Elusive 2, skippered by Aaron Podesta and David Anastasi continued on their winning streak when they etched their name on the Raymarine Double Handed Figure of Eight trophy following their clear win in this gruelling race
The Raymarine Double Handed Figure of Eight race, one of the long standing races of the Royal Malta Yacht Club racing calendar took place earlier on last week when Race Officer Peter Dimech sent the fleet on a 85 nautical mile course towards Comino, around Gozo and back via Filfla, and the South of Malta, to finish in Marsamxett Harbour.
The Race started with light winds from the North west. Making the leg to Comino and the west tip of Gozo a hard beat. Whilst the thick grey clouds that hovered above the fleet did not bode well, they soon cleared allowing the fleet to proceed without any downpours. As the race progressed the wind, keeping to the forecast North westerly, gradually increased to approximately 25 knots, with gusts well in excess. Despite some tricky downwind conditions close to Paradise Bay, crews were able to push the boats and make the most of the race.
Elusive 2 took the lead from the start, being the first to exit the harbour mouth. They were followed by Xpresso (Sean Borg/Paul Borg Cardona) and Vivace (Andrew Agius Delicata / Matthew Gabriele). The finish practically mirrored the start with Elusive 2 claiming line honours and overall win on corrected time. Her elapsed time was 9h 5m 16s
The IRC Cruiser class boats sailed a shorter, approximately 50 mile, figure of eight around Comino and Gozo, before sailing back to Marsamxett to finish. Kontiki (Matthew Sultana/Joseph B. Muscat) was the first of these to finish and held on the first place on corrected time.
A Prize Giving evening, hosted by RLR Yachting, exclusive agents of Raymarine in Malta, took place at the Royal Malta Yacht Club.
“No sailing race can be considered as being easy, but when it comes to Double Handed Racing then the going gets though. There are little to no moments when one can take a breather and therefore makes racing far more challenging. Credit goes to these crews for taking on the challenge. Of course, our gratitude goes to the volunteers who undertake race management duties and last but not least the team at RLR Yachting who have been supporting this race for the past decade” commented Godwin Zammit, Commodore, Royal Malta Yacht Club.
Raymarine Double Handed Figure of 8 Race Results
IRC Racers Overall
1st Place Elusive 2 (Aaron Podesta/David Anastasi)
2nd Place Xpresso (Sean Borg/ Paul Borg Cardona)
3rd Place Vivace (Andrew Agius Delicata / Matthew Gabriele)
IRC Racer 1
1st Place Elusive 2 (Aaron Podesta/David Anastasi)
IRC Racer 2
1st Place Vivace (Andrew Agius Delicata / Matthew Gabriele)
2nd Place JYS Jan (Daniel Fenech / Matthew Micallef)
3rd Place JYS Jarhead (Zachary Zammit / Saul Vassallo)
IRC Cruisers Overall
1st Place Kontiki (Matthew Sultana /Joseph B. Muscat)
