End of a tough tour
The 45th Tour Voile just finished for the 14 crews competing in a tight-fought three weeks that saw 22 inshore and offshore races organised in six stage towns on the menu for 2024. Among participants was Nicolas Bouchet from Yacht Club de Monaco sailing on APCC Voile Sportive which finished 10th. This latest edition which started on 28th June in Dunkirk has proved a festival of top-flight confrontations that had spectators on the edge down to the last race.
Consistency on every start
Consistency was key to staying as close as possible to the leading pack of this international meeting. Jérémy Moutout and Bodhi Van Der Linden, both from Yacht Club de Monaco, were perfect examples. After six races contested in the Baltic Sea they finished 14th and 15th in ILCA 7 respectively, both managing a race in the top ten.
Celebration of youth
The opening ceremony marked the start of the 53rd Youth Sailing World Championships which ran from 15-19 July on Lake Garda. No fewer than 418 sailors from 70 countries were there including Noah Garcia and Louise Debeaumont from Yacht Club de Monaco competing in the ILCA 6 category.
Beda the big winner
The Smeralda 888 fleet were in Porto Cervo, Sardinia, 27-30 June for the Invitational 888 which is the third stage in their 2024 championship. Eight races were run for the eight teams in competition in sometimes strong wind conditions.
Success in tough conditions
After a successful event in Bonifacio, Corsica, less than a month ago, the Swan Sardinia Challenge met up in Alghero in north Sardinia, Italy, for the third stage of the 2024 Nations League. Throughout the week, 11 ClubSwan 50s and eight ClubSwan 36s battled it out in a competition where 25 nations were represented on a race area where weather conditions tested the entire fleet’s skills to the limit. Only three races were completed for each class. In ClubSwan 36, Giangiacomo Serena di Lapigio (G-Spot) from Yacht Club de Monaco won the event. In ClubSwan 50, Graeme Peterson (Moonlight) came 2nd ahead of Leonardo Ferragamo (Cuordileone) 6th.
YCM flirts with the top ten
The second event on the Italian circuit saw 35 teams in action at Riva del Garda including two from Yacht Club de Monaco. Louis Poons on Charisma pulled off a well-deserved 6th place in the overall ranking as well as in the Garmin Cup. In eight races on a Lake Garda at its best he was in the top ten of five of them including a win. Lorenzo Bortolotti’s Black Swan was also competing managing a 9th place in the overall ranking. In a few weeks (26-28 July), the J/70s will be in Malcescine for the next stage on this circuit.
Two in a row for Viola
Another superb win concludes the Italian season for the crew on Viola, the 1908 gaff cutter led by Kostia Belkin from Yacht Club de Monaco. Just days after triumphing in the 21st Vele d’Epoca in the Gulf of Naples, Viola made it a double on the Tyrrhenian coast during the Grandi Vele held in the gulf of Gaeta. An experience that adds another dose of the Dolce Vita for Kostia Belkin who topped the Epoca ranking but was also overall winner. He and his crew are now heading over to Catalonia, Spain, to line up on the start of the Vela Classica that runs from 12-15 July.
A super busy week
The 130th Kieler Woche that brings together the cream of dinghy sailors. Yacht Club de Monaco’s Jérémy Moutout was on the start lines in ILCA 7, finishing 58th overall after eight races.
Raw potential
A delegation of 10 young sailors from Yacht Club de Monaco’s Sports Section were on the starting lines of the 49th Trofeo Optimist d’Argento. An event that revealed the potential of the Principality’s young racers, with a special mention for the Benjamins (younger group) who tackled three races on Lake Garda with aplomb.
Riding high
Charisma led by Nico Poons from Yacht Club de Monaco was back on top form at this meeting in Sweden. “We had two poor results after changing the crew at the start of the year,” explained Nico Poons, “We reinvented ourselves – there is still room for improvement – but I think we’re back”. So a fresh start that put them in first place even before the last race, an ultra-rare feat in this class where the ranking is always very tight.