Rolex Middle sea MOCRA Winner
MOCRA Winner
Peter Aschenbrenner's 63' Trimaran, Paradox, is the first official class winner in the Rolex Middle Sea Race, winning the MOCRA Class. This is Peter's first race and it was an eventful one as he explains.
“The race was very interesting and at times frustrating when the wind shut down but there was a little more breeze than I expected in the first half of the race and we had just enough wind to keep moving. At Palermo we were becalmed but when I came up on deck for my watch, the wind turned on and we were doing 30 knots, foil down, past Trapani. Great sailing at high speed, along one of the stunning places on the course with mountain terrain and beautiful scenery.
At Lampedusa, we rounded onto a reach and a straight shot at the Comino Strait and we were looking good for the handicap win, but you know what happens when you get over confident. A giant squall just sat between us and Malta and shut the wind down, it seemed like an impenetrable wall. It wasn't until the sun burnt off the squall in the morning that we got going and in just superb style. In what Paul Larsen calls 'glide mode'.
A few hours before the finish, we heard a big bang and the mainsail came cascading down, the headboard had broken and we said – there goes the race. The guys got up there and jury-rigged a fix, we came flying in with our fingers crossed. So we were delighted to take the win on handicap.”