Giovanni Soldini and Maserati Multi 70 are still sailing in the lead of the Rolex Middle Sea Race, around 200 miles away from the finish line and after increasing the advantage over their direct rival PowerPlay, which is sailing 35 miles behind (according to the tracker at 11.00 local time, 9.00 UTC).
It was a very hard night for the Italian trimaran’s crew: they had to pass through a big storm, with wind gusts up to 50 knots, and they reached the island of Favignana this morning around 05.00 (03.00 UTC).
“A very violent squall line with strong gusts of wind, thunders and lightings passed over our heads”, says Giovanni Soldini. “We were able to shorten the sails very quickly without any damages, we stopped for just 5 minutes. We always stayed on route. One of the concerns was obviously the right-side damaged rudder: with strong winds and sudden gusts coming from left, we needed to be very careful not to be unprepared and to keep the central hull in the water or we would be left without any rudder in use. We are very satisfied with the beautiful regatta we are conducting so far. I’m particularly happy about the way that everyone in the crew reacted to the problems with the hydraulic piston and the rudder. We don’t have any intention to stop!”
Maserati Multi 70’s Team is heading towards the island of Pantelleria, to be left to port, with a 15 knots NNW wind. The next buoy will be the island of Lampedusa before heading towards Valletta in Malta.
Soldini comments: “The last part towards the finish line will be the most critical for us. We will sail with strong wind and rough sea, without a rudder, beam reach, which is the most challenging and difficult sailing point for Maserati Multi 70.”
Photo ©Martina Orsini
