With less than three months to go, the Royal Malta Yacht Club (RMYC) is anticipating another large fleet for the 36th Rolex Middle Sea Race next October.
Entries for the 606-nautical mile race are flowing in nicely with over 50 boats from 18 countries already registered.
One of the most eye-catching entries is Jim Clark and Kristy Hinze-Clark’s Comanche, one of the newest and arguably the fastest 100 maxi.
Ken Read, the skipper of Comanche, said: “Comanche was designed and built to push the boundaries of technology with the ultimate goal of winning prestigious yacht races, and they don’t come much better than the Rolex Middle Sea Race.
“It is an honour to compete in this European classic which will be the perfect culmination of a busy summer season of Rolex events as Comanche is due to race in both the Transatlantic and Fastnet Race.
“As ever, our crew will be pushing hard for line honours but we’re simply looking forward to racing Comanche in the Rolex MSR for the first time and enjoying everything that Malta has to offer.”
Read is no newcomer to the event having been the skipper with George David on Rambler when they set the current course record of 47 hours 55 minutes and 3 seconds in 2007.
The race has been popular with the Maxi 72 class and is part of the Maxi 72 Med Trophy.
The class is so far represented by Roberto Tomasini Grinover’s Robertissma III, which is making a welcome return after missing the race in 2014 and Dieter Schon’s Momo, which will be making its debut. Other boats from this exciting class could follow.
The diverse fleet is continuously growing and includes many very competitive boats as well as some large multihulls.
The race follows a long but varied course in which smaller boats can compete against the biggest and the best and sometimes even win. Indeed, in 2014 it was Lee Satariano’s J122, Artie from Malta, that claimed the overall prize.
The 100 foot (30.5m) hull length limit has been lifted by the Royal Ocean Racing Club and the Royal Malta Yacht Club for the 2015 Rolex Fastnet and Rolex Middle Sea Race.
This will allow supermaxis to compete in these two regattas which, together with the Caribbean 600 and the Transatlantic Race, will make up the Atlantic Ocean Racing Series.
In 2014, Esimit Europa was the first boat to complete the race and win Line Honours while Maltese J/122 boat Artie was the overall winner of the IRC Category and the Rolex Middle Sea Race Trophy for the second time.
The largest number of entries ever in the Rolex MSR was 122 established last year.
The 2015 Rolex Middle Sea Race starts on Saturday, October 17.
Entries close on October 2.