Another RMYC regatta was held recently with the fleet following an amended shortened course which took them south bound around the islands of Filfla and Gozo.

The approximate 100nm course took the boats through every point of sailing in moderate to rough conditions with a stiff breeze from the infamous northwest at times peaking 24 knots.

This set the stage for some very fast and rough competition for both class winners, Elusive, of Arthur Podesta (IRC A) and Martin Meachem's Mischief (IRC B).

The boats rounded Fairway Buoy, down towards Munxar's Cardinal Buoy and towards Bengħajsa Buoy. Sailors then had a beat in a freshening breeze rounding Filfla to starboard, up to Ċirkewwa, through the south Comino channel, and into the full face of a now 24-knot 'majjistral', taking on the heavy swells under Tal-Ġordan lighthouse.

Once rounded, the fleet headed down towards Xlendi leaving Gozo to port. It was back to a spinnaker run for a flight down to Filfla, gybing at the rock, then a peel to an A-sail for a dash back to Bengħajsa.

The first boat home crossed the line at 19:46 with the last boat finishing early in the morning at 00:17.

Elusive and Maltese Falcon match-raced along the course with Elusive taking the upperhand in class and claiming overall line honours. Mischief and Moondance had their own one-on-one as the youngsters on Moondance sailed an impeccable race in testing conditions. Mischief played catch-up but managed to win the class on corrected time.

In the IRC Cruiser class, Excellance's first day out on the race course was impressive, keeping up with the racers for a very long time.

Results

IRC A: 1. Elusive; 2. Maltese Falcon; 3. Vikesha. IRC B: 1. Mischief; 2. Moondance; 3. Inspiration. IRC Cruiser: 1. Excellance; 2. Fekruna.