Rolex Middle Sea Race: Bullitt’s victory and the near feat of a Sun Fast 3300
THE PERFECT GIFT!
Give or treat yourself to a subscription to the print + digital Journal of Sailing and for only 69 euros a year you get the magazine at home plus read it on your PC, smartphone and tablet. With a sea of advantages.
The Rolex Middle Sea Race 2023 did not disappoint expectations: it was once again a very technicalrace, forcing the crews to adapt to very different conditions, from upwind with strong wind to becalmed, passing through some very fast slack phases. No small detail, it was also a regatta of great satisfaction for Italian sailing: it was in fact confirmed, As we anticipated in this news, the first place in the IRC Overall ranking of Andrea Recordati’s Wally 93 Bullitt, author of a splendid race complete with a match race with Leopard 3, the 100-foot line honors winner in real time.
Behind Bullitt in IRC overall were two Sun Fast 3300s, Red Ruby and Zephyr, which, as we will tell you in a moment, made Bullitt’s crew shake in no small part.
Rolex Middle Sea Race: the near feat of a San Fast 3300
Bullitt’s Italian victory was put in serious jeopardy by a crew racing in doubles on a small Sun Fast 3300. Let’s talk about Red Ruby, led by Christina and Justin Wolfe., which until the last meters before the finish line was a real bogeyman for Bullitt. In the end on corrected time, after more than 600 miles of racing, it was only 24 seconds of the Italian boat’s margin over the American pair. In fact, Red Ruby in the final part benefited from carrying gaits in a Mistral wind, in the same stretch where the older ones had sailed upwind instead.
Red Ruby in the side between Lampedusa and Malta even seemed to be firmly in the lead overall. A few wind holes in the landing phase in Malta, however, changed the game, and denied the pair an epic achievement. Still, it remains a performance of absolute importance. Excellent results also for Daniele Zobbi’s Italian Sun Fast 3600 Loli Fast, sixth overall.
Slipping to 17th position was Giovanni Di vincenzo’s Ker 46 Lisa R, which still led a high level race in real time, among the very first boats in the fleet, but the change of wind from Sirocco to Mistral greatly penalized the first boats in the rankings favoring the comeback of the smaller boats.
Rolex Middle Sea Race. What boat is Bullit
Bullitt, by Andrea Recordati, is a Wally 93, 28.30 meters long and 6.65 meters wide, the hull design is by Judel&Vrolijk & Co. It is the only 93-foot Wally in existence, and was launched in 2018, built of carbon fiber. It has a telescoping keel that varies its draft from 4.50 m to 6.65 m.
Although a luxurious boat on the inside, and with an elegant teak deck, its hull was actually designed as that of a racer, and it proved this during this Middle Sea Race 2023 by battling at length with Leopard 3, a boat almost 2 meters longer, and entirely designed for offshore racing.
Mauro Giuffrè
Share:
Check out the latest issue
Are you already a subscriber?
Ultimi annunci
Our social
Sign up for our Newsletter
We give you a gift
Sailing, its stories, all boats, accessories. Sign up now for our free newsletter and receive the best news selected by the Sailing Newspaper editorial staff each week. Plus we give you one month of GdV digitally on PC, Tablet, Smartphone. Enter your email below, agree to the Privacy Policy and click the “sign me up” button. You will receive a code to activate your month of GdV for free!
You may also be interested in.
Transat Café l’Or: Francesca Clapcich strike, overtaking Macif and second place in Martinique!
We are in the final throes of the Transat Café l’Or for the Imoca 60 class, with Jeremie Beyou and Morgan Lagraviere’s Charal taking a well-deserved victory after leading the race for almost the entire Atlantic. Beware, however, because in
Transat Café l’Or: SVR Lazartigue first Ultim, Imoca 60’s turn begins
Day 12 of racing for the Transat Café l’Or and the arrivals in Martinique have begun with the Ultim class trimarans. First across the finish line was Tom Laperche’s SVR Lazartigue, followed just four hours later by Thomas Coville’s Sodebo.
LAST CALL: Last 24 hours to participate, in Tigullio, in a piece of sailing history
One more day, just one day left to participate in a piece of sailing history. More than 50 boats have already done so. Registration closesat 12 noon on Friday, Nov. 7. Then, on Saturday, Nov. 8, the Event: the Tigullio
When it rains and is cold, no one is at sea. Except them
Let the great ocean adventure…in the Mediterranean begin. The fifth Marina Militare Nastro Rosa Il Veloce departed from Genoa: 1492 miles from Genoa to Venice, non-stop, for ten indomitable crews in doubles aboard fast Beneteau Figaro 3, boats of just
