“Hero” Igor Rytov and Vyacheslav Martynov finished first among the crews of twos 50th regatta Rolex Middle Sea Race (RMSR). Two Russians overcame the 606-mile race route in 4 days, 5 hours and 44 minutes. In the ORC Class division first came Freccia Rossa Vadim Yakimenko. And in the category of IRC Class 6 was won Timothy Zhbankov yacht Rossko.
The overall winner of the regatta was the French team Troncoso géry (Géry Trentesaux) on the boat Courrier Recommande (3 days, 14 hours and 36 minutes).
“To Messina the wind was fickle and weak; it was difficult to predict where it will blow next. After Messina the wind has changed dramatically,” — said Troncoso.
“Step up to the Stromboli the wind was strong and we were dispersed even at 30 knots we were sailing. From Stromboli we were going against strong wind and waves. It was wet and exhausting,” said the skipper of Courrier Recommande.
Last year the team of Igor Rytov participated in the RMSR full team and became the first in race history the absolute winner of the Russia. Among the crews of twos in 2017 the Russians from the team Stellar Racing Team was the only one who reached the finish line. According to Rytov, this year to repeat the success and become the undisputed winners of the race his team failed due to difficulties at the stage of diffraction of Sicily from the volcano Stromboli to Favignana, where you had to move against a strong head wind. At the same time, it is the desire to accelerate arising from not too well traveled segment of the route, allowed the team to make a breakthrough and in the end 2.5 hours away from closest pursuers among the crews of twos — Austrian team 2Hard.
Circular regatta Rolex Middle Sea Race around Sicily was launched on 20 October in Valletta. Start out of 202 teams, among them 12 Russian crews. The full route was 606 nautical miles.
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