Light winds as boats leave Valletta

The 70-boat Rolex Middle Sea Race fleet filled Valletta’s Grand Harbour yesterday with spectators crowding the Upper and Lower Barrakka Gardens, which offer unsurpassed views of the starting area.

The Royal Malta Yacht Club race committee was set up at Saluting Battery (immediately below the Upper Barrakka), where the start line ran between a mast on the Battery and an inflatable buoy across the harbour, just off Fort St Angelo.

The first of four starts, the smaller Class 4 boats, were off at 11 a.m. in an eight-knot breeze.

The Corby 36 AOC Rockall (GER) took the initial bragging rights as first boat out of the harbour.

As the front moved in, the breeze in the confined starting zone was gusty and the third start, the 19 boats in Class 2, had their hands full gybing downwind to exit between the breakwaters.

Among them, the 62-foot B2 Natali (ITA) and Cookson 50, Cantakerous (ITA), were caught out in the squirrely conditions, each suffering a close-quarter round-up.

The last start, Class 1 – which included the scratch boat, the 100-foot Esimit Europa 2 (SLO), J/V 72, Ran (GBR), the Mills 68 Alegre (GBR) and the Swan 80 Bernice Bis (ITA) – took advantage of the building breeze which was up to about 15 knots, though still puffy, to effect a quick exit out of the harbour.

From the Grand Harbour, the fleet processed down the coast to a turning mark off St Julian’s.

Squalls and lightning followed, causing some boats to broach in sudden changing conditions.

Around this time the German Open 40, Pogo, was the race’s first retirement, out with a torn mainsail.

Shortly before casting off, Niklas Zennstrom, owner and helmsman of Ran said: “The wind for the first two days looks very, very light and fickle, so it’s going to be quite challenging for all of us, because it is hard to predict where the little wind is and where it is coming from.

“I think it is going to be very tactical, it is going to be very much looking to see what’s happening to the other boats close to you and seeing where the wind is.”

Racing on the Swan 82, Nikata (GBR), is skipper Matt Hardy, with navigator Mike Broughton and Simon Shaw calling tactics.

“It looks like a full mix of conditions, but the good news is the wind is from the south most of the time, not from the cold north,” Broughton said.

“We have a trough line coming through, so will have a little bit of rain on it and little bit of wind as well.”

At around 3 p.m., the bulk of the fleet was midway across the 50-nautical mile passage between Malta and Sicily.

Early leader Esimit Europa 2 was ten miles south of Capo Passero doing 14 knots.

The Slovenian boat was six miles ahead of Ran with Alegre a further three miles behind.

In 2007, Rambler established the current course record of 47 hours, 55 minutes, 3 seconds.

In order to beat the US boat’s record, the first boat must finish the race by approximately 11.30 a.m. tomorrow.