Onwards and upwards
Optimist – League Regatta – Bormes les Mimosas
Yacht Club de Monaco’s young Optimist sailors were out in force for the League Optimist Regatta in Bormes-les-Mimosas. With 14 young sailors, YCM again showed great team spirit and progress.
A productive training session ahead of the event
Saturday was an intensive training day organised with the Antibes and Cannes sailing clubs. The warm-up focused on setting courses, an ideal opportunity to fine-tune skills, manœuvres and strategy. On Sunday, conditions were more difficult with a fickle 0 to 5 knot breeze and light rain. Despite this, three races were held for the older Minimes and two for the younger Benjamins, with the Monegasques showing great motivation and commitment throughout the day.
Alexander Ehlen up to 8th in world ranking after intense stage in Sardinia
Kitefoil World Series – Cagliari 2024
In the face of a particularly demanding stage in Cagliari, Yacht Club de Monaco kiteboarder Alexander Ehlen showed tremendous resilience and determination at the Kitefoil World Series 2024. Despite several technical problems that forced him to abandon five races, Alexander produced solid rankings in the other three with a 9th, 11th and 12th place.
The results achieved in difficult conditions are testament to the talent and perseverance of this young Monegasque who thanks to his tenacity has consolidated his place among the world’s best kitefoilers.
A big win for Armel Le Cléac’h and Sébastien Josse
The sixth and final event for 2024 organised by Ultim Sailing, the Finistère Atlantique race left Concarneau in Brittany on 28 September.
Five Ultim teams were competing in this second event which after 3,500 nautical miles finished in Antibes on Wednesday 2 October. After 4 days and 7 hours of racing the Ultim of Armel Le Cléac’h, sailing with Yacht Club de Monaco’s Sébastien Josse, won the event.
Young guard at the rendezvous
Les Voiles de Saint-Tropez
Saint-Tropez celebrated the 25th anniversary of the legendary “Les Voiles”. Ideal conditions greeted the 250 boats competing in a week of spectacular racing organised by the Société Nautique de Saint-Tropez. Among this fleet of legends of the sea the young team from Yacht Club de Monaco attracted attention on Loïc Pompée’s Le Joy, the personification of a youth revival in sailing.
Anne Schouten triumph
Lorna Whittlesey Ladies Regatta
Anne Schouten is a lady who is very involved with the Pink Wave group of some 50 women from Yacht Club de Monaco who share their passion for sailing and racing on YCM’s gaff cutter Tuiga. Anne is a regular on the scene racing on J/70s as well as Tuiga.
This weekend she was on the other side of the Atlantic in Connecticut flying the YCM flag at the Lorna Whittlesey Ladies Regatta, an all-female event on IDEAL18 sailboats, organised by the Indian Harbor Yacht Club.
With 10-12 knots of wind and favourable conditions on the water, Anne sailing with an American crew mate from the Annapolis Yacht Club dominated the competition to win the trophy. “It was a fabulous experience. I’m really happy to have been competing and especially having won it”. The regatta mirrors the Woman Leading Sailing Trophy organised by Yacht Club de Monaco.
Promising start
Optimist – Opti d’Or – Saint Raphaël
A fleet of Optimists took over the venue for the Opti d’Or, a league regatta organised by Club Nautique de Saint Raphaël. Four races for the Minimes (older group) and three for the younger Benjamin category were completed in ideal conditions with a light 6 to 12 knot breeze on a flat sea.
This first league event was full of promise for the upcoming season, if the results achieved by the Monegasque delegation are anything to go by. With 65 Optimists in the Minimes fleet, YCM’s young sailors did not disappoint with Océane Schroeder coming 23rd just ahead of Frederik Holst, 25th, with Joséphine Dobbelaere 47th. In the Benjamins, the ambition is there as reflected in the rankings and superb 5th place clinched by Louis Faivre while Victor Holst came 9th ahead of Sacha Mousny 14th, Julian Lampert 15th, Anastasyia Verpeka Dolling 16th and 1st in the girls. Mona Benchekroun and Victor Marquet finished 19th and 21st respectively.
End of season for TP52
TP52 – Valencia 52 Super Series Royal Cup
At the 52 SUPER SERIES finale in Valencia, Alegre led by Yacht Club de Monaco member Andres Soriano really stood her ground in the 13-strong fleet of international entrants. Despite tough competition, Alegre produced a good result in coming 9th in the final overall ranking, enough to put this team in 5th place for the season after five regattas and 41 races.
Results galore
Régates Royales de Cannes
The 46th Régates Royales ended Saturday after an intense week of demanding conditions. Crews had their patience tested the first day as strong winds kept them all ashore, but Wednesday turned up trumps with an exceptional day for sailing. Three races on the course were completed without any problems on the starts. Gloomy skies and no wind saw another race day cancelled, but the remaining ones more than compensated with the 12 categories able to make up for lost time and for some climb the rankings.
Among event favourites was a significant fleet from Monaco determined to get top billing.
Argynne III did just that winning the Classic Yacht Cruiser, while Kostia Belkin on Viola did YCM proud with 2nd in the Vintage Gaff. In the Big Boat class, the crew on Yacht Club de Monaco’s flagship Tuiga also clinched a podium by coming 3rd as did Angelo Mazzarella on Carron III in the Vintage Marconi. In the Classic Race, Massimiliano Ferruzzi’s Il Moro di Venezia finished 5th.
Highland Fling 18 wins Multihull Cup 2024 after nail-biting final
Multihull Cup – Mallorca
The Multihull Cup 2024 ended in spectacular fashion in Mallorca with victory secured by a whisker with 20 seconds separating the top two in the final ranking.
In the last 24-nautical mile inshore race, it was touch and go as to who would win between Yacht Club de Monaco member Lord Laidlaw’s Highland Fling 18 and Adrian Keller’s Allegra.
In testing conditions off the south-west coast of Mallorca, Highland Fling 18 managed to pull away and finish 13 minutes ahead of Allegra. But the wait for the verdict in corrected time kept everyone on tenterhooks until the announced that Highland Fling 18 had indeed won by 20 seconds after two and a half hours of racing.
Added to the win of a previous race, the result meant Highland Fling 18 won the event.
Training continues with the best
With the fast approaching Optimist European Team Racing Championship, organised for the first time by Yacht Club de Monaco 15-20 October 2024, the Optimist team from the Sports Section continue to fine tune skills with the best. After a regatta in Geneva mid-September, Ludovica Bonelli, Océane Schroeder, Pietro Carlevaris and Facundo Rubinelli were in Barcelona for a team match regatta where they finished 7th.