Two members of our Commonwealth Yacht Club in good 'ol Kentucky traveled to watch the world class Rolex Middle Sea Race to gain knowledge for our own annual Commonwealth Cup Regatta.  Because of bad weather, two crew members of one of the entrants could not make it in for the race, and as luck would have it, our guys were asked to crew.  They have pretty dramatic stories to tell, what with BEING MAROONED ON SICILY FOR THREE DAYS!  Following is the press release:

Valetta, Malta - October 24, 2007:  The Commonwealth Yacht Club (CYC) located at the Green Turtle Bay Resort in Grand Rivers, Kentucky was represented at the 2007 Rolex Middle Sea Race hosted by The Royal Malta Yacht Club, Valetta, Malta.  Kim Ketter, Commodore of the CYC and Virgil "Butch" Jones, Rear Commodore, served as crew aboard the Maltese S.Y. Escape which began the race the morning of 20 October.  Escape, along with 37 other entrants was forced to retire from the race due to bad weather.

The race was won in record time by the United States yacht, Rambler, a 90' water ballasted Reicher-Pugh designed Super Maxi from the New York Yacht Club.  In doing so, Rambler, skippered by Ken Read has taken over 16 hours off the previous course record set by Zephyrus IV, another United States yacht, in 2000.

The Rolex Middle Sea Race is one of the three largest yacht races in the world which are the "triple crown" of yacht racing including the Rolex Fastnet and the Rolex Sydney-Hobart races.  The 2007 Rolex Middle Sea Race (www.rolexmiddlesearace.com) was characterized by bad weather, forcing 38 of the 57 boats who started the race to drop-out without finishing.  Most were able to find shelter and ride out the storm.  Loki, an Australian entrant, lost her rudder and was abandoned.  All of Loki's crew were airlifted to safety by the Italian Coast Guard.