Closed Captions (CC):
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we underneath the racer
the start of the 40th edition of the
Rolex middle series
four letters Grand Harbour is a majestic
site on any day but exceptional for the
commencement of this offshore classic
the light winds start is congested and
close fort exiting the harbor first has
little impact on the race result but the
competitive spirit urges these cruise
ever forward
all these amateurs to those expanding
their sailing horizons to those tackling
the challenge with youthful enthusiasm
and the most focused a professional
cruise this is the beginning of an
enduring challenge the circular 606
nautical mile course guides the fleet up
the east coast of Sicily to the volcanic
island of Stromboli bent into favignana
on the northwest of Sicily that sounds
run Pantelleria Lampa doozer before
returning to Malta and the finish in
Valletta
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in 1982 Timmy cammalleri competed in his
first Rolex middle C race the maltese
ammeter has been on the winning yachts
three times including 2001 went straight
dealer became the first and so far only
Maltese boat to take line honors as he
takes part in his 26th race the veteran
is Coe skippering Maltese entry ex
packed with one of the youngest ever
sailors to participate in richard is now
14 just came second in the Miss World
Championships so he's you know all out
into sailing and racing but he also
since he was 7 has been around the boat
expecting and you know he's always been
longing to stay onboard you know so now
this time when he's finally 14 and he
can join us he's really really key my
dad has started 2012 ones freshman
series and since then I wanted to take
part they had an age limit of 14 so I
had to wait I'm super excited to join
their the expect and as well and
skippering in the boss
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he's a nothing cleared very good sailor
so I think for him it's important to
feel that he's the co skipper himself
that he might not have the experience to
make some calls so I'll try and help him
out and tighten wherever I can at the
head of the race a select group led by
Rambler manages to capitalize on what
wind is available and makes steady
progress to the Strait of Messina
passing through the Strait with its
unpredictable tides and currents is one
of the races key navigational challenges
before the fleet breaks into the tyranny
and sea
lying in seventh place is Aragon the
Martin 72 is being campaigned by the
ocean challenge Yacht Club from Poland
we passed for boast we are now on a big
drag race with group of the sea to
Stromboli and these guys we are fighting
with them for the second place in our is
you won we formed five years ago this
ambitious project aims to increase the
profile of the sport into an
underdeveloped territory the aim of our
club through a participation is that in
such events like Rolex middle C race is
to educate Polish people about how
fantastic his offshore sailing the town
Otsuki family is central to say in
Poland Cham ex-father branislav was part
of his country's groundbreaking entry in
the 1973 Whitbread round-the-world race
for this enthusiastic crew of amateurs
the race is the latest round of an
intensive induction to offshore
competition that also included this is
Rolex Fastnet race sailing with our clap
is definitely life transforming for most
of the guys because they they touch
another world that they have never
thought before it's gonna be light when
start for the middle C rice 2019 you can
see supporting the amateurs a Recor of
world-class professionals including
navigator mile 7 a Volvo Ocean Race
veteran everybody can always add 1% to
the speed by being in the right place
sailing with the amateur crews really
quite interesting because we're trying
to get them to be involved and take
ownership of things and so we've tried
to let them make the mistakes and that's
the way that they really work best I
think we love to challenge ourselves we
want the fresh oxygen to circulate in
our blood we heard that Rolex middle
series is a challenging event that we
will be better sailors are they and here
some 30 nautical miles ahead of the
Polish team Ramba seeking a fifth
victory in these waters reaches that
turning mark of Stromboli in the
afternoon of day two the american maxi
has more than a two-hour advantage over
Wild Joe followed by arabesque and this
year's Rolex Fastnet race winner wizard
a witness to every single Rolex middle C
race start forts and Angelo is an
irreplaceable symbol of Maltese identity
in the very heart of the Grand Harbor
the embodiment of the nation's
resistance during the great siege of
Malta and the Second World War this year
marks the 40th anniversary of all Navy
leaving the fort and its cessation as an
active military installation a position
it had held since medieval times fort
st. Angelo has a great association with
this event because this was the last
military establishment which was vacated
by the British forces in war time
therefore this was the last place which
was controlled by a foreign power and it
was the last remaining military site and
more as long military history to finally
be given back to the Maltese it became
to symbolize victory and in fact we
nowadays think of st. Angelo as a
building on the same terms as another
country's for example the Colosseum
symbolizes around the Eiffel Tower
symbolizes Paris same way fort st.
