Italy's Harehei first on corrected time

With a record entry of more than 50 boats, the Syracuse-Malta offshore race, 90 nautical miles long, took off in spectacular fashion last Saturday.

Way back in July 9, 1972, The Times of Malta carried a report on a record entry of 20 boats for the Syracuse-Malta race, seven of which were Maltese. With billowing sails, Calypso Sloop Anna II emerged as overall winner on that occasion.

Skipper Vincent Valentino and his son Anton were among the four-man crew aboard Anna II.

It has always been a privilege for both clubs, the Royal Malta Yacht Club and the Circolo Nautico Juvenile di Siracusa to co-ordinate and jointly stage this event on international guidelines.

Apart from the normal IRC and IMS classes, the Lega Navale di Siracusa highlighted the 45th edition by organising a Classic Race which had an encouraging entry of 20 yachts, 63-foot local boat Lady G dominating the spectacular start in Syracuse with its beauty and elegance.

It takes experience at the highest level of sailing to lead straight away from the start as Strait Dealer has executed, surprising even hot favourites from Sicily.

More than that, adapting to the variable conditions of light winds that prevailed was more than a hard nut to crack.

Sailing standards were incredibly high. Local boats Allegra and Primadonna were at their best and among the forerunners. The local fleet was only of 15 boats.

In the end, the best of Italian entries, Harehei, proved to be the winner for the overall IMS Class on corrected time after Strait Dealer won the line honours at 21h 25m 43s, with a 97-minute advantage.

Strait Dealer made amends in the IRC overall Class A by winning this trophy once again. Allegra was third and Primadonna, fifth.

They were followed by Maltese Falcon, Bordeaux and Commanche Raider, all locals.

Another Maltese boat was Artie. Its crew made a name for themselves by winning the IRC B Class while the IMS Cruising Class was won by Italy's Spirit of Hornblower.

Hyperion of Turku won the Classic Race after more than 27 hours of sailing.

Due to the broad range of boats the event came to an end on Monday with the awards presentation hosted by the club at Couvre Porte.

One Italian skipper hit the nail on its head: "Peccato che RMYC perde questo posto... ma perche?"