Winning the Rolex Middle Sea Race Trophy is the ultimate prize of the eponymous 606nm race. This year, charged with untangling a complex and highly changeable weather scenario, scoring the best time after IRC time correction across a fleet of 98 eligible yachts required both passion and precision. Having exhibited both, in sufficient measure, Eric de Turckheim’s French NMYD 54 Teasing Machine has been declared the winner of the 43rd Rolex Middle Sea Race organised by the Royal Malta Yacht Club.

Taking part in his seventh Rolex Middle Sea Race, de Turckheim’s appetite for offshore racing coupled with his team’s experience and unflinching attention to detail were the keys to the team’s success. Teasing Machine is the fourth French yacht to have won the Rolex Middle Sea Race following in the footsteps of Antares (1981), Spirit of Ad Hoc (2008) and Courrier Recommandé (2018).

“From a very young age, I have had a passion for the 600-mile races, to me they are like the tennis majors,” commented de Turckheim. “Teasing Machine has made the podium at such classics around the world in the past: the Rolex Middle Sea Race, the Rolex Fastnet Race, the Rolex Sydney Hobart, and the RORC Caribbean 600. So, it is a huge emotion to win a grand slam event of sailing. On top of the elation of victory, this is also our favourite race because of the extreme technical complexity of the course and the weather.”

“Teasing Machine was built to compete against other 50 foot…