2018 MIDDLE SEA RACE: UPDATE

Terrible conditions, very difficult light winds along the East coast of Sicily and on the Messina strait. When I say light it is almost no wind at all sometimes 2 or 3 kts winds.

HH66 and 84ft Allegra

The big fleet spent all night without being able to pass the strait and its opposing current. The only exception were the two racing trimarans (Multi 70) that have showed a remarkably good performance upwind with weak winds. Soldini and Maserati (Mod70) are doing a great race, have left behind the other Mod70 and have already passed Stromboli.

Curiously the two other big multihulls racing are not doing so well against monohulls and on that private battle Allegra, a very fast 78ft cruiser racer is beating the HH66, another very fast cruiser racer cat, about which the builder says that “we've created a cruising cat that outperforms anything of equivalent size and class – anywhere” 

Comet 50c aand Mylius 50

Actually the HH66 (and the bigger Allegra), on these conditions, are being beaten by smaller cruiser racer monohulls like a 50ft Mylius, a Mylius 60, a Comet 52C and a Swan 50. 

Looking at other cruiser racers doing well, another Mylius 50ft is going very fast chasing the HH66 and not very far an old Swan 651 shows that on these conditions it is still a match for more modern boats. Not very far, just entering the strait come two surprisingly Swan 42. 

The first 40 ft cruiser racer is a Neo 400, the first one with less than 40 ft is a JPK 11.80 that is battling with several J122 that are doing good on the race as well as a Sydney 39CR. The first 36ft boats are JPK 10.80 and the first of the two crew category is a Comet 45s that is going strong even if compared with fully crewed boats, followed by a very fast and well sailed JPK 10.80. 

Swan 50

As expected the several Pogos (12.50 and 36) racing are not doing well and the 40class racers have finally understood that med conditions doesn’t suit them and even if there is a class for them on the race and they have been racing here on the past, not a single one showed up this time. 
http://rolexmiddlesearace.com/tracker/