Mast mishap hinders record attempt

Sebastian Ripard, 24, and Benji Borg, 20, who recently announced their common aspiration of going for gold at the Olympics, are following a tough three-year training programme, leaving no time for social life and having to put career on hold.

The two sailors are also using their passion for the sport to show solidarity towards those less fortunate in society by organising their very own fund-raising activity in aid of Inspire.

In fact, on Saturday, Sebastian and Benji had planned to sail their 49er around Malta in a bid to break the current record (4hrs 50mins) held by J125-type boat Strait Dealer.

For this record-breaking sail, the event's organisation expenses have been secured thus all the proceeds will go for charity.

So far, the young sailors have collected €2,100 but their target on this 'Inspire mission' is €5,000.

Yet last Sunday, the wind they enjoy and confront so much, proved the strongest while training in 25 knots westerly, going for a lot of manoeuvres and really pushing the boat and themselves quite hard.

According to the young protagonists it was a moment where "heart rate stood at 170 and with lungs and muscles burning".

Here it is worth mentioning that the 49er, representing the height of technology, is regarded as the fastest dinghy class at the Olympics.

It is a super lightweight hull weighing only 75 kilos supporting a fully carbon mast under 10 kilos.

The 49er pushes technology to the maximum and demands the impossible from its sailors.

Drifting at sea

And on Sunday, Ripard and Borg were really pushing when all of a sudden they heard the rig snap.

They quickly set to work at detaching the mast before it could do any damage to the boat itself. In the process they realised they were also quickly drifting out of Mellieħa.

At this stage, they had no option but to dump the splintered rig into the sea, jump in the water and spend an hour swimming and pushing the boat back into bay.

Luckily neither of the sailors got hurt and the boat itself suffered minimal damage. However, a trip to London to buy and transport a new £2,500 rig is necessary with the result that the planned record-breaking attempt had to be postponed.

However, the charity dinner in aid of Inspire, also planned for Saturday, is still on. This is being held at the Royal Malta Yacht Club and tickets are available from Sebastian Ripard or Inspire.