Middle Sea showdown

Further optimisation ahead of this year’s race includes a new sail wardrobe and modifications designed to improve IRC corrected-time performance, giving the crew ambitions beyond another line honours victory.

“This year we are racing in a different way,” Le Brun said. “We have set up the boat differently to have a little crack at corrected time.”

Offshore challengers

Among the strongest challengers is Johnny Vincent’s Volvo Open 70 Pace, which claimed both monohull line honours and IRC overall victory in the 2026 RORC Round Britain and Ireland Race.

The Dutch Volvo Ocean 65 JAJO is another contender, having finished second overall under IRC in the stormy 2023 Rolex Fastnet Race and won IRC Super Zero in 2025.

They will be joined by Volvo Open 70s Dinzer Doo, Ocean Breeze and Il Mostro, along with Volvo Ocean 65s Sisi and Wind Whisper.

Le Brun acknowledges the threat posed by these powerful offshore designs, particularly in stronger reaching conditions.

“Pace can be extremely fast at reaching angles in more than 20 knots of wind. They can almost stick with us,” he said.

However, Black Jack 100 should have the advantage in lighter conditions, where its longer waterline and greater sail area come into play.

Also capable of challenging are Filip Balcaen’s Mills 72 Balthasar, the defending IRC overall champion, and Giovanni Lombardi Stronati’s Wallyrocket 71 Django 7X, which makes its Rolex Middle Sea Race debut following its 2025 Rolex IMA Maxi Grand Prix World Championship victory.

Weather wildcard

The Mediterranean weather could prove decisive, with early forecasts suggesting a predominantly light-air start and potentially slow progress towards the Strait of Messina.

Race management anticipates a light downwind start, with the breeze gradually decreasing through Saturday and into Sunday morning.

Four-time overall winner Christian Ripard, preparing for his record 36th participation aboard Lee Satariano’s HH42 Artie III, says the race demands constant adaptation.

You have to be prepared for everything. Right now, the forecast is predominantly light winds, but thunderstorms could completely change that picture,” Ripard said.

The course takes competitors through the Strait of Messina, past the volcanic island of Stromboli and around Favignana, Pantelleria and Lampedusa before returning to Malta.

The monohull course record remains the 40 hours, 17 minutes and 50 seconds set by Comanche in 2021. Breaking that benchmark would require an average speed exceeding 15 knots over the shortest course distance, making a record attempt unlikely under the current forecast.

Multihull contest

Four multihulls will contest their own line honours battle, with three leading contenders closely matched on potential performance.

The Italian Kinetic 54 Garbina J, owned by Cesare Dania and sailed by Alfredo Mecozzi, carries the highest MOCRA rating.

It faces the ORC 50 Calamity, sailed by Kimmo Nordström with experienced offshore sailor Ryan Breymaier aboard, and the Polish Outremer 5X Luke Seawalker, sailed by Łukasz Komierowski with Jens Lindner among the crew.

The fourth entry, Turbolenta, could be a contender for the overall multihull victory on corrected time.

Meanwhile, five Class40 yachts representing France, Czechia, Slovenia, Switzerland and Austria will compete in a closely matched contest, where the first boat to finish takes the class victory.

Among them is Optimus Prime, owned by former Olympic skier Ivica Kostelić and skippered by Matic Vrečko, which recently claimed line honours in the Cannes–Malta Race.

With shifting winds, complex coastal effects and potentially prolonged calms, the 2026 Rolex Middle Sea Race promises a tactical contest in which outright speed may not be enough to secure victory.

The race is organised by the Royal Malta Yacht Club, with Rolex as title sponsor since 2002.

rolexmiddlesearace.com