By 7am yesterday morning five more yachts had crossed the finish line of the 28th Rolex Middle Sea Race. British yacht Nisida led the minor charge finishing just before midnight, whilst Martin Scicluna’s Air Malta Falcon (MLT) completed the course just before seven.

In between came the Swiss boat Tai Shan, Elusive Medbank and finally Guts ‘n’ Glory (GER), which sailed most of the race with only a trysail after their main gave out before she reached Stromboli. By 5PM two more - Obelix (ITA) and Slingshot (GBR) - were back on their berths, with Global Yacht Racing (GBR) hoping to arrive at some point this evening.

The yachts finishing now are in conditions that were all but unimaginable 48-72 hours ago. The Royal Malta Yacht Club has been bathed in warm sunshine for much of the day, with members enjoying lunch outside on the terrace overlooking the finish and watching those boats coming home having to short tack up Marsamxett Harbour on the vaguest of zephyrs. A far cry from the extreme winds faced by the crews from Saturday night until Tuesday morning. The frontal system that put three-quarters of the fleet into harbour during the first 36-hours is a distant memory. It is only the stories and faces of those who completed the course that give a true measure of the race.

Peter Hopps and Hilary Cook, co-skippers of Nisida finished at night and missed the crescendo of a daylight finish. But they too had been in an exceptional race and happily describe a scene that Joseph Conrad would have been proud of as they dodged thunderstorms, lightning and hail on the first leg up the eastern seaboard of Sicily. Once past Messina they had a good leg to Stromboli, although the foredeck crew had certainly had enough sail changes to last the race, if not a lifetime. At Stromboli there was a sense of déjà vu. Hopps and Cook have done the race twice before and always seem spend some time becalmed of the volcanic island, "it's as good a place as any, given there's always something to look at," laughs Cook. But this time it was the calm after and before the storm. A good chance to draw breath.

Both are equally emphatic that teamwork and team morale were also keystones, as Cook describes, “the most satisfying thing about this race was that we had a team of people that a week ago did not know each other, for three of whom it was their first ever offshore race, and they all came together and really looked after each other. We really did work very hard as a crew.”

Arthur Podesta on Elusive Medbank also points to a sound, prepared boat and crew morale as the bedrock of a secure platform in a race where the wind repeatedly went from 10 to 50 knots and back down again in an instant, “the boat was well-prepared and the night before we left we tried on our storm trysail and our storm jib. I told the crew we would probably be using these on the second night with the forecast we had, but it so happened we used them on the first night as well. It was storm jib up and storm jib down. Then changing the storm jib for No. 4 to keep the boat going at speed. Exchanging the trysail for two reefs in the main, and back down to trysail and back up to two reefs. It was lots of hard work. After the first few times changing sail configurations became routine."

Podesta’s three children that range in age from 18 to 24 have over twenty Rolex Middle Sea Races between them. Still fewer than their father, but Podesta is quick to acknowledge the role they and the rest of the crew play in setting up the boat and managing her on the racecourse. According to daughter Maya, on her seventh race, this is by far the worst she has experienced, “I saw 57 knots. I’ve been in 45/50 before, but I’ve never been in 57. It’s an experience. When it really blew the first night it flattened the seas, it was amazing. But then the seas started building. And then the northern part of Sicily was big. It was definitely the toughest. The one where we retired because we could not make the time limit because there was no wind was tough. This was tougher, and more exciting. And I loved every second of it!”

Podesta’s daughter has never had a trysail up before this race. Asked if she ever wants to see one again she replies, “I wouldn’t ever want to be on a boat that doesn’t have a trysail.”

George David’s Rambler is the Overall Winner of the Rolex Middle Sea Race 2007, she also set a new Course Record of 47 hours 55 minutes and 3 seconds.

Robert McNeill’s Zephyrus IV established the previous Course Record of 64 hours 49 minutes and 57 seconds in 2000.

The final prize giving will be held on Saturday 27 October.