The 2015 Rolex Middle Sea Race starts on Saturday 17th October. Deadline for entries is Friday 2nd October 2015.
The Royal Malta Yacht Club is proud to announce that 100 yachts have now entered the 2015 Rolex Middle Sea Race. The 36th edition of the race has attracted competitors from at least 22 different countries from all over the world. The 606-mile race starts and finishes in the spectacular surroundings of Malta’s capital city, Valetta. The Fortress City is named after its founder, the Grand Master of the Order of St. John, Jean Parisot de la Valette and its impressive bastions date back to the 16th century. From the Grand Harbour, the race is blessed with unsurpassed scenery with its course, taking competitors close to a number of stunning islands around Sicily and Malta, before returning to the Royal Malta Yacht Club for a fantastic welcome.
Since the first edition in 1968, the race has attracted a wide variety of competitors and yachts and this year’s race is no different. World Champions and professional sailors from the Volvo Ocean Race and America’s Cup will be taking part, as well as passionate corinthian sailors. The yachts are just as diverse, from elegant classics to the world’s fastest multihulls. The Rolex Middle Sea Race has an appeal that satisfies a wide variety of sailors.
From St. Barths, West Indies, Lloyd Thornburg’s MOD 70, Phaedo3, will be making its Rolex Middle Sea Race debut. Earlier this year, the lime green trimaran has been smashing records in the Caribbean including the RORC Caribbean 600 multihull record, which has stood since the first race in 2009. Multiple world record holder, Brian Thompson, leads the all-star crew and will be keen to beat Musandam-Oman Sail, which was faster on the water than Phaedo3 in this year’s Rolex Fastnet Race.
In sharp contrast to the carbon fibre, high speed multihulls, the Rolex Middle Sea Race has attracted classic yachts and this year, one of the world’s most famous.
Designed in 1929 by Olin Stephens, the 52ft yawl, Dorade, won the Fastnet Race in 1931 & 1933. Olin Stephens was skipper through 1932 when he handed the boat to his brother, Rod Stephens who sailed to victory in the 1932 Bermuda Race. Californian, Matt Brooks is now the proud owner of Dorade, and is extremely fastidious with regards to the authentic appearance, maintaining the yacht as closely as possible to her original configuration. Dorade maybe the oldest yacht to compete in the Rolex Middle Sea Race but she is still very competitive. In last month’s Rolex Fastnet Race, Dorade was second in IRC 4 and seventh overall out of over 300 yachts racing under IRC and second in class for the 2015 Transatlantic Race.
Dorade is competing in all of the races in the Atlantic series, and of course the Rolex Middle Sea is one of those.” commented Matt Brooks. “Beyond that, this is our next chapter in Dorade’s history, to take on races she has never done before, particularly iconic and challenging off-shore races like the Rolex Middle Sea Race. Last summer we competed in several of the coastal classic regattas in the Mediterranean – Corsica, St Tropez and Cannes — and did very well there. We look forward to experiencing the Mediterranean from offshore in this year’s race.”
The 2015 Rolex Middle Sea Race starts on Saturday 17th October. Deadline for entries is Friday 2nd October 2015. For more information: www.rolexmiddlesearace.com
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