The Rolex Middle Sea Race produced many twists and turns over the years but none came close to the drama that unfolded yesterday when Phaedo 3 threw away a second successive line honours victory for multi-hulls and open the way for Maserati to race home first in a new course record for the category.

Maserati skipper Giovanni Soldini.

Late Sunday, Lloyd Thornburg’s MOD70 Phaedo 3 was in total control of the race as  its crew rounded Pantelleria and were 11 miles ahead of Maserati, skippered by Giovanni Soldini.

But Phaedo 3’s challenge fell apart in the early hours yesterday when instead of rounding Lampedusa they erroneously tacked earlier in the north east of Linosa. It was only at 5am that they realised their mistake before heading back to Lampedusa to get back on course.

That costly error played in the hands of Maserati who from chasers turned into race leaders, now 65 miles ahead and some four hours clear of their rivals.

There was no way back for Phaedo 3 as Maserati held its position to cross the finish line in Valletta in a new record time for multi-hulls of 2 days, one hour, 25 minutes and one second – well inside the previous best set by Phaedo 3 last year – 2 days, 11 hours, 29 minutes and 41 seconds.

Phaedo 3 completed the course a couple of hours behind Maserati and also inside their best time of 2015.

“I am really happy to have finished the Rolex Middle Sea Race first given everything that we had to deal with,” an elated Soldini told Times of Malta yesterday.

“This was a very tense duel between us and Phaedo 3. We struggled a lot with lack of winds but we still managed to remain in touch with them for most of the distance.

“Then, they committed one big mistake that handed us the race on a plate. We were ready to pounce and take home this victory in our first appearance in an offshore.”

Phaedo 3 co-skipper Brian Thompson gave no details of their mishap, merely telling race headquarters that there had been a navigation error.

“Last night we scored an ‘own goal’. We have rectified our mistake and are carrying on to the finish,” he was quoted as saying.

Mechanical problems

At first, Soldini thought that Phaedo 3 had suffered mechanical problems as they veered off course.

“When I saw Phaedo 3 drifting towards the north east of Linosa we thought that they had broken something on the boat. I was also tempted to contact them to see whether they needed some help,” Soldini said.

“But we decided to wait as Phaedo 3 only realised their error some four hours later. By then it was too late for them to recover.”

Maserati’s victory came against the odds considering the boat had suffered significant damage in the build-up to the race.

“Just before sailing to Malta, we broke one of our rudders and we couldn’t use all hydrofoil power in this race,” he explained.

“That was a major handicap for us as the boat couldn’t reach its maximum speed. In fact, I believe that had we had a fully functional boat we could have lowered the race record even further.

“But I’m very proud of my crew. We all worked really hard to make sure we could start the race and they deserve all the plaudits for this victory.”

Besides Soldini, the others on board Maserati were Guido Broggi, Carlos Hernandez, Oliver Herrera Perez, Jean-Baptiste Le Vaillant, Francesco Malingri and Pierre Casiraghi.

Soldini said they will now return home to Italy to install a new rudder on Maserati. Then, they will start planning for a trans-oceanic race, next month.

“Our priority is to make sure the boat is in its best condition for the next race,” he said.

“The Rolex MSR was a great learning experience for us but we still have to confirm whether we will be back next year.”

Meanwhile, the Royal Malta Yacht Club, organisers of the Rolex MSR, reported that George David’s Rambler 88, was expected to take the mono-hull line honours.

The American maxi boat was expected at Marsamxett Harbour late last night, setting the corrected time for the IRC fleet to claim the overall win.