Line honours await Morning Glory

At 1400 local time on Day Three of the Rolex Middle Sea Race, Kristina Plattner's Z-86, Morning Glory was approaching Lampedusa, 115 miles from the finish. Unless there is a significant change in the weather, the German canting keel maxi should take line honours in the early hours of tomorrow morning.

Andres Soriano's Mills 72, Alegre is 40 miles behind Morning Glory and 7 miles ahead of their close rival, Italian JV72 Robertissima III, skippered by Vasco Vascotto. Unless Morning glory suffers gear failure, the Line Honours win for the Rolex Middle Sea Race awaits. Alegre is still leading IRC Class One. However, there is a new overall leader for the Rolex Middle Sea Race, Michele Galli's B2.

At Favignana for the first time in the race, the IRC modified TP52, B2 was leading the entire fleet under IRC, after time correction. B2 was nine miles ahead of Italian Baltic 65, Nikka Sixty Five at Pantelleria and still is in pole position for the overall win. B2 has the combined talents of Francesco de Angelis calling tactics and Nacho Postigo as navigator. The Italian/Spanish afterguard is proving to be a formidable combination.

At 1400, none of the yachts competing in IRC Three and IRC Four had reached the fresh breeze past the north west tip of Sicily. Any chance of an overall win looks unlikely for these yachts. However, the battle for class honours is very much wide open.

All of the thirteen Maltese entries are in IRC Class 3 & 4 but they are also vying for the honour of being the first local yacht to cross the finish line. Oiltanking Juno currently leads the pack but with fresh winds expected, the order may well change.

Shaun Arrigo called in from J/122 Otra Vez, 324 miles from the finish. "The mood on board is most definitely positive and we are pushing as hard as we can," confirmed Shaun. "We always have six on deck with just two off watch and we are sailing the boat pretty well. The race is still very much on in our class and we have two Maltese entrants ahead of us, which is a real incentive to push us on. Much depends now, on how many more parking-lots the Lord has to offer."