Middle Sea Race

The Rolex Middle Sea Race is a highly rated offshore classic, often mentioned in the same breath as the Rolex Fastnet, The Rolex Sydney - Hobart and Newport-Bermuda as a "must do" race.

Co-founded by The Royal Malta Yacht Club and the Royal Ocean Racing Club in 1968, the race was conceived as the result of sporting rivalry between great friends, Paul and John Ripard and an Englishman residing in Malta called Jimmy White.

The race is a true challenge to skippers and crews who have to be at their very best to cope with the often changeable and demanding conditions. Equally, the race is blessed with unsurpassed scenery with its course, taking competitors close to a number of islands, which form marks of the course. Ted Turner described the Middle Sea Race as "the most beautiful race course in the world".

The course of some 607 nautical miles is sailed anti-clockwise around the Islands of Sicily, Pantelleria and Lampedusa. Starting from Marsamxett Harbour, Valetta, beneath the Royal Malts YC in Fort Manoel, the fleet head north along the eastern coats of Sicily to the Straits of Messina. Once through the Straits the course leads north to the Aeolian Islands and the active volcano of Stromboli where the yachts turn west to the Egadi Islands. Passing between Marettimo and Favignana the crews head south towards the island of Lampedusa leaving Pantelleria to port. Once past Lampedusa the fleet then turns northeast on the final leg to the Comino Channel and the finish at Marsamxett Harbour. En-route the crews take in an amazing diversity of landscape and sea conditions, all of which combine to create the attraction and challenge that make the Middle Sea Race truly unique.