The Rolex Middle Sea Race 2011

The Rolex Middle Sea Race 2011, 600 km from Malta to Sicily

The 32nd edition of the Rolex Middle Sea Race took off on a rainy Saturday, on the 22nd of October, 2011 from the beautiful Grand Harbour opposite the Saluting Battery and Fort St. Angelo in Birgu (Vittoriosa).

The Malta Rolex Middle Sea Race 2011 is a highly rated offshore classic and covered one of the most beautiful courses in the world: Malta, Sicily and 18 smaller islands passing two active volcanoes, Mount Etna and Stromboli. 70 participants from all over Europe took part in the 600km race and hundreds of locals and foreigners gathered to watch the spectacular Rolex Middle Sea Race 2011 from the shore along Valletta and Sliema to admire all the sails.

The weather conditions were ideal to fill the sails with winds and anticipation was high as the starting signal was fired from the canons of the Upper Barrakka Gardens. The starts were divided into categories where the smallest yachts took off first and the last group to start contained fantastic super-yachts.

The largest yacht participating in the Rolex Middle Sea Race 2011 was the 100-footer Esimit Europa 2, from Slovenia who was also the first boat to return to Malta on Tuesday 25th October at almost 01:00 and winning the Line Honours.

The course record was set in 2007 by Rambler (USA) – 47 hours, 55 minutes, 3 seconds and the Slovenian team completed the course in 61 hours, 24 minutes and 35 seconds. The second team to pass the finish line was Niklas Zennstrom’s Rán in 2 days, 23 hours, 40 minutes.

The final prize of the Rolex Middle Sea Race was handed out at 12:00 on Saturday, 29th October 2011 at the Mediterranean Conference Centre in Valletta.