The Rolex Middle Sea Race will start this Saturday, 20th October. However, the traditional warm up race, the Rolex Middle Sea Coastal Race, was held on Wednesday 17th October.

34 Yachts started the Rolex Middle Sea Coastal Race, divided into IRC Classes. Principal Race Officer, Peter Dimech, set a course of approximately 30 nautical miles from Marsamxett Harbour, around the Valletta Harbour Fairway Buoy, the island of Comino, and the same course back to the finish, which was in sight of the Royal Malta Yacht Club.

The overall winner of the 2018 Rolex Middle Sea Coastal Race was Stefan Jentzsch's German Carkeek 47 Black Pearl. Pietro Moschini's Italian Cookson 50 Endlessgame took line honours and was second overall.

"The Coastal Race was a good way to get on track for the offshore race," commented Black Pearl's navigator, Marc Lagesse. "Our goal was to check our pre-race set up and we raced full out for the full thirty miles, and then more practice. Looking forward to Saturday, we are excited, we have a fantastic fleet of over 140 boats, and we will need to be at the top of our game if we are to do well."

Maltese First 45 Elusive 2 sailed by Christoph, Aaron & Maya Podesta was the winner of IRC 4 and third overall.

"Our main aim today was to sail together as a team, as it has been sometime since we have all been available. Also Elusive 2 has a new rig, the race went well for us, and it was great to win our class and to be the first Maltese boat to finish the race", explained Elusive 2's Maya Podesta

Congratulations go to all of the Class winners, including: Sergey Bryuzga's Russian Ker 40 Frogfoot,  Ross Applebey's British Oyster 48 Scarlet Oyster and David Latham's British Pronavia 38 Seawolf of Southampton.

"Competitors enjoyed 15-20 knots of wind and a good sea state," commented PRO Peter Dimech. "For the race up to Comino it was a run with a beat back to the Fairway Buoy, so a good range of wind angles for the boats before the big race on Saturday."

The Rolex Middle Sea Race is supported by the Ministry for Tourism, the Malta Tourism Authority, Transport Malta, Yachting Malta, Marina di Valletta, Grand Hotel Excelsior Marina and the Grand Harbour Marina.       

The Rolex Middle Sea Race will start on Saturday 20th October at 11:00am from the Grand Harbour. Viewing of the start can be enjoyed from various vantage points in Valletta as well as Vittoriosa and Senglea.

For more information and tracking of boats please visit www.rolexmiddlesearace.com and the Race's social media pages on Facebook and Instagram.

Full Results for the Coastal Race: www.rolexmiddlesearace.com