Karen Lile of Sail Sport Talk gives a shout out for London, Sardinia and Malta for hosting races this September. Jan Pachner, the General Secretary of the Yacht Club Costa Smeralda tells us where The Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup and the Rolex Swan Cup races will happen.

Below is the written version of this audio-only report

Karen: This is Karen Lile of Sail Sport Talk with a shout out for London, Sardinia and Malta for hosting races this September. Jan Pachner, the General Secretary of the Yacht Club Costa Smeralda tells us where The Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup and the Rolex Swan Cup races will happen.
Jan: Basically the whole Costa Smeralda, area is 55 kilometers of coastline that’s where the Yacht Club is located.

Karen: The Royal Thames Yacht Club will be hosting their Women’s Open J70 Keelboat Championship. Rear Commodore Jennifer Woods encourages young women to sail and be leaders.

Karen: You are a woman in a role that has never been held by a woman, since 1775 and that’s the Rear Commodore role. What would you say for future women, being in positions of leadership?
Jennifer: I felt very honored when I was asked if I would become Rear Commodore of the Royal Thames. To begin with, I was surprised that they were asking me. But, I realized that it was a serious proposition. I was very thrilled and I have enjoyed the role enormously as, you know, just being the face of the Royal Thames. And I think it is important that woman are considered, and I don’t see why they shouldn’t be. I am not different to anybody else. I hope that now that we have broken this glass ceiling, that there will be many more women to follow me.”

Karen: The Royal Malta Yacht Club will be hosting a series of races for the SB20. I end my report with Adrian Stone and his experience sailing in Malta during the Rolex Middle Sea Race last October 2019.
Karen: And also this is a very unusual entrance going into the race through the channel. Can you describe for our audio listeners a little bit of what that is like, coming out with the city on either side.
Adrain: It’s really amazing! And for me, as a young American guy, I was really besotted by Medieval Europe and the ancient history here. And so to sail off between this very narrow entrance where you’ve got Forts, and great big walls, and its very tricky to sail out of, to be fair. There is a lot of boats crammed into a very tight space and they are all vying to get to the line. And the wind is very fluky and its very tough. And it comes down from various gusts from the streets and from the spires and fort tops. Its very tricky, but its also very beautiful. You have to, on the one hand, stay very focused, and on the other hand you are taking it all in, this very beautiful harbor, which is Malta Grand harbor, the whole area.
Karen: This is Karen Lile of Sail Sport Talk in Malta at the Rolex Middle Sea Race.