Angelo symbolizes
strongly an early night is one of the
races memorable sights in the morning of
day three
Timmy camel Aryan x-pac reached the
active volcano just seconds apart from
elusive to the to Maltese entries once
again joined in their customary closed
fort but friendly rivalry
just over 30 minutes in arrears my score
a recommendation on Tasos jpk 1180
took a famous win here last year and the
French entry is looking to defend that
title
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after close to 48 hours of racing
Rambler approaches Sicilies most
northwestern point the only odd to have
escaped the clutches of the great wind
shadow off the islands north coast as
the rest of the fleet struggles
rounding favignana the American Maxie
picks up favorable winds reaching 15
knots as she now leads on corrected time
as well as line honors
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almost 200 miles behind jys Jen is
exiting the strait of messina the jys
what jarhead young sailors foundation
was created as a charity aimed at
promoting the sport in Malta the entry
is headed by Nicky Henderson the
youngest ever skipper in the history of
the clipper round-the-world race the
foundation wanted to run an all-girl
team for quite a long time you know they
really do struggle to get girls in to
their sailing program so there's a lot
more boys so and definitely when they
said hey we're running an all-female
team that was quite a lot more girls
interested than would have been
otherwise just because you know there
are those jobs they maybe don't
naturally fall into maybe they you know
they feel like you know the boys are
taller than them so they'll be on the
mark and actually with the old girls
idea they do get a chance to to do every
job on the boat without feeling like
they're hindering the team and Jill it's
also really fun like they have a really
good time
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down a little bit you just generally a
little bit too high
stand up many use your body there you go
the crew includes five sailors under the
age of 22 and came together just days
before the rates start I've never seen
Donnie odd before and I really love the
learning process sort of we started out
from scratch and I think now we're in a
good level to actually raise together so
they actually only obey each other two
days ago
and if I don't know each other for years
it's brilliant I mean there is a slight
air of they don't quite know what
they're getting themselves in for they
are slightly fearless and that's the
beauty of it
I think it's that bit of fear that turns
into excitement eventually I just love
having that feeling where you know
you're unsure of what's about to hit you
and you know just have to expect the
unexpected
in the battle for line honors ramblas
lead is unassailable Aragon lies over 17
hours behind but the polish team is
involved in a tight technical battle in
IRC 1 as she approaches Pantelleria just
keep down at this angle this line
through we are here just approaching
Pantelleria we're just starting to get
caught in the wind shadow of it so we've
got a gia just ahead of us and Pendragon
I think I just do them further offshore
and they're both parked up in the wind
shadow so we're just trying to cut the
corner off a little bit guys close to
the island as we can we've got to go
through the wind shadow as well but
hopefully we'll just sneak through it a
little quicker and cut some distance off
as the medium-sized boat round the
northwestern tip of Sicily the
contenders for victory on corrected time
are beginning to show themselves Rambo
retains the virtual lead but the 1st of
the Maltese yachts lease Italiano's all
new RT 3 begins to threaten well
Renzo grata Z's Cubs 1:40 to be wild now
lies second in IRC standings
yotz that had seemed to be running out
of steam now appear reinvigorated by the
strong southerly filling the channel
between Sicily and North Africa none
more so than two constant contenders for
victory elusive to the Podesta families
entry is a habitual challenger in this
race but never a winner could this be
her year within touching distance curry
a recommendation a kid back-to-back
victories at the head of the race
ramblas dominance is absolute by the
time she passes lamb producer
she holds a lead of over 170 miles over
the next Manohar
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arriving in Valletta in early night
after close to 2 days and 20 hours at
sea the American Maxie secures line
honors for an unprecedented fifth time
in a row
the win is so comprehensive it gives
George David's team an outside chance of
taking victory on corrected time this
year could be corrected time when in
line honor to be nice to bookend 12
years apart in different boats lots of
things that happened in all of our lives
since then so I'm kind of hoping that we
might actually pull this off we'll see
[Applause]
parcel and producer arrogance battle
with in her class continues
we are now going to enter rich for
multiple rich we are fighting for the
second place with wild Joe it looks like
these guys are much more quicker on the
rich but we are just putting all our
resources right now the guys are on the
rail 24 hour 7 and yeah it's going to be
tight for the returning fleet the
letters distinctive skyline is a welcome
sight in recent years that Maltese
capital has undergone an architectural
Renaissance architects have to lay down
their ego a little bit when working in a
city like this and fitting in is the
most important one thing that's also
extremely important when dealing with
such buildings is ensuring that the
fabric is still respecting the whole
street the most striking of the city's
new designs is the Parliament building
but world-renowned Italian architect
Renzo Piano they opted to have two
different masses with rich connecting
them and I thought that really was
important to change the scale of the
