The overall winner of this year’s 34th edition of the Rolex Middle Sea Race has become Michele Galli’s sailing yacht B2, a TP52 from Italy.
Sailing yacht B2 - Photo by Rolex/Kurt Arrigo
B2 is the first Italian yacht to claim the Rolex Middle Sea Race Trophy since 2005, emerging victorious from the largest and one of the most competitive fleets in the race’s 45-year history. Expertly guided by tactician Francesco de Angelis, B2 completed the 606-nm course on Tuesday afternoon in a little over three days. She was the eighth boat to cross the finish line in Malta.
On corrected time B2 was propelled to the summit of the overall leaderboard and with the chasing fleet thwarted by extremely light conditions between Pantelleria and Lampedusa and unable to win their race against the clock, her triumph was confirmed at the Royal Malta Yacht Club on Wednesday afternoon.
B2 Yacht approaching the finish line in Marsamxett Harbour - Photo by Rolex/Kurt Arrigo
Success often tastes sweeter when it is hard fought. Not only did B2 see off the race’s record 99-strong international fleet, peppered with outstanding boats and dexterous sailors, she overcame several technical issues during the race. “We lost all of our electronics, I think due to water entering the boat during the second night,” explained navigator Nacho Postigo. “We tried everything to reboot the system, but it simply didn’t work, all the displays went black. We were really worried about the last night, and therefore found a solution: we had all the cartography on a cell phone, and my smartphone is waterproof with a compass app. We combined both and attached the smartphone to the pedestal. In the end, it worked quite well.” The impromptu solution forced the crew to rely more on their instinct, as Postigo closes: “We raced B2 like a dinghy and Francesco had to call the strategy almost completely blind – I don’t think he had more than two hours sleep!”
The 34th Rolex Middle Sea Race fleet making slow progress towards Malta - Photo by Rolex/Kurt Arrigo
De Angelis preferred to reflect on the relentless effort of the crew composed of ten Italians and two Spaniards. “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.” Sailing an all out racing boat like a TP52 is not necessarily the most relaxing way to experience the race. “We are very tired!,” admitted de Angelis, “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.”
At 15:30 CEST on Wednesday afternoon, 23 boats had completed the race, 75 were still sailing and there had been just one retirement.
Superyacht Morning Glory Line Honours Winner 2013 Rolex Middle Sea Race - Photo by Rolex/Kurt Arrigo
Superyacht Morning Glory (GER) claimed line honours two days ago. Crossing the finish line at 04:02.19 CEST on Tuesday morning, the 86-ft Maxi skippered by Kristina Plattner, completed the 606-nm course in 2 days, 16 hours, 12 minutes and 9 seconds. Her elapsed time still some 16 hours slower than the current race record.
