Deep crowds lined the huge city ramparts of Valletta’s Marsamxett Harbour this morning to witness the departure of the 58 yachts competing in the 26th Rolex Middle Sea Race.

Due to the narrow confines of the harbour and the Royal Malta Yacht Club start line, the Race Committee split the fleet into five groups and it was with a massive explosion from a 25lb, 4in Howitzer that the smallest class got away first at 1100 local time, the remaining classes starting in 10 minute intervals afterwards.

In the small boat class, it was John Ripard Jnr and Andrew Calascione’s 2002 overall winner Jammin’ (ex-Market Wizard) who made the best start and led past the turning mark at the harbour entrance. In the second start three Maltese boats - Simon and Timmy Camilleri’s X-40, XL, Martin Scicluna’s Beneteau 40.7, Maltese Falcon, and RMYC Commodore George Bonello Dupuis’ Prima 38, Primadonna - hit the line at speed three abreast, XL gaining the lead as the boats left the harbour.

The third start was the only one with infringements, when some congestion and over-enthusiasm caused Carlo Gullotta’s Imagination, Cristiano Lombards’ Veronix and David Frank’s 2001 winner Strait Dealer to be over early. All three returned and restarted.

The fourth start was for only five boats, but included some of the most competitive in this year’s Rolex Middle Sea Race: Nick Lykiardopulo’s Rolex Sydney Hobart winner Aera steered by Jez Fanstone and triple Olympic medalist Ben Ainslie and despite a slow start, is likely to come good in the upwind stages forecast for the end of the race. Pierre-E Detroyat’s Farr 52 Nabatea, is being sailed by a French crew including America’s Cup sailors Herve Cunningham and former Alinghi crewman Christian Scherrer. “We’ve only done the Giraglia Rolex Cup so this is our second race as a crew. We’re not going too wild at it - we’ll have a safe race,” said Scherrer just before leaving the dock.

Also in this class is Sir Peter Ogden’s all black Swan 601, Spirit of Jethou. “We’ve been regatta sailing and I decided I wanted to do all the famous offshores in a year,” said Ogden, visiting Malta for the first time. “We’ve done the Rolex Fastnet, the Giraglia, we’re doing the Middle Sea Race and next is the Newport-Bermuda race. If we get really brave we might even do the Sydney-Hobart! Then we would have done all the big 600 milers and ticked the boxes.” Ogden says Spirit of Jethou prefers upwind or downwind rather than reaching conditions.

Finally with a cheer from the watching crowds, the big boat class got underway with Carlo Puri Negri’s Atalanta II, the maxi ketch Steinlager II (resplendent in her original Whitbread livery) and Augusto Lustrissini’s Grand Soleil 56 X-Fly thundering down the harbour, hitting the line in unison.

Unfortunately the wind was too easterly to allow the boats to start under spinnaker. Only once they had rounded Tigne Point, marking the western entrance to the harbour, were they able to crack off and hoist their spinnakers for the short passage along the coast.

En route to the turning mark off St Georges Shoals, Steinlager Thuraya, sailing with 25 on board rather than the normal 16, her crew including 10 professionals, took a more offshore course than Atalanta II, and rounded just ahead, with Pieter Vroon’s 56 footer Formidable3 and the two Volvo Ocean 60s Amer Sports One and AAG Big One behind them.

In a lengthy procession the boats hardened up and headed off into the distance bound for Capo Passera and the southeastern tip of Sicily, 53 miles away. The forecast is for the 15 knot southeasterlies to give the boats a good run north, but as they tackle the east coast of Sicily tonight, the wind is set to become extremely light and will remain this way as the boats attempt to pass through the Strait of Messina tomorrow.

The final prize giving is at noon on 29th October in La Valette Hall at the Mediterranean Conference Centre.

Robert McNeil (USA)’s Zephyrus IV holds the current Course Record of 64 hours 49 minutes and 57 seconds, established in 2000. To beat this record the first monohull will have to cross the finish line in Malta in the early hours of Tuesday (25th October) morning.

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