Rolex Middle Sea Race - Artie confirmed as overall winner

by Media Royal Malta Yacht Club on 24 Oct 2014 The Royal Malta Yacht Club has been a hive of activity both day and night, welcoming back yachts taking part in the Rolex Middle Sea Race. By Midday on Day Six 34 yachts have finished the race and 25 yachts have retired. Each and every sailor that has taken part, including those that are still out there, has a story to tell for years to come.

The 35th edition of the race has been one of the most memorable in the 46 year history of the race. The storm that arrived on the fourth night of racing was ferocious in its strength and lasted over 24 hours. Thankfully, conditions have now abated somewhat and although there are broken boats and battered crew, the Royal Malta Yacht Club has received no reports of serious injuries. The majority of the fleet are expected to finish today.

Reports of over 60 knots of wind and mountainous seas abound. At the Yacht Club bar, acts of expert seamanship, in exceptionally rough seas, are the main topic of conversation. These anecdotes are resonating around the sailing community, the world over. Take Eric De Turckheim's Teasing Machine, which showed electric pace in the savage seas, only to be dismasted 20 miles from the finish. Ross Applebey and Andy Middleton's Scarlet Oyster, spent last night lashed to a fishing boat, sheltering from the storm. There are a dozen Double Handed teams still out there and soon their stories will add even more depth to what has become a fascinating race.

This afternoon, with all mathematical possibilities exhausted for all of the yachts still racing. Lee Satariano's Maltese J/122, Artie was declared the overall winner of the 2014 Rolex Middle Sea Race.

Artie was also declared the first Maltese yacht to finish the race and winner of IRC 4, ORC 4 and ORC Overall. Godwin Zammit, Commodore of the Royal Malta Yacht Club congratulated Lee Satariano and the entire Artie crew at the Royal Malta Yacht Club.

'It hasn't really sunk in yet.' Smiled Lee Satariano. 'But now having had the opportunity to reflect on the race, even more important than winning was the achievement of actually finishing the race in the conditions that we had out there. Even near the end my worry was not finishing, right up until the end, we knew boats were in difficulties, which was very unfortunate and that was playing on my mind until we crossed the finish line. I would like to emphasise that one thing we really promote on Artie, throughout the year, is that we have young dinghy sailors on board and a main objective is to get these youngsters out sailing, combining them with our regular crew to create the future sailors that will be representing Malta.'

Artie's crew for the 2014 Rolex Middle Sea Race: Lee Satariano, Christian Ripard, Sebastian Ripard (co-skippers), Matthew Gusman, Sam Pizzuto, Tom Ripard, Matthew Almekinders, Gordon Bugeja, Timothy Davis.

Final Results

Intermediate results are for general interest only and have no bearing on the final results of the race

Bottom of Form

Boat Name	Boat Type	Class	TCC	Elapsed Time	Corrected Time	Comment	Pos
ARTIE	J 122	Class 4	1.087	d4 h13 m35 s5	d4 h23 m7 s6		1
XP-ACT BANKS SAILS RACING	Xp 44	Class 3	1.135	d4 h14 m1 s11	d5 h4 m52 s20		2
Neo Bank Sails Racing	Neo 400 carbon	Class 2	1.2	d4 h9 m30 s0	d5 h6 m36 s0		3
OTRA VEZ	J122	Class 4	1.087	d4 h21 m40 s35	d5 h7 m54 s51		4
COURRIER DU COEUR	Bermudian Sloop	Class 3	1.115	d4 h19 m16 s51	d5 h8 m32 s17		5
KAJSA III	DK46	Class 3	1.181	d4 h13 m7 s0	d5 h8 m52 s0		6
BELLADONNA YACHTING	Grand Soleil 46	Class 3	1.113	d4 h19 m55 s52	d5 h9 m1 s52		7
ARS UNA	ADRIA 49	Class 3	1.172	d4 h14 m32 s41	d5 h9 m33 s30		8
SLEEPER	Azuree 46	Class 3	1.152	d4 h17 m9 s5	d5 h10 m21 s1		9
GEISHA L L Y C	IMX40	Class 4	1.083	d5 h0 m39 s50	d5 h10 m40 s44		10
COIN COIN	Sydney GTS 43	Class 3	1.191	d4 h13 m57 s51	d5 h10 m58 s2		11
EALA OF RHU	Swan 45	Class 3	1.181	d4 h16 m3 s54	d5 h12 m20 s55		12
SJAMBOK	Reichel Pugh 48	Class 2	1.241	d4 h10 m57 s15	d5 h12 m43 s48		13
MONTRACHET	Nautor Swan 48	Class 3	1.112	d5 h0 m9 s18	d5 h13 m36 s44		14
ISKAREEN	M34	Class 3	1.15	d4 h20 m45 s19	d5 h14 m16 s6		15
CANTANKEROUS	COOKSON 50	Class 2	1.368	d4 h2 m14 s20	d5 h14 m23 s26		16

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