Esimit Europa 2 - Historic 4th Line Honours Victory at the Rolex Middle Sea Race
Malta (PRWEB) October 22, 2014 -- Esimit Europa 2 crossed the finish line in front of the Royal Malta Yacht Club in Malta’s Marsamxett Harbour at 22:47:05 CEST on October 21, as the first yacht in the fleet for the Rolex Middle Sea Race. It took the European flagged 100-foot Maxi, with a crew composed of 11 nationalities on board, 3 days, 10 hours, 42 minutes and 5 seconds to complete the 608 nautical mile course from Malta around Sicily.
In a record fleet of 122 yachts from 24 countries, Esimit Europa 2 set sails from the Grand Harbour in Valletta towards Sicily just after midday on October 18, in the 35th edition of the Rolex Middle Sea Race. The course took the participating yachts on one of the most scenic but challenging courses around Sicily. Esimit Europa 2, after some difficulties at the start, was the first to pass Cape Passero on the Sicilian coast. The wind was accelerating off the tip of Sicily and helped the leading yachts towards the Straits of Messina, through which Esimit Europa 2 passed by the dawn of the second day with about ten knots of wind. After rounding Stromboli in early afternoon of the same day, the yacht then slowly made its way to Favignana, the northwest corner of the course, in a very light breeze and with many stops along the way. The most challenging stop followed next to Pantelleria, where Esimit Europa 2 was parked for nearly all night without any tack, and the first follower came very close, but the Esimit Sailing Team did not make any significant mistakes and were first to finish in Malta’s capital Valletta. This demonstrated a great performance by the crew, skippered by the legendary German sailor Jochen Schümann.
“We are happy and proud to be back here as the first yacht in the fleet and taking line honours once again, which is a record as well, since we took the 4th line honours with Esimit Europa 2 at this race,” said the 100-ft supermaxi's skipper Jochen Schümann. “It was a challenging and difficult race, especially because it was very light, as predicted. In no-wind periods it is very difficult, you can't use the performance of the team or the boat when you are a hundred percent parked. But, we had a good strategy to always position ourselves well against our main competition. They closed in from time to time but never became threatening for our win here.”
Esimit Europa 2 is the first yacht in history to take the line honours victory for the fourth time in this Mediterranean classic, after the victories of 2010, 2011 and 2012. The Rolex Middle Sea Race was the last challenge in this season for Esimit Europa 2 and this latest success is the crowning achievement of the successful 2014 season for the Esimit Sailing Team. Igor Simčič, founder of the Esimit Europa project, said: "We have now successfully completed the fifth season with a record number of races so far - Europe remains unbeaten on the water. 35th consecutive win is already a truly great achievement, both for the team and for the yacht. Now we will take time for a more detailed analysis of the season and prepare strategic plans for the future, but I can say that next year we will focus on the regattas in the Mediterranean – we will probably compete in Spain, France, Italy and Monaco, where our home club is situated – the Yacht Club de Monaco.“
About:
The Esimit Europa project, founded by Igor Simčič and represented by the Esimit Europa 2 yacht, with its main sponsor Gazprom and official partner BMW, aims to promote pan-European cooperation and to spread the sense of a common European identity through the unifying power of sports. The crew is composed of 18 highly skilled sailors from 11 different nations who inspire the sailing values of teamwork, solidarity, innovation and collaboration. Furthermore, the Esimit Europa project is under the patronage of the President of the European Commission and has the official support of the President of the European Parliament, which allows the yacht to officially fly the European flag.
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Eldina Knez
E: eldina.knez(at)esimit(dot)com
GSM: +393371093756
http://www.esimit.com
Eldina Knez, Esimit Europa, http://www.esimit.com, +393371093756, [email protected]
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