Yacht ICAP LEOPARD owned by Mike Slade is pictured arriving in Marsamxett Harbour – the first yacht home in the Rolex Middle Sea Race followed closely by Beau Geste © Rolex/ Kurt Arrigo
ICAP Leopard arrived at the finish line in Marsamxett Harbour just before midday, over half an hour shy of the race record, set by George David’s Rambler in 2007.
Mike Slade commented on the race: ‘this race is very special. It always is. It is a tough race and a great race, but any race that goes round in a circle is going to have lots of pitfalls. You are seeing land all the time and you suffer all the things that happen because of the land. There’s a saying that Etna sucks wind out of the Strait and it was true for us. We got stuck in its shadow. We got through and punched on towards Stromboli and that’s where the problems really started.’
Just as during the Rolex Fastnet, Karl Kwok’s Beau Geste (HKG) had been shadowing her bigger rival LEOPARD for the whole course, waiting for a chink in the armour that might let her snatch the lead. Kiwi skipper Gavin Brady, tactician Francesco de Angelis and navigator Andrew Cape are a deep-filled talent pool, but even they found the conditions testing. Brady is a tough customer, but even he acknowledged the severity of the situation after Stromboli on Saturday night/Sunday morning, “up until then we had been concentrating on getting away from the competition, but when the weather struck we were glad to have some company. We were in survival mode for some time.”
When Beau Gestecrossed the line at 15.28 she moved into pole position on handicap. Her moment in the spotlight was short lived. Alegre (GBR) finished at 18.33 and moved back into a lead that she has held since Stromboli. Neither Rán (GBR) nor Luna Rossa (ITA) were in a position to dislodge her when they finished. Intermatica VO70 (ITA) won the battle of the two Volvo boats, beating Ericsson (SWE) on handicap although not on the water.
For more information about the Rolex Middle Sea Race 2009 including the entry list, position reports and results please visit http://www.rolexmiddlesearace.com
