Day five of the Middle Sea Race brought home the top host club boats home to the Royal Malta Yacht Club, among them some of the crew were some of Ireland's top offshore sailors.
First home was Ramon Sant Hill & Jonas Diamantino's Farr 45, Comanche Raider III and second, as previously reported, the Irish crewed Xp 44, XP-ACT with Barry Hurley, Kenny Rumball and Joan Mulloy onboard.
“I am proud of the crew and proud of what we did, and so very happy. We never expected that we were going to do it, but we did. We never gave up, we just kept going; we have been waiting for this moment for so very long,” commented Ramon Sant Hill. “A race boat is not comfortable, we have no interior but we are used to it. I will always remember the top speed of this race, 23.3 knots. It was a memorable moment, but I was in pain at the time, as I had been thrown across the deck and fell on my ribs. The sensation of going that speed makes you very happy. We have to clean the boat, everything is soaking wet, and after we will have a big celebration at the Royal Malta Yacht Club!”
The second Maltese boat to cross the finish line was Josef Schultheis & Timmy Camilleri’s Xp 44, XP-ACT, completing the race in an elapsed time of 3 days 19 hours 11 mins 24 secs.
“We have been doing this race for the last seven years; it is a really solid team and we are all good friends. That is where our energy comes from,” explained Schultheis. “We were with Elusive for most of the race, it was a great battle with a very good team. They are friends of ours, so it was a friendly battle, as it has been for years. The friendship on board and with Elusive is why we do this race, and pushes us to perform.”
The Podesta family racing the First 45, Elusive 2, finished the race less than half an hour behind XP-ACT after nearly four days of boat for boat racing. Elusive 2 crossed the line in an elapsed time of 3 days 19 hours 37 mins 53 secs.
“You need competition to push yourself, and we have pushed each other,” commented Maya Podesta, referring to the battle in the Maltese fleet. “Elusive has been optimised, which has made us more competitive, so we can push harder. It was a really good race; we swapped places a few times. We are enemies on the water, and friends back on the dock. All of the Elusive crew put our heart and soul into the boat, and that is the reason why we can do what we do. We all have our own things to offer, and together we make a great team.”
Maltese J/109 Jarhead Young Sailors Malta, skippered by Karl Miggiani and crewed by teenagers, is the one of last of the Maltese entries still racing. At 1000 CEST on Wednesday, 24 October, the fifth day of the race, Jarhead Young Sailors Malta was 112 miles from the finish, close to Lampedusa. The boat reported in that: "We are about to do our last gybe at Lampedusa and head towards Malta. Long night. Main has small tear and we blew the vang a second time. Both have temporary repairs.” The young team are expected to finish the race on Thursday morning.
Currently, out the 130 starters: 30 boats have completed the course, 27 boats have officially retired, leaving 73 still at sea.
