(Reuters) – Germany’s Red Bandit, skippered by Carl-Peter Forster, was on Wednesday crowned winner of the 45th Rolex Middle Sea Race, becoming the third German yacht to win the prestigious offshore challenge.
Following in the footsteps of Saudade in 1983, and Morning Glory in 2006, Red Bandit’s victory was clinched after organisers the Royal Malta Yacht Club confirmed that none of the remaining yachts still racing would be able to better Red Bandit’s IRC corrected time.
The race over a 606-nautical mile course that circumnavigates Sicily, uses the IRC handicap system to level the playing field for different sizes and classes of yachts.
Under this system, victory goes to the boat that performs best relative to its rating — not necessarily the one that finishes the course first.
“It’s almost unbelievable,” Forster said before the formal confirmation. “I’m particularly proud of these young people, most of whom had never sailed a big boat four years ago.
“They’ve learned to sail this machine so well, which is amazing. I’m proud of how they’ve gelled as a team.”
This year’s edition saw Red Bandit overcome extreme conditions, including 60-knot winds during a thunderstorm, along with calmer, more tactical phases.
“This was my seventh race,” Forster said. “It was the usual amazing, multifaceted Rolex Middle Sea Race. Wind up to 60 knots in a thunderstorm, the fastest Messina Strait crossing thanks to six knots of current with us, the usual light winds, and good boats all around us. Good fighting and competition all the time.”
“AMAZING JOB”
The team, made up largely of sailors under 30, is part of the Forstar Offshore Foundation, which Forster established to help young sailors transition from dinghy racing to offshore competition.
“We struggled in the upwind leg,” tactician Jesper Radich said. “In 20 knots of wind without a heavy weather jib, it was tough. The crew did an amazing job, hiking the boat down for 16 hours a day to keep us in the race.”
The 52-foot vessel’s victory went some way to make up for retirement from last year’s Middle Sea Race due to equipment damage.
On Tuesday Scallywag 100, helmed by skipper David Witt and owned by Hong Kong tycoon Lee Seng Huang, claimed the Monohull Line Honours. That prize is awarded to the fastest monohull to cross the finish line, irrespective of its handicap rating or “corrected time”.
The supermaxi, or high-performance racing yacht typically measuring 100 feet or more, completed the race in two days, 21 hours, 33 minutes and 29 seconds.
First held in 1968, the Middle Sea Race was founded by members of the Royal Malta Yacht Club and the Royal Ocean Racing Club. Its circular course starts and finishes in Malta and passes two active volcanoes — Mount Etna and Stromboli.
Known for its challenging conditions, it attracts a global fleet and is considered one of the premier offshore regattas, alongside the Fastnet and Sydney Hobart Yacht Races.
(Reporting by Ossian Shine; Editing by Toby Davis)
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