J/111 Gone Fishin' in Middle Sea Race?!

(Gzira, Malta)-  We had an interesting update regards the performance of Massimo Colossimo’s J/111 J/STORM in the recent Rolex Middle Sea Race- the 606nm race that starts/finishes in Malta and goes around a series of islands in the Mediterranean that includes several active volcanoes like Sicily, Italy!  Said Colossimo about their race, “we had some bad luck on J/STORM during the Middle Sea Race.  After the fast run from Malta to the first mark in the Straits of Messina (between Sicily and mainland Italy), J/STORM was amongst the leaders of the race.  By playing the left of the course, we were able to hold nice speed before rounding Stromboli and were leading the ALL of the J/Teams in the fleet.

However, during the first night of the race, we caught a huge fishing net in the rudder and propeller.  I ended up jumping overboard at night to clean the bottom after we realized we had a speed problem!  You cannot believe what I found (see picture here of the offending nylon net and buoys)!!

The sad part for us was that the whole situation took place in light air and was much more complicated than we expected.  As a result, it took place long enough for us to lose contact with the leaders and, unfortunately, delayed us from catching the next good breeze.  Short delays, in a distance race, as you know, add more delays and more frustration!

The rest of the race became an uphill battle for our crew, but we never lost concentration and to catch back up with the leaders in the light air windward beat at the Lampedusa Island rounding.  In fact, we were ahead of the J/122 ARTIE RTFX and near the J/122 OTRA VEZ.  Then, we had one unfortunate tack that took us back out of the lead!  In any case, it was a Herculean effort and we hope next time to have a little bit better luck!”

J/Teams Lead Rolex Middle Sea Classes!

(Gzira, Malta)- More often than not, sailors who have plied the Mediterranean Sea since the days of Sumerian trading ships and Homer's Odyssey share one thing-- the endless wrath by Neptune and the weather Gods for not having given homage (e.g. respect or enough tasty red wine) to permit safe, fast passage through the Straits of Messina (the famous geographic "boot" of Italy) and a sleigh-ride home to Malta.  Sitting at the cross-roads of the ancient trading routes in the Med, Malta has a long seafaring history of her sailors plying their trade between the Middle Eastern and European empires and, more often than not, were long sought for their knowledge of the capricious winds and seas in the region.  So, it was not too surprising that a combination of Maltese and Italian sailors who've got that DNA coursing through their veins managed to succeed in some of the most challenging conditions yet seen in the RMSR's 34th edition.

A record fleet of 100+ yachts set forth on their 606nm race with less than favorable weather conditions.  While the start from Malta to the Straits of Messina had an encouraging forecast of southeasterly winds, the Straits of Messina on the approaches to Sicily were notoriously light, and the balance of the race was going to be a challenge of racing from one breeze patch to another nearly all the way around the islands course to the finish line at Malta.

The grand irony of this year's race is that J/sailors dominated the entire event.  First to finish was Hasso Plattner's 86 footer MORNING GLORY (Hasso is an avid J/100 owner and sailor).  The overall winner was the TP52 B2 skippered by none other than Mediterranean sailing star, Francesco De Angelis from Naples, Italy-- the famous winner of the J/24 Worlds in Capri, Italy many moons ago.

In IRC 4 Class, yet another Maltese boat won with Aaron Gatt Floridia's J/122 OTRA VEZ taking both line and class honors as well and taking 11th overall in a "big boat race"!!  Just behind them sailing an incredible race was the J/111 BLACK BULL sailed by Marco Flandin from Italy-- she took a 5th in class and 16th overall!  In fact, just a few miles from Lampedusa Island, the last turning mark before the "sprint" to the Malta finish line, BLACK BULL was sailing nearly boat-for-boat with the J/122 OTRA VEZ!  One wrong tack made the difference between these two boats for line and handicap silverware.

The sound of clinking of glasses and rousing voices filled the air Thursday at the Royal Malta YC. Hundreds of competitors enjoyed the full hospitality of the club, sharing their stories with fellow competitors over copious quantities of delicious food and thirst-quenching beverages. After days and nights at sea, isolated from the outside world, the cosmopolitan crowd also enjoyed good food and excellent company.

IRC Four was the largest class taking part in the Rolex Middle Sea Race. 46 yachts from 10 different countries including Croatia, Czech Republic, France, Ireland, Italy, Montenegro, Malta, Russia, Sweden and the United Kingdom.  Edward & Aaron Gatt Floridia's J/122 OTRA VEZ completed the 606-mile race at dusk on Day Five, after racing with a highly competitive fleet.  “After being becalmed several times last year, we decided that this year that would not happen,” commented Edward Gatt Floridia. “Racing in light airs is very tiring, to keep the boat moving requires the whole crew to concentrate, even the off-watch have to wake up and move their weight to the correct side of the boat. The critical point in our race was after Stromboli. There was virtually no wind and on that first night we took the main sail down and hoisted our wind seeker. We were determined to keep going and we did. The moral on board was excellent and we are very proud of winning the class. Nearly half of the yachts racing were in Class 4 and there were a number of very well sailed boats for the overall win. The weather suited the bigger yachts this year. We can't do anything about that, we can only try to win our class and that is what we have done.”

