Tuesday 15th to Friday 25th October
Well, we’ve done everything else when it comes to Sailing from holidays, cruising, party weekends, passage making, adventure sailing and high-performance sailing. The only thing left is for Sailing the Med to dip their toes into entering into a classic offshore race.
There are four (4) classic 600-mile-ish offshore races in the world (including the Sydney to Hobart and the Fastnet). The Middle Sea race is one of the 4 and is held annually starting and ending in Malta. It is ideal for those who want to test their mettle and accomplish something truly special in the sailing world.
Price: £2275
£1,000 deposit. The remaining balance is due 2 months prior to the trip.
Doing a circuit up the West coast of Sicily, through the straits of Messina before heading northeast into the Aeolian islands and the famed island of Stromboli. Imagine designing a race where one of the turning marks is an active volcano!!
Next, we head further westwards to the northwestern tip of Sicily and the Edagi islands, before turning south and almost touching Africa as we round the island of Pantelleria. We head further south and round Lampedusa before finally heading back Eastwards to Malta. 606 nautical miles of pure adventure with plenty of great sights along the way.
What – RORC Middle Sea Race
When – Tues 15th – Fri 25th October (with possibility of just Fri 17th – Fri 25th October)
Who – James & another experienced skipper who has undertaken a number of classic offshore races.
Where – starting and ending in Malta with accommodation available on the yacht.
How – on a BRAND NEW high-performance Pogo 44 race yacht.
Cost – £2,275 + 1/8 share of yacht bond for breakages (fully refundable at end of race).
About the yacht
Built for speed Pogo yachts are quite something to sail and will often move at close to wind speed in under 10 knots of breeze!! When the wind gets to 20+ knots from astern, the Pogo will comfortably plane at 13+ knots (downwind). With a low Centre of gravity (3.1m retractable keel) and a lightweight hull, the acceleration of a Pogo is something to behold when you hit a gust.
Please note this is not open to everyone. You will need to have some offshore sailing experience and ideally racing experience. The race will take between 4-5 days and is very demanding – physically and mentally at times. You will be working in 4-hour shifts (4 hours on, 4 hours off).
The end result will be an enormous sense of achievement.