building so it was very nice elegant
design it is a very unique city and
historically it's an amazing opportunity
for for any architect and extremely
challenging as well
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Aragog completes the course after three
days and 17 hours their endeavors are
rewarded with a highly creditable sixth
place in line honours and second in IRC
one behind the all-conquering random
for sure is the best result for our club
best experience best racing experience
sailing neck-to-neck
four days with with big boats you know
there are mothers so they are not
professionals and they they just tested
themselves 100% and they are they are
witness today Poland is one of 23
nations represented in this year's race
a reflection of the Royal multi Yacht
Club's enormous success in attracting
international entries just eight yachts
started the first event in 1968 this
year's 40th edition sees 113 yachts
entered an arena diva letter is now one
of four yacht havens that accommodate
the fleet
however the prestige of being the first
Maltese entry home remains a source of
great local pride this year that honor
goes to east at Ariano and our t3
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Ramblers tenure at the top of corrected
time classification ends as stronger
winds effect the contest be wild takes
full advantage of her ability at my care
and then as the winds pick up makes
dramatic progress over the last 200
miles
the Italian entry crosses the finish
line at 13 36 on the fifth day to take
the lead by just over an hour in questa
see gasps abdominal dispersion a burqa
velvet of element una bella regatta
known typicality brazil to elaborate and
a door molto molto Bella expects do with
elusive is maintained all the way to the
finish with both yards never more than a
few miles apart
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as the wind increases the turnovers come
thick and fast and rusev - leaves x-pac
behind Aaron Meyer and Christoph
Podesta's first 45 crosses the line at
1931 on day five
sixty-six minutes ahead of camel Ares
craft and inherits the overall lead
within 50 minutes curry a recommendation
is with a time fast enough to take first
place
however illusive are just one of a
number of yachts requesting redress for
lending assistance to a diss mastered
yacht and the final results are likely
to be recalculated the fact Jerri
Toronto so acknowledges with customary
good grace
we will see and if we want is very nice
if we finish the guns is very nice also
elegy the elusive crew sir very well
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out on the course jaywehrs germ are
enjoying the upturning conditions
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on the final stretch to the finish in
Valletta the fleet persists in Paul's
Island Christianity has almost 2,000
years of history and Malta and according
to tradition was brought here by sin
Paul the Apostle in around 60 AD
the maritime tradition linked the st.
Paul is rooted in the story of his
shipwreck on the islands the story has
him traveling from the eastern
Mediterranean getting caught in a very
big northeasterly storm and Paul
proceeds to spend a number of months on
this island
st. Paul's grotto as it is known today
is believed to be a place where Saint
Paul lived and prayed most extraordinary
of all is the impact that the story has
on the maritime landscape there are a
number of chapels around the coast that
are actually listed on sailing
instructions ship graffiti which are
etched into the limestone were probably
dedications by seafarers paying their
respects to the Apostle for safe
deliverance when sailing past st. Paul's
Bay one cannot but notice the statue of
Saint Paul with his arms outstretched
and Thanksgiving facing out to sea
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jys jens sails into harbour after close
to six days at sea the scratch crew has
performed magnificently finishing 47th
out of 113 craft on corrected time and 6
in their class they become the first
ever all-female crew to complete the
race an achievement to be celebrated
[Applause]
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the middle series with the champ
Foundation was an experience some pretty
brutal sailing we had lightning we had
rain conditions you can expect during
the mid-80s so we had the 35 knots we
had to drop the main a little bit
stressful but amazing you know when you
go offshore you see the worst and the
best parts of people I'd like to tell
you I saw the best part of every single
one of these girls following the final
hearings for redress elusive to is
confirmed the winner of the 2019 row
Lakes middle C race for Erin Chris
offered by a Podesta this is a highly
emotional moment it's been a dream
that's actually almost I fear that it
would never actually come true and now
it's just all falling into place in the
most magical way when the trio started
racing it was with their father Arthur a
legendary figure in the races history
ever present from the inaugural event in
1968 until his untimely death in 2015
Arthur Podesta was a three-time winner
but never with his own boat it is quite
an emotional thing for us because we're
here because he has led us where we did
always all those races with him and
we've had to sort of take over what he
used to do I think you could easily say
that what we've done is thanks to him
but we will continue to do it for him
in a race which required patience and
persistence and in conditions that
veered from mentally sapping to the
physically punishing it was fitting that
final glory should go to the crew of
illusive and the Podesta family sailing
at all Corinthian Maltese boat and part
of the very fabric of the race since its
creation fifty-one years ago next on
spirit of yachting will bring you all
the action from the Rolex Sydney Hobart
yacht race
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you
[Applause]