Middle Sea Race 2026 | Start images and videos

by Bow Caddy Media 17 Oct 17:47 PDT 17 October 2026

Light winds accompanied the exit of the fleet from Grand Harbour for all of the divisions except the final maxi group.

At that point the forecast sou'easter had kicked in and lifted quickly to give the whole fleet a short but fast downwind leg to the turning mark at St Julian's.

The mark made a brief bid for freedom, dragging its anchor towards the rocky shoreline. Two race ribs acted briefly as a temporary mark while the errant buoy was hauled back into position. As at 11.30 pm local time on Saturday, Black Jack 100 was leading the fleet and about to exit the northern end of the Strait of Messina. She is 16nm ahead of Django 7x, which is three nautical miles ahead of Balthasar and Pace, which are level-pegging.

Rolex Middle Sea Race 2026| Maxi Division Dips and Slam Dunks

The final division to leave the harbour were the maxis who luckily had more wind than the previous divisions. Black Jack unsurprisingly led the fleet but didn’t have it all her own way in a three way battle with Balthasar and Django 70.

Rolex Middle Sea Race 2026| Tristan Le Brun – Black Jack 100 Interview

Tristan le Brun has been the skipper of Black Jack 100 ever since Remon Vos acquired this famous and successful 100 footer. In its various guises under different owners since its Rolex Middle Sea Race debut in 2003, Black Jack 100 has won Line Honours an astonishing eight times, most recently in 2025. Tristan talks about the recent changes to the sail inventory to permit them to compete under IRC with the goal of improving their chances of winning overall as well as Line Honours, where opportunities permit.

Rolex Middle Sea Race 2026 | Jules Salter Interview

Jules Salter is a renowned ocean racing navigator whose CV includes four Volvo Open Races, the Admiral’s Cup and the America’s Cup, amongst many other ocean races. For the Middle Sea Race he is navigating aboard Johnny Vincent’s Volvo 70 Pace, on which he was also navigator when they recently won the Round Britain and Ireland Race. Jules gives a rundown on some of the navigation challenges for this year’s race.