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SUPER-SIZED SAILS MAKE THE MALTESE DIFFERENCE |
SUPER-SIZED SAILS MAKE THE MALTESE DIFFERENCE ELUSIVE 2 Arthur Podesta's Beneteau First 45R won both IRC and ORC Class 3 in another stormy Rolex Middle Sea Race. Like the 2007 race, this edition of the 606-mile race that circumnavigates Sicily and Malta was a rough. During the four-day race, intense squalls rolled through and rolled-out boats in the middle of ink black nights. After battling the frequent squalls, Arthur's crew had to fight their way to the finish line in a light morning breeze to grab the victory away from Klaus Diederich’s and Grant Gordon’s Swan 45 FEVER. UK-Halsey France built a full set of MatriX Titanium sails last February, which was complemented by a very last minute extra-large Tape-Drive mainsail and a double-extra-large spinnaker made almost over night. The extra sail area gave ELUSIVE 2 the power that made the difference in the light-air push to the finish. Podesta said, “The shape of the new main totally transformed the performance of my First 45R, particularly in lighter airs.” Podesta’s daughter Maya summed up the highs and lows of distance racing perfectly in this report from the boat on the last night of the race. "We're up two fish but down one spinnaker, two halyards, and one sheet, as well as being down two metres of our spinnaker pole. Despite all that we're still at it! We've managed to jury rig our broken pole well enough to fly a chute. Last night was frustrating as the wind died and changed direction. We went from a medium kite to a light, to a code zero, to the wind seeker and finally to the light No. 1 in a short matter of time, but finally we settled into the light southerly beat. Eggs and Bacon this morning helped keep our morale up, as we were surrounded by about 300 dolphins close to Pantelleria." Podesta has now completed thirty races -- an unparalleled record and one unlikely to be matched for many years. His enthusiasm for the race continues to shine through, even when he has been in a battle, “This was as tough as the 2007 race, though perhaps not as treacherous. We hit our first major squall after Capo Passero and suffered an enormous broach. We recovered… eventually… and continued pushing forward. We had another enormous squall at Stromboli and then, all the way to Palermo, we had squalls every two or three hours. That made the race most tiring.” As reported by Maya Podesta during the race, much of the problem weather occurred during the pitch black of a moonless night and Podesta senior confirmed the added peril of hail and temperatures cold enough for a snow shower. A couple of hours after the finish and a good meal, Podesta laughingly confirmed that he would be returning next year. This race is a family affair for the Podestas. In the crew were Arthur’s three children: Maya, Aaron and Christoph along with two cousins besides other regular crew. |