ROLEX MIDDLE SEA RACE
With the 2026 Rolex Middle Sea Race just four months away, the excitement for the 47th edition is palpable. The Royal Malta Yacht Club is delighted to announce the growing list of participants, showcasing a diverse and international lineup. From the Pacific Northwest of the United States to the Adriatic coast of Croatia and beyond, competitors from around the globe are once again proving that the race is one of offshore sailing’s most esteemed, celebrated, and challenging endeavors.
Balthasar, the overall winner of the 2025 edition and once again led by Louis Balcaen, is among the returning yachts. At last year’s prize-giving ceremony, the seasoned crew expressed their intent to defend their title, and it’s great to see that confirmed. Simon Toms is another returning competitor. With his Zephyr team, Toms secured back-to-back class wins in 2024 and 2025. This time, Toms is armed with a brand-new weapon—a 13.4-meter (44-foot) Finot Conq designed IRC prototype built by the innovative French yard, NST. Slovenian entry Karpo is another team with a history of winning their Class at the Rolex Middle Sea Race. The crew led by Maks Vrecko is a formidable force over the 606-nautical-mile course. Closer to home, the two-time overall winner Lee Satariano and the Artie crew will be on the start with their HH42. Longstanding co-skipper Christian Ripard aims to participate in a record-setting 36th race.
AMERICAS RALLY TO THE START LINE
The draw of the Mediterranean is proving as powerful as ever for competitors from the Americas. Among the most notable transatlantic entries is Red Ruby, the Sun Fast 3300 skippered by Justin and Christina Wolfe, representing Orcas Island Yacht Club from the San Juan archipelago in Washington State, and making a third appearance. Racing four-up, instead of double-handed as previously, the team will be looking to go one better than the remarkable second-place finish in 2023, when the Wolfes were pipped by Bullitt, a 93ft fully-crewed maxi, by a mere 24 seconds. This year the husband and wife duo will be competing alongside Jonathan McKee, who raced Red Ruby on the course in 2022, and William “Carl” Buchan. McKee and Buchan are a formidable addition, having won Olympic gold together in the Flying Dutchman in 1984. McKee would go on to add a bronze in the 49er in 2000. Buchan, whose father remarkably won Olympic gold in the Star also in 1984, was part of Dennis Conner’s America’s Cup winning Stars & Stripes in 1988.
Since the 2023 race, the Wolfes have been changing the gears up and down. In April 2024, they took on the 3,800 nm Cap Martinique from La Trinité to Martinique double-handed finishing 10th out of 40. They didn’t race Red Ruby at all in 2025, but for 2026 they are back, and with even greater focus than before.
TRUE GRIT AND VOLCANOES BY NIGHT
Returning from Croatia is Buri, the Elan 333 that serves as the offshore flagship of Veruda Sailing School in Pula. In 2025, skipper Robert Šarić and his crew completed a remarkable 2,300-nautical-mile loop from Pula to Malta and back with the Rolex Middle Sea Race at its centrepiece.
According to Šarić the race is a mix of challenge and the spectacular: “Right at the start of our 2025 race, we had an issue that required us to hoist a crew member to the top of the mast. We actually crossed the starting line with him still up there! Passing Stromboli in the dark and seeing the lava glowing high above the horizon like a lighthouse for Titans was an unforgettable experience.”
For Šarić, whose philosophy centres on building sailing experience through high-intensity offshore training rather than leisure sailing, the Rolex Middle Sea Race represents the ultimate test. “It is the uncompromising, hardcore nature of the challenge mixed with raw Mediterranean scenery. It is a race that demands absolutely everything from a sailor. There is simply no better classroom in the world than 600 miles of the most demanding offshore conditions the Mediterranean has to offer.
The level of readiness required, the need for agility, and an ability to handle unexpected pressure is exactly what the Rolex Middle Sea Race demands. The conditions can be ruthless, but those who refuse to give up are always rewarded.”
Picking out a favourite part of the course is difficult: “Besides the attraction of Stromboli, the start in Valletta’s Grand Harbour is absolutely epic. Crossing the line under the booming cannons with those massive crowds watching from the historic bastions gives you chills and sets the tone for the whole race.”
