Karl Miggiani establishes National Sailing Record in highly Challenging Conditions
Malta Young Sailors’ Club today hosted a windsurfing Round Malta Race, which was the final qualifying event for the forthcoming Foiling 100 event where sailors will be crossing over from St. Paul’s Bay to Ragusa.
Five sailors – Jean Paul Fleri Soler, Karl Miggiani, Shaun Miggiani, Seb Ripard and Tom Zammit Tabona started off the Round Malta race at 09:40hrs this morning, departing on a southbound, clockwise course around Malta.
Sailing conditions for the day were tough with the windsurfers encountering ever changing conditions throughout their endeavour. With waves ranging from 0m to 2.5m and wind speeds fluctuating between 30 and 5 knots, these conditions causing the fleet to regularly switch between flying and stalling their speed momentarily.
Karl Miggiani led the way for most of the course, with Jean Paul Fleri Soler – winner of the first Malta-Sicily Windsurf race back in 1984, hot on Miggiani’s heels. As Miggiani and Fleri Soler forged ahead, the adverse weather conditions hindered the remaining sailors’ progress with Zammit Tabona retiring close to Benghajsa. Shaun Miggiani and Ripard suffered a similar fate which caused them to retire close to Armier when the wind died down completely with no hope of making it back to St. Paul’s Bay.
Reflecting on the grueling experience, Karl Miggiani remarked, “The 75km stretch proved to be a challenging course, testing not only our physical fitness but also our mental resilience due to the unpredictable shifts in conditions we faced. Naturally, the satisfaction of not only completing the course but also setting a new record is immeasurable.”
The new course record now stands at 3 ours, 46 minutes and 5 seconds. The previous record, established in 1995 by Carmelo Abela was 5 hours and 21 minutes. To put things into perspective, the round Malta sailing record – established by Lee Satariano’s Artie III in 2019, stands at just 4 hours and 44 minutes.
Malta Young Sailors’ Club is now gearing up for the Foiling 100 event, which is scheduled to take place between the 16th and 19th May and will consist of a 100km race from St. Paul’s Bay to Ragusa in Sicily
Malta Young Sailors Club, expressed their gratitude towards the generous support of sponsors and volunteers including Yachting Malta, Casamigos, courtesy of M. Demajo Wines & Spirit Ltd., and Visit Malta.
Featured Image Credit: Peter Mclean
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