has crossed the strait and is in pole position after time correction. Philippe Frantz’s French NMD 43 Albator was the first of its class to leave the Strait of Messina and ranks second. Conor Doyle’s Irish XP-50 Freya of Kinsale YC, was 30 minutes behind Elusive 2 across the Strait and is ranked third in class.
IRC 5 AT MESSINA TRANSIT (1 YACHT ACROSS)
Gianrocco Catalano’s Italian First 40 Tevere Remo Mon Ile is the first boat in the class to emerge from the Strait of Messina and is likely leading by a substantial margin after the IRC time correction. According to the tracker, second in class and on the water is Ed Bell’s British JPK 1180 Dawn Treader. Johnathan Gambin’s Maltese Dufour 44 Ton Laferla is third in his class. Special mention for Beppe Bisotto’s Fast 42 Atame in doubles with Catherine Jordan, currently fourth in her category.
CRI 6
IRC 6 was slow with most of the fleet east of Etna covering less than 100 miles in the first 24 hours. However, a leading group of four boats made a significant gain after finding a good breeze around noon. Massimo Juris’ Italian JPK 1080 Colombre leads the class on the water, about 10 nm from the exit of the strait. The Maltese J/99 Calypso, skippered by Seb Ripard, is around two nautical miles behind Colombre, but according to the tracker, she is ranked first with around an hour after the IRC time correction. In double handedness, Ludovic Gérard’s French JPK 1080 Solenn for Pure Ocean and the American Sun Fast 3300 Red Ruby, piloted by McKee and Strum-Palerm, fought a close duel. Solenn is just ahead on the water, but appears behind Red Ruby after time correction.
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