News
02/11/2010
Ars Una Fy49' the Owners talk about the Middle Sea Race
Hello
for such a family crew made by two grown up/parents Owners and a group of children and friends aged around twenty, this 2010 season dedicated to offshore races has been a great adventure, a precious experience, a demanding logistic effort.
Roma per Tutti and even more Middle Sea Race take place in seas and during seasons which “guarantee any kind of atmospheric weather”; therefore we made the preparation with adventure spirit but also with the proper rigging and precise procedures to guarantee crew and boat safety.
In this view, the two days Survival Training given by Anzio centre – mandatory for Class 2 racers – have been definitely helpful and I would recommend it to you all, cruisers or racers!
As far as Middle Sea Race, 3 days of preparation in Malta, and then… go! Inside the Grand Harbour, the start was even tough than at Laser Italian Championship. All boats crowded on the starboard mark, heading into the wind and waiting for the gun shot.
We sailed up to Sicily, then there was the dead calm night between Siracusa and the end of Calabria; then the perception of not being able to walk a step ahead, confirmed in the morning by competitors e by the news coming from land. We pulled ourselves in light breeze all day long and at last, at sunset, we entered the funnel Calabria-Sicily where wind was slightly stronger. We left the strait around 9:00 p.m.
Fair wind up to Stromboli, where we saw the night show of the endless eruption while we overtook some competitors, sailing fast.
Then rain and dead calm, in the middle of the low pressure on the North of Sicily. But we were aware that a westerly 25-30 knots was waiting for us in Trapani. And we reached Trapani sailing in strong wind, squalls, rainstorms and making many sail changes. A real test of both boat and crew efficiency!
Despite the forecasted force 5-6 out of Egadi, at night, we turned Favignana in an unbelievable 5-6 hours spent in dead calm. We had the sense to be arrived: in strong wind sailing beam and broad reach, 240 miles are that short even if you had three tough days of racing behind you!
With some more 24 hours sailing in rainstorms, we entered the bay where the finish is placed in front of the Yacht Club. Our finish was at 5:41,41 p.m. We were very touched and satisfied by what we had done so far, because we were all ok, we had so deep positive and negative sensations, because all guys were engaged with strong commitment and energy.
As the win at Roma per Tutti in ORC and IRC Group 1 rewarded us – perhaps too much – our placing around 2/3 of Middle Sea Race ranking make us feel a bit unlucky. But we will take home with us the sensations, the competencies and the satisfaction for what we have achieved, rather than for the final result.
See you soon
Vittorio e Carlo
