Giovanni Soldini and the crew of Maserati Multi70 are getting ready for the start of the 43rd edition of the Rolex Middle Sea Race, organised by the Royal Malta Yacht Club (RMYC), which this year counts on the participation of a fleet of more than 140 yachts from 24 countries and for the first time will see five MOD70 trimarans lined up on the starting line.
From 9:00 UTC, 11:00 Italian time, tomorrow, Saturday October 22nd, at the sound of the cannons from the Saluting Battery, the starting procedures will begin in Grand Harbour divided into seven classes, opening with the MOCRA class of multihulls.
Together with Maserati Multi70, which will be sailing in flying trim, will be Axciss (ITA), owned by Cosimo Malesci and skippered by Eric Defert; Mana (ITA), owned by Riccardo Pavoncelli and skippered by Paul Larsen; Snowflake (USA), owned by Frank Slootman and skippered by Gavin Brady from New Zealand; and Zoulou (FRA), owned by Erik Maris and skippered by Loick Peyron.
Also racing in the MOCRA class will be Dakota (NOR), Kia Ora (FR) and Minimole (ITA).
Giovanni Soldini comments: “This is the first time it happens to see five MOD 70s all together, it will be an exciting regatta, the competitive level is very high so it will be an amazing sporting show. For now the weather situation, as far as we are concerned, is anything but favourable, in fact we expect a slow race with light winds and having a flying trim with large areas of submerged foils, these are not the conditions we were hoping for. We will see in the next few hours how the picture will develop”.
The transfer to Malta was also an opportunity to conduct the first in-water tests of the full electric system adopted on board. “With Maserati Multi70 we will arrive at the starting line with a boat that is entirely free of hydrocarbons. I hope that this experience will be followed by many others, because sailing must be at the forefront of environmental care,” concludes Soldini.
On board Maserati Multi70, Giovanni Soldini will sail with eight professional sailors: boat captain Guido Broggi, Matteo Soldini, Francesco Pedol, Oliver Herrera Perez, Frédéric Le Peutrec, Alberto Riva and Francesco Malingri (media man).
The 606-nautical-mile (1,122-kilometre) race course makes a counter-clockwise loop around Sicily and its islands, starting and finishing in Valletta, Malta. There are beautiful passages north of Stromboli, west of Favignana and Pantelleria and south of Lampedusa.
Photo © Fabrizio Pacini
