Rolex Middle Sea Race Maxi Festival

by Courtesy Key Partners on 5 Aug 2003 Three months to the start and the line-up of Maxis and other top class racing yachts expected at the Rolex Middle Sea Race is more than impressive.


The Rolex Middle Sea Race, organised by the Royal Malta Yacht Club, is one of the oldest and toughest offshore racing Classics. Held at the end of the Northern season the 609-mile race takes the fleet of boats in a clockwise direction around the Italian Island of Sicily, starting and finishing from a line in Marxamsett Harbour, the historic port of Malta.

The Rolex Middle Sea Race is preluded by a series of inshore day races off the coast of Malta, giving the assembled fleet the opportunity to not only aclimatise to the local conditions but to enjoy the unique backdrop and splendours of this Mediterranean Island state.

Two British Maxis, Mike Slade’s Leopard of London and Charles Dunstone’s Enigma of London will both be making their way to Malta to compete after this August’s Rolex Fastnet Race.

But these two are not alone in the Maxi division. Bob McNeil’s Max Z86 Zephyrus V finds itself on the European side of the Atlantic having won the Daimler Chrysler Trans Atlantic race in June and will also be heading to the Mediterranean for some early Autumn sport.

Neville Crichton’s Alfa Romeo, culminates a busy season with a trip to Malta. Crichton’s New Zealand-registered maxi, collected line honours in the Rolex Sydney to Hobart Race in Australia last December before doing the same in Genoa at the finish of the Rolex Giraglia Race late last month. Next month’s Rolex Fastnet Race will see Crichton try to make it three in a row, although for his team the competition gets stiffer as the season progresses. After the Rolex Fastnet Race Crichton’s intentions are to travel to the Rolex Maxi Series in Porto Cervo, Sardinia in September before making the last delivery trip of the year to Marxamsett Harbour in Malta in preparation for the Rolex Middle Sea Race.

Another significant entry is Alessandro Pirera’s Orlanda. This Italian Farr 53 foot design has also had a remarkable debut this year at the Rolex IMS Worlds in Capri and must surely be amongst the favorites for overall honours in Malta.

Entries for the Rolex Middle Sea Race close on October 25th. The Royal Malta Yacht Club is confident that the current record fleet of 42 boats will be bettered this year.

Further information about the Rolex Middle Sea Race can be found at: www.rolexmiddlesearace.com