LOCAL LEGENDS
Lee Satariano, Christian Ripard and the crew of Artie are a massive part of the Maltese folklore surrounding the Rolex Middle Sea Race, both collectively and individually. Satariano has won the race on two occasions, in 2011 and 2014 with a previous iteration of Artie. Ripard was a key part of the crew, as co-skipper on both occasions. He has also won the race in his own right. The first time was with Bigfoot in 1996, the year the race was revived after a more than decade long hiatus. The second win came in 2001, when Strait Dealer scored a remarkable double, taking line honours and overall. Strait Dealer remains the only Maltese-crewed entry to have secured the prize for being first to finish.
For Satariano the Rolex Middle Sea Race offers more than just the opportunity to go to sea for a few days. The year-long preparation, planning and anticipation are just as important:
“This is my passion at the end of the day. I enjoy spending weekends, and even during the week, going to the yard, switching off and working on the boat. Spotting the things that need to be replaced, to be maintained, and improved, the simple things as well as the bigger jobs, there is always a lot to do.
This year we dropped the rudder and serviced the bearings. We have also dropped the keel, stripped it back and resprayed it. Some jobs are more difficult than others. We have a light, rubber ‘soft deck’ in the cockpit area, but it had lost its grip, so we had to replace it. It took four or five of us to get the job done. While waiting for the new one to be fitted we used the opportunity to make repairs to any cracking around the stanchion fittings
Some of the changes, like the keel and sail inventory, are aimed at improving our IRC rating while others are just TLC. There is always a lot of work going on in the background.”
Besides Satariano and Ripard, the remainder of the Artie crew are relatively young and have grown up sailing with the team. Now into their 20s and 30s, there is a strong bond and understanding within the group. “We are expecting to make only one change to the crew this year, probably on the bow. Otherwise, the team has been together for a long time, they get along, they know the boat well and are all very competitive. We have built some great memories.”
Satariano and Ripard first started racing together back in 2002. “We really got on and Chris has been an important part of the story ever since. He is a great person to sail with. All the young guys, including my son Jake who did his first race in 2019, get on very well with him, and have learned a lot. He is so calm, always taking the time to explain things. He is very good at making sure everyone understands what is happening, and feels part of the crew from the beginning. His energy is incredible and he often seems more like one of them with his enthusiasm. I think having the younger sailors around can be inspiring.”
For Satariano, the Rolex Middle Sea Race really matters: “Given its timing, it is often the last race for many of the international campaigns, so it is a priority for us to do well especially with the race starting and finishing in our hometown.
Our ambition each time is to improve wherever we can, to be better positioned on the course, to be better focused. We are in a tough class, but this is where we want to do well, to achieve a top five place. If we go in with this approach, we have a chance overall.
Obviously, conditions pay a big part in an offshore races. The Rolex Middle Sea Race is 360 degrees, so anything can happen. You find different strengths of wind, different directions, shadows behind islands, current, gusts. You can never be quite sure, and that makes it such a spectacular race.”
This year will be Satariano’s 17th race, and despite moments of doubt, he would not miss it. “The first night is always the most difficult for me. I have had all the stress of the preparation as the owner and skipper and need time to settle in. Likewise, when conditions are hard you can find yourself asking ‘what am I doing out here?’ But then, when everything is working well, the pressure eases, any stress slips away. Then you get some lovely conditions that suit the boat and that’s what you remember at the finish. The sleepless nights and getting wet are all worth it”
A FULL PROGRAMME AWAITS
As with every year, the Rolex Middle Sea Race offers a rich calendar of events for all participants. In 2026, the Cannes Malta Yacht Race will get proceedings underway on Monday 5 October, followed by the Yachting Malta Coastal Race on 14 October — both ideal warm-ups for the main event. The legendary crew party on 15 October, free to all participants, promises the convivial spirit that has made the race’s social programme as celebrated as the racing itself. The final prizegiving will take place in the historic Sacra Infermeria on 24 October, a fitting and spectacular close in one of the world’s great maritime locations that links the past to the present.
With the fleet already attracting high-calibre entries from across the Americas, Europe and beyond, those yet to enter are encouraged to do so without delay. Entries for the 2026 Rolex Middle Sea Race close on 18 September 2026