As the sun rose over Stromboli on the third day of the Rolex Middle Sea Race, close to half of the 111-strong fleet had passed the active volcano on the northeastern most point of the 608-mile course.
The yachts left Malta in the late morning of Saturday 17th October
The American flagged Maxi, Rambler 88 was the first monohull to pass Stromboli, just before sunset.
Phaedo3 the American trimaran is expected to arrive at the Royal Malta Yacht Club early morning on the 20th but that could easily change with the wind speed.
Rambler 88 was just two hours behind Phaedo3 both yachts are experiencing upwind conditions, which are expected to continue throughout today.
The fleet was extremely well spread out, 250 mlles separating the front to the back of the fleet.
54 yachts had passed Stromboli giving an accurate picture of the overall leader racing under IRC for the Rolex Middle Sea Race Trophy