The 47th Rolex Middle Sea Race starts tomorrow, Saturday 17 October, at 11:00 CEST from Malta's Grand Harbour, sending 107 yachts and around 940 sailors from 55 countries and territories on a 606-nautical-mile lap of Sicily. Unsettled weather is forecast throughout, and tactics look set to count for as much as raw boat speed.
The course runs from the Strait of Messina and Stromboli to western Sicily, Pantelleria and Lampedusa. Veteran navigator Mike Broughton, aboard Jens Kellinghusen's Ker 56 Varuna VI, expects building south-easterlies of 20 to 25 knots by Tuesday, with a trough bringing rain, thunderstorms and gusts to 35 knots on Wednesday. Seas of 1.8 to 2.4 metres are forecast.
Remon Vos's Black Jack 100, skippered by Tristan Le Brun, returns to defend monohull line honours, with a projected passage of roughly 54 hours despite a reworked sail plan that adds some uncertainty. Johnny Vincent's Volvo 70 Pace, fresh off winning both line honours and overall IRC at August's RORC Round Britain and Ireland Race, brings round-the-world veterans Stu Bannatyne and Neal MacDonald leading the watches alongside navigator Jules Salter.
Bannatyne expects a tough start in forecast light downwind conditions. "Our goal is just going to be to do the best we can to hang on," he said, backing Pace to come into her own later as the breeze builds and the sea state grows.
Defending overall IRC winner Balthasar, the Mills 72 skippered by Louis Balcaen, already looks sharp. With tactician Bouwe Bekking aboard, she claimed line honours and overall IRC victory in Wednesday's Yachting Malta Coastal Race, and co-navigator Jens Dolmer rates Lampedusa as the likely decisive point of the course.
Bernard Arkas's TP52 Arkas Blue Moon, skippered by Serhat Altay, is chasing a Mediterranean hat-trick after wins in the 2026 Giraglia and Palermo-Montecarlo races, and sits third overall under IRC from the Coastal Race.
Among the Maltese contingent, Lee Satariano's HH42 Artie III carries four-time overall winner Christian Ripard on his 36th Middle Sea Race appearance. The Podesta family's First 45 Elusive 2, overall winner in 2019 and 2020, finished fourth overall in the Coastal Race, the top Maltese result of that warm-up event.
The five-strong Class40 fleet races on a first-across-the-line basis rather than handicap. Among them, Ivica Kostelić's Optimus Prime, skippered by Matic Vrečko, arrives fresh from winning the Cannes-Malta Race.
With the fleet promising a tense tactical battle through the trough and beyond, final prize-giving is set for Saturday 24 October.
