Beneteau

Rolex Middle Sea Race 2008

Rolex Middle Sea Race 2008

What a great result for Beneteau Yachts

Once again the Rolex Middle Sea Race has lived up to its reputation. This year’s record fleet of 78 yachts had to cope with all sorts of weather……flat calm, champagne sailing and ferocious squalls, and as in last year’s edition the owners and crews of Beneteau yachts scored impressive results.

In Class 3, the new First 45 ‘Er Cavaliere Nero’ placed a close 2nd. Most of the boats in her class, which were mainly all the high performance production boats between 42 and 48 feet, reported that this new boat is a ‘rocket’, and they confirmed her impressive speed in light air downwind and her ability to sail very close to the wind.

Class 4 was just a clean sweep by Beneteau. The first five places were made up of 3 First 40.7s, one 45f5 and a 34.7. The 40.7 ‘Spirit of Ad Hoc’ sailed a great race but always hot on their heels were the crew of the First 45f5 Elusive Medbank. An even more impressive result in view of the conditions was that of the First 34.7 ‘Ricomincio da Tre’, one of the smallest boats in the fleet, where during the light conditions the crew always managed to keep very good boat speed and during the tough stuff still managed to hold their own averaging high numbers in spite of the uncomfortable swell.

BENETEAU would like to thank all Beneteau owners and their crews for this great result. They have helped them confirm that the Beneteau First range is the number one production boat that can win offshore races.