Bright future beckons for Rolex Middle Sea Race

The 2006 Rolex Middle Sea Race just ended was another successful chapter in the history of the Royal Malta Yacht Club (RMYC).

A record fleet of 68, which included some of the world's fastest boats piloted by top-notch skippers such as Paul Cayard, Mike Sanderson, Sebastian Josse and Neville Crichton, gave life to another memorable race that came to an official close yesterday when German Maxi Morning Glory were officially crowned overall winners.

RMYC Commodore Georges Bonello Dupuis was all smiles when I took his reaction on Friday at Manoel Island.

"This has been a great year for the Rolex Middle Sea Race," he said.

"I'm still thrilled at how successful it has been. Sixty-eight boats at the start of the race is a fantastic achievement for the club. And what a line-up we had.

"There was the world's fastest boat in Alfa Romeo, 2005/06 Volvo Ocean Race winners ABN AMRO and the highly-equipped Thuraya Maximus just to name a few.

"To be honest, I don't think we'll ever manage to have all these classy boats together in one race again."

The success of this year's race owes much to the sponsorship of Rolex, the Commodore said. Their market influence again was decisive for the Middle Sea Race to gain in popularity and become one of the top races in the region.

"The Rolex backing has again been decisive, no doubt," Bonello Dupuis said.

"Before, we used to have an entry of 20 or 25 boats but with Rolex those numbers have more than doubled.

"But, it's not just the sponsors. All committee members, helpers and participants deserve great credit I suppose. We all worked very hard throughout the year... in the end we almost produced miracles, this is all voluntary work."

Bonello Dupuis had words of praise for the Maltese boats in this year's race - 11 in all.

"The Maltese boats were fantastic this year. Every person on these islands should be proud of us," said Bonello Dupuis who skippered his Primadonna to 17th place on corrected time.

"We had no fewer than seven Maltese boats in the top 20 with Lee Satariano's Artie achieving the most remarkable result of all."

Satariano steered Artie, incidentally one of the smallest boats in the fleet, to second place on corrected time behind Morning Glory. Veteran Arthur Podesta was fourth on Elusive behind Britain's Slingshot.

"We knew we were having a great race," Satariano said at the Med. Conference Centre yesterday.

"However, it was only when we were some 20 miles from home that we knew we had an outside chance to win the MSR Trophy.

"The crew was relatively young and inexperience but the enthusiasm on the boat was incredible.

"I guess, that's what led us to this unexpected result. Now, we're filled with great confidence... definitely, we'll be back next year."

2007 prospects

Morning Glory are still fresh from their victory but the Commodore has already set sights on next year. A fortnight ago, he had expressed his worries to the media as the 2006 projected entry list was about to cause big berthing worries to the organisers.

Solving that 'problem' will rank high on the club's agenda in future.

"Our major target for 2007 is to make sure that we have our own facilities," Bonello Dupuis said. "We cannot look back now... we've turned the Rolex Middle Sea Race into something big.

"After several years of discussions I can finally say that our objective of having new headquarters at Manoel Island is very close to be realised. Negotiations are at an advanced stage and in the next few months we shall concentrate all our efforts to see the place ready for the next race.

"The new base will be situated opposite the Ferries. Apart from our offices we shall also have a marina just outside the headquarters. That way we'll be in a better position to cater for bigger numbers."

That puts the RMYC in a better position to attract more boats for next year. The club got more wind in their sails during yesterday's presentations ceremony when Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi promised that government will be looking to complete formalities for the new project to get going.

Matching this year's entry will be difficult but Bonello Dupuis still wants to make the next race a memorable one.

"Promotion for the 2007 RMSR will start in the next few weeks," he said. "Lately, we had media personnel from all over the world at the club.

"There were TV crews from South Korea, Australia, the United States and France. We also know that soon a feature on the race will be published in popular Italian magazine Fare Vela. So, that's an ideal head-start I would say."

This year the Maxis failed to set a new record which currently belongs to Zephyrus IV (it was established in 2000). Many think most of the big boats will be back next year to try and put their names in the history books as others might join in.

Meanwhile, the RMYC will be hunting for more boats to beat the 2006 entry.

The Commodore is right... there's no turning back now. A bright future beckons for the Rolex Middle Sea Race.

Top 10 boats - IRC overall

1. Morning Glory, Germany: 5 days, 12 hours, 09 mins, 58 secs
2. Artie, Malta: 5 days, 14 hours, 03 mins, 37 secs
3. Slingshot, Britain: 5 days, 14 hours, 20 mins, 21 secs
4. Elusive, Malta: 5 days, 14 hours, 23 mins, 04 secs
5. Lady V, France: 5 days, 15 hours, 12 mins, 40 secs

6. Tortuga, Germany: 5 days, 15 hours, 56 mins, 17 secs
7. Maltese Falcon, Malta: 5 days, 16 hours, 00 mins, 48 secs
8. Charisma, Spain: 5 days, 16 hours, 49 mins, 27 secs
9. Velenosa, Italy: 5 days, 17 hours, 01 mins, 36 secs
10. Konica Minolta, Austria: 5 days, 17 hours, 16 mins, 28 secs