George David’s Rambler 88 took monohull honours in the 2017 Rolex Middle Sea Race last night after crossing the finish line in an elapsed time of 2 days, nine hours 48 minutes nine seconds.

This was the third successive time that the American Maxi returned home first in the 608 nautical mile race.

Earlier yesterday, the race fleet had to contend with brutal conditions, as the majority of the participating yachts beat into the teeth of a gale along the north coast of Sicily, with over a third of the fleet forced to retired from the race.

George David. Photo: Jonathan Borg

Over 50 knots of wind speed has been recorded on the race course, with waves in excess of four metres.

Two Maltese yachts are still in the game, Josef Schultheis & Timmy Camilleri’s Xp-ACT and the Podesta family racing Elusive 2.

On the third day of the race, the two Maltese yachts were battling huge seas and gale force headwinds, approaching the island of Favignana on the north west corner of Sicily, 300 miles from the finish in Malta.

Rambler 88 claims the 2017 Rolex Middle Sea Race. Photo: Jonathan Borg