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Rolex Middle Sea Race 2022
A large fleet has entered the iconic Middle Sea Race, with crews from Australia, the United States, Canada and most of Europe slated to participate. The fleet comprises the usual array of professionals, amateurs and adventurers. At the faster end, debutant Frank Slootman’s MOD70 Snowflake has been joined by Giovanni Soldini’s Maserati Multi 70, on the Italian multihull’s fifth appearance.
Who to watch
Among the monohulls, the 30.5 metre Leopard 3 is currently the largest entry, making a welcome return after a five-year absence. Within the main body of IRC entries, the impressive two-time winning Maltese co-skipper combo, Lee Satariano and Christian Ripard, are back hoping for a three-peat, with Satariano’s latest Artie.
One entry to catch the eye is Maverick. The Infiniti 46R has been campaigned around the 606 nautical mile course with great success on two previous occasions by Quentin Stewart, winning class both times and finishing third overall in 2016. This year Maverick has been chartered by Michael Firmin, who raced on the DSS foil equipped flyer at the 2017 Rolex Fastnet and 2019 Rolex Sydney Hobart (third in class).
For 2022, Leopard is under new ownership, as Sherlock explains: “It is one of my favourite races,” concludes Sherlock. “This year we have got a great crew, with a lot of Ocean Race experience, but also with experience on Leopard: Mitch Booth, Ian Budgen, Jan Dekker, Juanpa Marcos, and Will Best as navigator. I’m really looking forward to it.”
An impressive fleet
Looking at the rest of the 61-boat fleet, one third of the entries to date took part in the 2021 edition of the Rolex Middle Sea Race. Frederic Puzin’s Daguet-Corum 3 had the best result finishing first in IRC Class 2 and third overall, while Artie III was second in IRC Class 3 and seventh overall. Chenapan 4, Gilles Caminade’s Ker 40 finished in the top-twenty overall, as did fellow French entry Ludovic Gerard’s Solenn for Pure Ocean (second in the Double-Handed Division). Francois Bopp’s Chocolate 3 (Switzerland) and Stella Maris (Austria) also put in creditable performances to finish in the top half of the 105-boat IRC fleet. Henry de Bokay and the Elliott 52 Rafale (Germany), the J/109 Jubilee of Gerald Boess and Jonathan Bordas, and the Swan 65 King’s Legendare back again, despite the disappointment of not completing the race in 2021.
The eventual fleet count in 2021 was 114. The biggest ever fleet was 130 in 2018.
