Strait Dealer does it twice in a row

If ever the Royal Malta Yacht Club (RMYC) found a formula for a successful weekend regatta, this must surely be the one.

The Marzamemi race came around after Scoglitti harbour was insufficiently dredged to accommodate the RMYC's growing fleet. Marzamemi was mentioned as a possible alternative and voila!

Six years down the road, the club now has another record number of entries and definitely, the best weekend regatta ever organised. An incredible 66 boats accompanied the race across the Malta-Sicily channel and, following this success, the club is already in the process of organising a similar regatta next year to Ragusa, thus including two weekends in Sicily.

The weather for the first passage race could not have been any better. A fresh majjistral, peeking at some 25 knots throughout the day was forecast and it arrived on time.

This ensured that even the smallest boat made it in well before the time limit with most of the fleet arriving during the day, thus making the entrace to the harbour even safer.

Line honours and first overall went to Strait Dealer with David Anastasi at the helm.

Their crossing was made in 6 hours and 10 minutes. Sonke Stein finished second on board Kerisma with Jon Gambin's TonTon in third place.

In Class 2, Gordon Craig (Harry) finished first, followed by Anton Calleja (Spirit of the Wind) with John DeGiorgio third (Flyer's Dream).

In the Cruiser Class, Anthony Camilleri, sailing Windward, claimed first in class followed by Joe Gerada (Diva) and Sezil third with Kevin Gauci Maistre at the wheel.

Saturday was a lay day and most of the crews accompanied the excursion organised by the RMYC committee.

This included a short visit to Noto and lunch at the Giannavi Agri Turismo. Others opted to take the day off and laze around at Marzamemi or Noto.

On Sunday morning, the weather forecast for the second passage race back to Malta did not look too promising, many boats just opting to motor down to Marsamxett.

Strait Dealer again claimed line honours and first overall in IRC, followed by David Pizzuto's Geisha and Kerisma.

In class B, Time Out, of Mario Sant, won this class followed by the young boys on board Moondance.

No boats finished in the Cruiser Class.

Prizes were awarded in their respective classes by Etienne Bonello DuPuis, representing Hydrolectric Co Ltd, local agents for Gewiss Electrical Products.

A slide show was also on display with some impressive shots taken by Kurt Arrigo during the start in Malta.