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Without doubt the most productive finish line watch duty at this year's Rolex Middle Sea Race was from 11.30 to 15.30 yesterday. Royal Malta Yacht Club watchkeepers, Clive and Mary Chipperfield, witnessed eleven yachts complete the course, equalling the number that arrived over the whole of Monday and Tuesday. The total number of finishers by 17.30 was thirty seven, with one more through the Comino Channel and on the home stretch. An exciting day which saw Andy Soriano's Alegre (GBR) confirmed as Overall Winner of the 30th Rolex Middle Sea Race and David Franks' Strait Dealer, skippered by David Anastasi, taking the trophy for first Maltese boat home on the water. Malta woke to a windless, clear sky with some mild humidity. A nice start to the day for a tourist, but not a good situation if you are clawing your way along the northern coast of Malta rather hoping to wrap a class victory with a fast finish. Klaus Diederich's and Grant Gordon's Swan 45 Fever (GBR) found itself in just this situation at sunrise this morning. The international crew including notables such as Andy Beadsworth, Gary Barron, Wouter Verbraak and Tony Rey really had to work to squeeze their steed over the line. In the end, the effort was not enough and currently Arthur Podesta and Elusive II Medbank (MLT) sit atop Class 3. The big noise of the morning, after the name of Alegre was stamped on the Rolex Middle Sea Race trophy, was the arrival of Strait Dealer. Another epic adventure that ended with a patience sapping finish. One that was worth it though for owner David Franks, who was probably on his last lap of the racecourse. Franks was delighted to be back and to secure the prize of first Maltese boat home on the water, despite enduring some difficult times, "we had a good crew and I enjoyed the race very much. There were some very tough points, but we didn't break too many things and we didn't lose too many things. We got tangled up in a lobster pot and went through an ice storm. I've never had such a cold Rolex Middle Sea Race and this is my seventh." "The crew held up very well, David Anastasi had a lot on and did extremely well. Strait Dealer is a very wet boat, but everyone just got on with it," continued Franks, who finished with some praise for the organisers. "This is a most fantastic race. It is so well organised, it's so exciting, so many great boats come along, it's very competitive and to top it all there's a good social programme before and after." Skipper David Anastasi was pleased too , but admitted that their ambition had been to win first Maltese boat on handicap. Strait Dealer does better downwind than upwind and with more of her race being into wind, she was always going to be hard pressed to secure that prize and, indeed, tonight it is held by Artie. "We had a really good race up to Messina in conditions that the boat loves. From then on the wind was on the nose, which is very hard for us. Everything went well, the crew worked well together including the younger ones such as Sean Borg, Darren Cauchi and Alan Tabone." Anastasi admitted that the biggest problem had been eating http://www.asmallheaven.net/replica-breilting-bentley-mulliner-disocunt-uk.html, even freezer dried food that needs just boiled water adding to it replica breitling Bentley Mulliner , "the conditions were so bad replica breitling Chronomat B01, and it was practically impossible to cook since there was just too much going on below." Elusive II crossed the line at midday, all but four days after starting the race in Grand Harbour. Her arrival was smoother. The wind has built over the day and whilst the leg from Comino to the finish was a beat, at least there was something to power the boat. Podesta has now completed thirty races. An unparalleled record and one, which will not 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, much of the problem weather occurred during the pitch black of a moonless night and Podesta senior confirmed the added peril of hail and temperature loss referred to earlier by Franks. A couple of hours after the finish and a good meal later, Podesta laughingly confirmed that he would be returning next year. Five hours after Elusive, we saw the tightest finish to date as four yachts entered the harbour. Lee Satariano's Artie (MLT) led the charge, followed three minutes later by Sandro Musu's Aziza (MLT) and Antonio Fava's Velado (ITA) , separated by half a tack and five seconds. About as exciting as it gets after 606 nautical miles of racing. Sneaking in just before press time to grab their piece of the limelight was Seawolf of Southampton (GIB). Eight yachts remain on the racetrack including the two double handers who appear to be match racing their way to Lampedusa and will probably continue to do so to the finish. http://dev.drupal.cat/node/265891 http://www.authoreview.com/member/blog_post_view.php?postId=179239 http://rankurassets.net/member/blog_post_view.php?postId=72603 http://watchesukchm.dateblog.com/post/902365/breitling_chronomat_evolution_replica_actor.html http://watchesukchm1.iranblog.com/1393/07/04/iwc-da-vinci-replica-manly-breitling-designer-watches-for-tough-men/ http://heartandsoul4u2.com/member/blog_post_view.php?postId=172841 http://www.5v6.org/blogs/post/1442