Winners decided

Organised by the Royal Malta Yacht Club, the Rolex Middle Sea Race takes place in the heart of the Mediterranean and comprises one of the most scenic and tactically challenging courses in the world.

Starting and finishing in Malta, the 606 nautical mile route includes the deep, azure waters of Sicily and the confined Strait of Messina, Stromboli’s active volcano, the Egadi Islands, the remote islands of Pantelleria and Lampedusa.

TP52 Red Bandit was declared the winner of the 45th edition of the Rolex Middle Sea Race.

The Royal Malta Yacht Club has confirmed that none of the remaining yachts still racing is able to better Red Bandit’s IRC corrected time. “It’s almost unbelievable, it would be very satisfying if it comes through,” said Forster ahead of the formal confirmation. “I’m particularly proud of these young people most of whom did not sail a big boat four years ago. They have learned to sail this machine so well, which is pretty, pretty amazing. I’m proud of this group, and how they gel together as a team.”

“This was my seventh race. It was the usual amazing, multifaceted Rolex Middle Sea Race. Wind up to 60 knots in a thunderstorm, the fastest Messina Strait crossing thanks to six knots of current with us, the usual light winds, and good boats all around us. Good fighting and competition all the time,” continued Forster.

Red Bandit Crew: Carl-Peter Forster, Bouwe Van Der Weiden, Christian Buck, Frederick Eichhorst, Jacob Meggendorfer, Jesper Radich, Joshua Weber, Max Wentzel, Moritz Troll, Moriz Forster, Nico Jansen, Niklas Schubert, Oliver Oczycz, Sophie von Waldow.

The Red Bandit campaign provides a pathway program for young athletes, under the Forstar Offshore Foundation set up by Forster. The foundation enables highly-competitive dinghy sailors and other youth talent to experience and develop as ‘big boat’ offshore racers. With the principal exception of Forster and the highly experienced tactician, Jesper Radich, the crew is under the age of 30.

Following a winning performance at the 2023 Giraglia, the crew suffered the disappointment of retiring with equipment damage from the same year’s Rolex Middle Sea Race. Faced with strong winds and a big sea on the first night of this year’s race, Forster’s thoughts turned to that moment.

“On the first night I was thinking, hopefully the boat would hold,” he explained. “These are delicate boats and in this boat in 43 knots of wind any mistake can break something, the mast or a sail … anything. But no breakage and I think the boat was better prepared.”

The team’s success owes much to a passion for the sport, a desire to improve and a dynamic team spirit. This impressive character allowed Red Bandit to stay on the pace throughout a testing race that mixed light winds with strong, and rough seas with flat.

“The light wind might have looked easy from the outside, but it was not,” said Radich. “It was all about making the right calls because the wind was so shifty. Whenever we got a forecast, it was only 50 percent correct.

“We really had to interpret which part was correct. We had a bit of a hiccup just at Favignana and had to claw our way back. But, overall, I think we came out really well from the light. The upwind is not our strength, I would say that’s our weakness in 20 knots, especially not having a heavy weather jib. We were struggling, and the guys did an amazing job hiking the boat down for 16 hours a day.”
 
Red Bandit is the third German yacht to have won the Rolex Middle Sea Race following in the footsteps of Saudade (1983) and Morning Glory (2006).

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