Media heroine Marie Colvin ‘braved the toughest of Middle Sea races’

Marie Colvin had participated in "undoubtedly the toughest Rolex Middle Sea Race of all time", according to Maltese yachtsman Arthur Podesta.

The Sunday Times of London reporter, who "fearlessly reported the atrocities of war" was killed in a rocket attack in the besieged city of Homs in Syria.

Bearing in mind Colvin's tireless pursuit of the truth - even while the reporter found herself at the centre of war-ravaged countries - a number of people who knew her, including Podesta, have found themselves asking the same question over and over again: "Since you are aware that you are constantly stepping on dangerous ground, what drives you to do so?"

And inevitably, the reply was always the same: "Somebody simply has to do it: to report the atrocities of war and bring them to the world's attention."

Colvin died aged 56 along with French freelance photojournalist Remi Ochlik, 28, after the premises they were staying in were shelled by Syrian government forces on 22 February.

A day earlier, a Syrian journalist was also killed in a separate incident. Rami al-Sayed was a key provider of online videos which exposed the Syrian government's bombardment of the central city of Homs until his death on 21 February. Activists said Rami al-Sayed was fatally wounded when shells struck the opposition stronghold of Baba Amr. According to witnesses, he had been trying to help a family flee in a car.

Sunday Times photographer Paul Conroy and French newspaper 'La Figaro' reporter Edith Bouvier were also reported to have been injured in the attack.

When contacted by MaltaToday, Podesta, who has participated in all the Middle Sea Races, said that Colvin had "participated in undoubtedly the toughest race in the history of the Middle Sea Race, due to the very rough seas and bad wind conditions the Nisida yacht had encountered, way back in 2007".

Nisida's crew members comprised of boat owner and skipper Peter Hopps, and Hilary Cook, Trudt Netherwood, Peter Horton, Jo Skipper, Jo Smith, Michael Pinches, Jeny Scott, Debbie Leach, Peter Meaney, Willaim Rutherford, and last but not least Colvin.

Meanwhile, Maltese boating enthusiast Winston Azzopardi, also had some words to share about Colvin: "Back in 2004, I formed part of the crew of Innovation, together with Marie.

"When you are out at sea for six days, it's incredible what one can learn about another. She was a brave woman. I recall her telling me that somebody had to report the atrocities of war."

Azzopardi recalls: "A particular funny incident while out at sea was when I threw water on her while she was asleep in the cabin. Since the cabin is comprised of bunk beds which are all very close to each other, I couldn't sleep since she snored like a horse! The next day she kept asking who was the culprit who showered her with water. I was too afraid to tell her the culprit had been me!"

Azzopardi said that he had bumped into her while in London at a yacht club a few months ago. She told him that she had purchased a boat, had a boyfriend, and was thinking of starting to "take things a little bit easier" since she felt she was getting too old for the job!" Another good friend of Colvin's - Joe Cross, who resides in West London - told MaltaToday that he knew Marie for about 10 years and spent many hours on night watches with her during long-distance offshore races such as the Middle Sea Race in 2004. 

"She was fantastic company as well as being a truly impressive lady who was full of energy and was fun to be with.

"Nothing was too big a challenge for her and everything was always worth a go - especially if she achieved her goals - and she usually did. 

"This went from offshore yachting to dingy sailing to war zone reporting, which she passionately believed was so important that it was worth sacrificing everything for."

Ultimately, it cost Colvin's life and the "world is a less informed and sadder place". 

Cross said that Colvin lived in West London too.

"We both have places overlooking the River Thames. Marie was about a mile downstream from me and very close to the sailing club we frequented - the Corinthian Sailing Club," Cross added.

Colvin, known for wearing a black eye patch after she lost an eye due to a shrapnel wound while working in Sri Lanka in 2001, was the only journalist from a British newspaper in Homs.

Colvin, who had called into Anderson Cooper's CNN show just one day before her death, reported from the front lines of war-torn countries for the Sunday Times of London for the past two decades. Cooper interviewed Colvin about the conditions in Homs and a child who was killed in the city. "We've seen many children die in this conflict," Cooper said of the uprisings in Syria. "To be there, what was that like?"

"The baby's death was just heartbreaking possibly because it was so quiet," Colvin responded. "The doctor said there's nothing we can do... it was horrific. My heart just broke."

Colvin had been quoted as saying that: "There has been constant shelling in the city... it's chaos here!"

In an article dedicated to Colvin in The Sunday Times of 26 February, Alexandra Shulman, editor of Vogue, described the young journalists' mentor as a "glamorous woman with a gift for friendship".

"As is the case with many extraordinary people, ordinary things were difficult for Marie, but friendship was not one of them. She was surrounded by friends the world over and had developed a particularly devoted and large network in London."

As soon as Colvin returned to London she would head to Robert at John Frieda to groom herself: "I scarcely ever saw her without her nails immaculately manicured. She had a passion for wearing cashmere and tailored jackets," Shulman was quoted as saying.

"Although she was able to penetrate the most difficult of territories, she was tremendously vulnerable, but fearless," Shulman added.

Colvin was also in Malta in April at the height of the Libya crisis where she travelled among a group of journalists to Misurata, Libya via Malta. Meanwhile, grainy footage on YouTube appeared to show Colvin's badly burnt body being lowered into a grave in Baba Amr, the rebel neighbourhood that has been devastated by weeks of shelling. But there was no immediate confirmation of the two-minute video and the body shown was too badly burnt to be recognised. It was wrapped in a white cloth with a sign reading 'Marie Colvin'.