Did Eric Van Campenhout have more fun racing in the 620-mile Rolex Middle Sea Race, or doing the 2800-mile delivery from Nieuwpoort (Belgium) to Malta? The delivery took a month and a half and the race only took four days. It sounds like Eric enjoys his JPK 1100 RACKAM so much that it doesn�t matter how he uses his boat.
After a fourth place finish in the 2009 Fastnet Race, Eric�s dream was to participate to the Middle Sea Race that starts from Malta, goes around Sicily and back. After all the effort, RACKAM finished fourth in class after trying race that saw equal parts flat calm and 30-40 knot blows. All of RACKAM�s sails are MatriX Kevlar-Carbon made by UK-Halsey Belgium and the loft�s Michel Lefebvre, Jr. sailed as a helmsman.
Even though Arthur Podesta�s past class winner ELUSIVE 2 MEDBANK did not finish in the money this year, Podesta�s daughter Maya, reported at the halfway pont, �Monday morning started with eggs and bacon on ELUSIVE, after a not very pleasant second night. Lots of starting and stopping and 'no wind' games! Keeps you awake with lots of sail changes and trimming. It must be scenes such as a glowing eruption of Stromboli on one side, and baby dolphins on the other side of the boat at 2am that make this race special, and keep you going!� What other world-class races uses an active volcano as a mark of the course?
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