The Royal Malta Yacht Club recently organised the Gauci Borda Triple Handed Race, which set off on Saturday morning from Marsamxett Harbour and went on a course towards Comino.
With strong wind gusts coming from the west to the northwest, all crews opted for a shorter course round Comino rather than the originally planned course round Gozo. This probably due to the swell and unpredictable backwash from the cliffs, especially in the northern area around Gozo.
From the start it was a tacking duel, all the way up to the North East Malta shore between Sean Borg's Xpresso and Georges Bonello DuPuis' Escape, with Xpresso taking the lead and rounding Comino ahead of Escape. From then on it was a battle all the way to the finish. Escape approached the finish in the lead on a port tack with Xpresso following on starboard. Despite valiant efforts from Xpresso, Escape gave one final push to pip Xpresso to victory by just one second. Time Out followed in third place approximately thirty minutes behind Xpresso.
Following the first three finishers were Ferdinand Grech's Kontiki and Jonathan Camilleri Bowman's Maltese Falcon, with the latter crossing the finish line by a mere twenty-eight seconds ahead.
The Gauci Borda Triple Handed Race forms part of the RMYC Short Handed Series, which consists of three races, the first being the PVIES Double Handed Round Malta Race. The final instalment of the Series will take place in December with the Raymarine Double Handed Figure of Eight Race.
Prizes, which were sponsored by Gauci Borda Co. Ltd, were given to the winners during a Prize Giving evening held on the Club's terrace. Prizes were presented by Ms. Anna Rossi, in her capacity as President of the Malta Sailing Federation. The Royal Malta Yacht Club is grateful for the assistance of Peter Dimech (Race Officer), Carla Dimech, Richard Dennis and Wolfgang Scheifinger for providing Race Management assistance.
The next races on the Royal Malta Yacht Club Calendar is an offshore race scheduled to take place on the weekend of the 29th June. The Camilleri Marine Ragusa Weekend Regatta is a popular race which sees crews also enjoy further racing against Sicilian crews in the Trofeo Achille Boroli and Hyblea Cup. On the 14th July, yacht club crews will be taking part in the 58th Edition of the Malta-Syracuse Race.
Further information can be found on www.rmyc.org
Gauci Borda Triple Handed Race Results
1st Place - Escape (Georges Bonello DuPuis, Dennis Gatt, Martin Meachen)
2nd Place - Xpresso (Sean Borg, Simon Briffa, Hauke Eggert)
3rd Place - Time Out (Mario Sant, Michael Curmi, Joseph Grech)