Maltese Falcon storms to overall victory

Traditionally, this is a weekend of sailing in which keel boats of all types and sizes, optimists, lasers and windsurfers for that matter, come alive in the northern part of the island.

It was also the week when the Royal Malta Yacht Club joined the world's sailing fraternity in commemorating the centenary year of the International Sailing Federation (ISAF 1907-2007).

After three days of intense racing, all participants in the IRC Class A agreed that it was one of the most gruelling weekend-contests ever organised.

Maltese Falcon, skippered by Martin Scicluna and crewed by a group of 15- to 20-year-old youngsters, transformed their tactical ploys into a winning formula throughout the entire weekend in a way that even hot boats Allegra and Horatio found it hard to beat in the end.

Passage race was a rather mild beat from 12 to 15 knots of wind in which Maltese Falcon closed the gap to the two front-runners to gain its first win of the weekend on handicap.

More wind and testing tactical conditions were forecast for the second day. The local majjistral saw the leading boats thundering past the whole fleet in a flash, almost on parallel tracks between Allegra and Horatio, the fleet favourites.

It was a head-to-head duel up to Mgarr ix-Xini from where Allegra took command right to the finish in rather heavy swells. Strong 30k gusts of winds ran havoc with main sails, spinnakers and A-sails as boat breaking waves were quickly mounting up when rounding the island of Calypso.

Skipper Alfie Manduca's skilful handling of Allegra proved the best of this 19-boat fleet in these circumstances. Picking up speeds of up to 17k, Allegra took only 3hrs 17mins to round up the island of Gozo and back to Ramla Bay for both line honours and overall winners of the second race on corrected time. However, fast boat Horatio clinched second place with Maltese Falcon placing a credible third.

The second-race results meant that the three leading boats were tied on four points each before the final leg. Excitement was at its peak, especially when Maltese Falcon had a flying start, one that counted for the final run.

Both Beneteau's Allegra 477 and Maltese Falcon 407 headed towards the fish farms with X-yacht Horatio never letting go before rounding the island of Comino twice, battling it out in a winner-take-all contest.

The first round was clearly in favour of Allegra who led by a clear 15 minutes but the Falcon's tenacity and strong will never wavered. When the wind slowed down, Maltese Falcon grabbed its chance to close the gap through the sheer skill of its crew.

"I always race to win but I am more than excited about my young crew's performance as this counts a lot for the future of local sailing," said Scicluna, the skipper of the Maltese Falcon.

"To beat the island's best talents takes more than just luck. Sometimes a winner has to set his own standards, that's the way to keep forging ahead," added Scicluna who was presented with the overall winners' trophy by Taziana Grech, general manager of the Ramla Bay Resort.

Overall results: 1. Maltese Falcon 5 pts; 2. Allegra 6; 3. Horatio 7.

IRC Class B

With more participation in this class than the big ones, Artie, last year's Rolex Middle Sea Race runners-up, made a clean sweep by winning all three races. Skipper Chris Ripard knows only one speed in tough challenges and that is full speed, no matter what.

"I feel that any tolerance of mediocrity is dangerous," Ripard told me after the race. "You have to always race as if your life depended on it, otherwise there is no point in taking part."

And so he did, outsmarting the best of the lot, including the return of that formidable skipper Martin Borg Nicholas on his J-Lance.

Although Inspiration faded a bit after finishing second to Artie, skipper Godwin Zammit still managed to claim third place.

Overall results: 1. Artie 3 pts; 2. J-Lance 7; 3. Inspiration 15.

1565 cruisers regatta

There is no such thing that only top boats can create an exciting race. In the Cruiser Class, designed for family fun racing, Annie G, skippered by Godfrey Swain, won the first two races convincingly but somehow lost touch in the last race. Angelique Piaget was first in the final race.

Still, Annie G deservedly carried off the winning trophy for this class.

Overall results: 1. Annie G 6 pts; 2. Angelique Piaget 10; 3. Victoria Moody 11.