Cormorant crossed the line in Malta early on 22 October after 4 days 14 hours at sea, completing the 606-mile race round Sicily. Her provisional class place.

Updated 22 October: Cormorant has finished. The race’s live tracker shows her crossing the line in Valletta at 1.46am Malta time on Thursday 22 October, which was 12.46am in Whitstable. Her elapsed time was 4 days, 14 hours and 26 minutes.

On corrected IRC time the tracker puts her 12th in IRC Class 4. Twelve of the 14 boats in her class finished and two retired. These are the tracker’s provisional standings; the Royal Malta Yacht Club publishes the official results once every boat is in. Thirteen boats across the whole fleet had retired by the time she finished.

A Whitstable yacht set off from Malta on Saturday 17 October on a 606-mile offshore race round Sicily.

Cormorant, skippered by Whitstable resident Patrick Maflin, is entered in the 2026 Rolex Middle Sea Race. The race starts from Grand Harbour in Valletta, Malta, on Saturday 17 October and covers about 606 nautical miles.

Shepherd Neame says she is the first yacht from Whitstable to take part. The Faversham brewer announced on 13 October that it is sponsoring the boat jointly with Darren Wilton, licensee of The Old Neptune on Whitstable’s beach.

The boat and the crew

The race organiser’s official entry list shows:

  • Yacht: Cormorant, sail number GBR2717R
  • Type: Grand Soleil 52
  • Skipper and owner: Patrick Maflin
  • Registered owner: Marine Accounts Ltd

Mr Maflin founded Marine Accounts, a Kent accountancy firm that Shepherd Neame says has worked with yacht crews, captains and marine professionals for 12 years. Members of his team will crew the boat.

The hull will carry the logos of The Old Neptune and Shepherd Neame’s Whitstable Bay beers for the whole race.

What they said

Mr Wilton said Mr Maflin had been a regular at the pub for more than 20 years. “We even call him Captain Pat!” he said. “When he mentioned he would be showcasing Whitstable with a yacht race around Sicily, I really wanted the pub to get involved.”

He added: “We hope the team do well and come back here for a celebratory drink after the race.”

Rose Davis, Shepherd Neame’s head of brands, said the race was “a fantastic opportunity to introduce our Whitstable Bay range, The Old Neptune pub, and everything else the seaside town has to offer, to an international audience.”

Mr Maflin said: “We started with an idea not just to sail a course, but to build a legacy.”

The course

The race is run by the Royal Malta Yacht Club. Shepherd Neame says this is its 47th year. The organiser’s course page lists the marks the fleet sails past, anticlockwise from Valletta:

Mark Distance from the start
Capo Passero, Sicily 55 nautical miles
Strait of Messina 153 nautical miles
Stromboli 188 nautical miles
Favignana 338 nautical miles
Pantelleria 412 nautical miles
Lampedusa 502 nautical miles
Comino, then the finish in Malta 596 nautical miles

The organiser’s race preview, published on 12 October, says 108 boats from 26 countries and territories are entered. They start in seven groups between 11am and noon Malta time.

Shepherd Neame says some crews take several days to finish, racing through the night in conditions that can range from light winds to heavy seas.

What it means for you

You can follow Cormorant from home. All of this is from the organiser’s race preview:

  • The start: live coverage begins at 10.30am Malta time on Saturday, which is 9.30am in Whitstable. It streams on the race’s YouTube channel and Facebook page, with English commentary. The first group starts at 10am UK time.
  • The tracker: every boat’s position is on the live tracker, and in the free YB Races app for phones and tablets. Search for Cormorant.
  • Daily updates: a live show on the fleet, the weather and tactics runs each morning from Sunday 18 October, at 8.30am UK time.
  • Results: times and positions appear on the organiser’s results pages as boats finish.

If the crew make it back to The Old Neptune for that drink, we will report how they got on.

Sources