J/24 World Champion Francesco De Angelis also had some war-stories to tell about his experience sailing the TP52 B2.  After losing all their electronics on the first night out, B2's navigator Nacho Postigo said, “We tried everything to reboot the system, but it simply didn't work.  In the end, we used the GPS on a smartphone taped to the pedestal, it worked quite well!” The impromptu solution forced the crew to rely more on their instinct, as Postigo closes: “We raced B2 like a J/24 and Francesco had to call the strategy almost completely blind - I don't think he had more than two hours sleep!”  Not surprising they could sail fast with limited input, as De Angelis had sailed dinghies and J/24s for years on the Italian circuit with no more than a compass!  Said De Angelis, “It was a difficult race, the first time this team has done a race this long together. To arrive ahead of almost 100 boats is a great achievement. We are very tired! Comfort is not really associated with a TP52 and we experienced everything: light, medium and some strong wind. Technically and physically it was a very challenging race. The key was not losing ground in the difficult moments or getting blocked during periods of light air.”   Sailing photo credits: Rolex/ Kurt Arrigo   For more Rolex Middle Sea Race sailing information

J/111 J-STORM Crushes RomaXtutti Offshore Race

(Rome, Italy)- This past weekend, Massimo Colosimo's J/111 J-STORM simply flew across the Mediterranean, winning the 530nm RomaXtutti Offshore race, the longest and most prestigious offshore race in Italy.

After their finish in Riva di Traiano, the huge, well-deserved victory by Massimo Colosimo and his crew (including Marzio Dotti, Stefano Pellizza and Antonello Perina) was cause for grand celebration.  The J-STORM team made the award-winning tactical choice-- contrary to the route taking by most of the fleet along the coast, Colosimo instead opted for a route further offshore which proved to be very advantageous, especially going outside of the islands.

Said Stefano Pelliza, "We won the race in IRC by arriving 4th real-time in a fleet of 60 boats and we finished very close (4 minutes behind) to a 50 ft canting keel racer!  We had good fun racing in light wind and sunny conditions. We had beautiful spring sailing conditions and the boat was pretty fast sailing offshore, especially reaching under the spinnaker and staysail combination!"  For more RomaXtutti Offshore race sailing information

Rolex Giraglia Cup Update

(St Tropez, France)- When St Tropez rolls out the red carpet, with gardens in full bloom, surrounding hills of the Baie de St Tropez lush with fragrant flowers, fabulous cafes serving up an orgy of delicious seaside cuisine, crystal-clear skies dotted with puffy white, cottony clouds and warm Mediterranean breezes sweeping down the picturesque coastline, it's awfully hard to beat.  And so far the sailors have been treated to nothing but the best St Tropez has to offer.

Spoiled after four days of exceptional weather conditions sailing the inshore racing portion of the event, the teams are now headed out into the challenging 242-nautical mile race from St Tropez, France to Sanremo, Italy via the Giraglia Lighthouse sitting on a rocky outcrop off the northern tip of Corsica.  Of course, can't be too bad if you're simply going out to sea, turning left and going from the French Riviera's hot-spot to the Italian Riviera's ho-spot, right?  Think again.  The forecast is for 20-30 kts and by Thursday blowing up to 40 knots in a classic Mistral-like condition.  “It will be very demanding with a lot of wind throughout today,” explained Francesco de Angelis, former J/24 World Champion in Capri, Italy and tactician onboard the 62-foot NATALI–B2. “For tomorrow we are forecasting a certain drop in conditions and some changes of direction bringing lighter winds. It will be a difficult race for everyone although, as always, you can never predict what is going to happen.”

Few boats will be as experienced and up to the challenge as the J/122 ARTIE from Malta, owned by Lee Satariano and co-skippered by Christian Ripard. In their previous competitive offshore outing the combination were the first Maltese in ten years to win the hugely demanding 606-nm Rolex Middle Sea Race. Keeping them honest will be Giancarlo Ghislanzoni on his J/122 CHESTRESS 3.  Also, in the hunt will be Olivier Parchet's J/122 NOISY OYSTER and Edward Gatt Floridia's J/122 OTRA VEZ.  With four J/122s racing, one of them is certain to revel in the conditions.

After the first four races in IRC A with 73 boats participating, the top J/122 is Giancarlo's CHESTRESS 3 sitting in 6th place, just 20 points out of third going into a double-counter race.  Just behind in 10th is Olivier's NOISY OYSTER and 11th is Lee's ARTIE RTFX.

In IRC B, with 55 boats participating, the top J is Antonio Marcri's J/39 SCINTILLA J sitting in 9th place.  The J/109 JAVA BLEUE 3 sailed by La Forest Bardaille sits in 12th place and another J/109 JET LAG sailed by Richard Burton (not the movie actor!) is lying in 20th place. With the forecast for a solid breeze and waves, look for the J/109s in particular to make a quick climb up the ladder and be further up the standings after the Giraglia Race.   For more Rolex Giraglia Race sailing information