The Malta-Sicily Windsurf Race
Memories of an Event -
21 Years After
“Of
all the races I have ever done including 24-hour solo windsurfing races and the
Olympic Games, this race was physically the toughest!”
In
early May 1989 I was taking part in a windsurfing rally in Palermo, when I was
introduced to Wilfred Sultana who, after a short chat asked me if I would consider
taking part in the Malta-Sicily Windsurf Race, a marathon (53.4n.m.) event he
was organizing and running. In fact my Sicilian friend Pace Wirz, who raced for
Italy at the Seoul Olympics and who was instrumental in my being in Palermo at
the time, was also invited for the Malta event.
The
idea was instantly appealing to me. What an adventure! Quite a big distance and
clearly visible on the globe!
Although
all expenses would be covered and there was the chance of winning prize money
($890), it would be quite a mission.
Firstly
all my travel plans and some commitments would need to be altered, I would also
have to fly to France, purchase the necessary windsurfing equipment, fly it all
back to Malta, clear customs, set up all this untried new equipment and race
from Malta to Sicily then sell all the equipment! Easy to say, but time
consuming more complicated than face value and expensive to do!
The
lure of this unique and challenging event had me, I had to do it.
My
plans went well until I tried to get the windsurfing masts from Paris to
Sicily. They were too long and had to go freight. The Taxi was not really
designed to drive 5-meter long masts around Paris and the airports! Due to the
extra time this took, I missed my flights and had to stay another night in
Paris.
Due
to the size of the masts, even the freight company had issues and somehow the
masts got lost in the system. After two weeks of constant phone calls from
Palermo and various towns driving around Sicily with Paco Wirz on the way to
Malta and calls in Malta by Wilfred, all of my windsurfing equipment made it to
Malta the day before the event.
The
next curve ball was clearing the equipment from customs. This took a full day
of driving around Malta with the help of Wilfred and his team who handled the
situation admirably well. Until the last minute I was not sure if I would be
able to race, as I needed this equipment, as there was nothing else available
that was capable of wining this race in Malta or Sicily.
I
ended up receiving this new and untried equipment the morning of the race – 28th
May!
Due
to the nature of the area, a wide range of conditions were possible so I had
sails from four meters squared to nine meters squared. I had three different
boards. This was quite a volume of equipment and not cheap!
I
was fortunate that on the morning of the race, the weather conditions suited me
perfectly. It was a light swell from the southeast with a chop on top and a
steady 10 knots from the northeast and forecast to drop and back to the south.
Not great for breaking the race record of 5hrs 56mins 35secs, but good for my
chances of winning with the equipment I had bought.
There
were 10 competitors invited from 10 different countries. Each sailor was
designated a support boat that carried spare equipment, food and water. The
support boats also relayed our positions to the shore during the race, were
security if the weather turned bad and gave us guidance as to where we were
going. My boat, I recall, was “Maid of
Arundel” skippered by Anthony Demajo.
Most
competitors chose round-bottomed boards designed for sailing up wind with sails
of around nine meters squared.
We
started at 9 am. The fleet spread out pretty quickly after the start due to the
different speeds of the equipment, technical ability and tactical choices. I
quickly took the lead.
Within
one hour, I had lost sight of land due to the haze and was really glad to have
a support boat to ensure I was sailing in the straightest direction towards
Sicily.
Within
3 hours I was only able to see 3 other competitors. The Sicilian Paco Wirz was
my closest threat. The wind had dropped to about 7 knots and the seas became
smoother.
At
5 hours I was only able to see 2 other competitors and I was concerned that the
sailors I could not see may be passing me without my knowledge. The wind had
backed and we were on a beam reach in about 6 knots. I was still fully powered
up with the equipment I had chosen and had a clear speed advantage over
everyone. As we had been on one tack the entire time, the prolonged strain on
my body was beginning to take its toll. My only consolation was that I knew I
was probably in better shape than the others having finished the Olympic Games
with a gold medal 8 months before and had not stopped training.
When
I was only about an hour away from the finish – some five hours on the water - I
was at my physical end. We had been on the same tack the entire time. I could
see land and knew the finish was close and I still had the lead. The wind had
dropped to about 3 knots and had backed almost to the south east. We were
having to butterfly pump the rigs down wind on very unstable round bottom boards.
Paco Wirz was a few hundred meters behind and was also pumping his sail as hard
as he could. Both of my hands were blistered and bleeding and the soles of my
feet had worn through and were bleeding. I felt exhausted.
Within
sight of the finish line I lost control of my rig and it fell in the water. I
remember trying to pull it back up but had absolutely nothing left. Paco was
still only a few hundred meters behind me and third was out of sight. I was not
able to pull the sail out of the water and continue. All the sacrifice, effort
time money and stress that had gone into being able to do this event and first
place and the prize money was being put in jeopardy by a total break down of my
body within sight of the finish. My support boat crew was shouting at me to
pull the rig up but all I could do was sit on my board and wait for a recovery
that would be enough to pull the sail out of the water and make it to the
finish. I sat there and watched Paco slowly gaining on me in the 2 knot down
wind breeze.
Fortunately
for me, before Paco got within a hundred meters of me, I was able up haul the
rig and make it through the finish line without any more dramas – finishing in
6hrs 49mins 42sec ahead of Pace Wirz (Italy) 7hrs 05mins 38secs and John Van
Der Starre (Netherlands) 7hrs 34mins 18secs.
Of
all the races I have ever done including 24-hour solo windsurfing races and the
Olympic Games, this race was physically the toughest. It took me 3 days to
recover.
Fortunately
when I returned to Palermo, I was able to sell all the equipment and pay back
the money I had borrowed. The prize money and consequent profit meant more to
me some how than normal for this race although in reality the time, effort and
financial risk did not really stack up, especially considering including my
traveling costs were all covered by the event organizer.
In
the big scheme of things and at this time, I still feel very privileged to have
experienced this story and to have come out on top. Due to the equipment
issues, I spent more time with Wilfred than normal and getting to know him was
also a great pleasure. In my first meeting with him I was snooping asking
questions about Malta one of which was “On which side of the road you drive in
Malta? With a persuasive look he
answered ‘in the shade’. I asked no further and learned the real answer when I
arrived for the crossing; yet recalling the episode still brings a grin to my
face.
Caption to photograph:
The ten protagonists on the 6th Edition of
the Malta-Sicily Windsurf Race: (Back row l. to r.) - Christophe Syz
(Switzerland), Andre Hauschke (Germany), Johannes Lippert (Austria), Haken Ling
(Sweden), Pace Wirz (Italy), Wilfred Sultana, John Van Der Starre (Netherlands)
and Stefan Verwisch (Belgium). Front row (l. to r.) - Bruce Kendall (New
Zealand), Jean Paul Fleri Soler (Malta) and Tom Dryton (United Kingdom).
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