Americans show who’s boss!
Monaco Sportsboat Winter Series – Act I – 4-7 November 2021
Friday 5th November 2021. Decks were awash and faces whipped by a 15-18 knot easterly as contestants surfed under spinnakers at nigh-on 18 knots on this bracing first day. The 40 teams on the start have now got the measure of this meeting, as this 9th Monaco Sportsboat Winter Series season is a chance to try out the race area which will host the J/70 World Championship (14-22 October 2022) organised by Yacht Club de Monaco in partnership with FxPro.
Major on-site test for the Worlds for international sailors
Monaco Sportsboat Winter Series – Act I – 4-7 November 2021
Thursday 4th November 2021. Act 1 of the 9th Monaco Sportsboat Winter Series starts on Friday. Launched by Yacht Club de Monaco at the instigation of Valentin Zavadnikov, the series of monthly regattas has become a tradition for many international teams, with this season’s series taking on special significance for J/70 sailors with just under a year to go to the J/70 World Championship in Monaco (14-22 October 2022), organised by YCM.
Surfing the wave
A major force in the sailing world, Yacht Club de Monaco knows how to give competitors who decide to rig up in the Principality what they want. To set a precedent, YCM are pulling out all the stops for this season’s Monaco Sportsboat Winter Series which is set to attract some of the top sailors for this ninth edition, with around 40 teams from 14 nationalities for this first Act. From Friday an 8-10 knot easterly is expected, strengthening over night to an up to 20-knot westerly on Saturday. Great conditions to warm-up competitors.
The Germans on Grün and Americans on Good to Go will be joining the meeting’s regulars, like the talented British team on Brutus II. Also of note are newcomers among the Monegasque ranks, with Moonlight II and the Russian teams on Tenzor Legal and Tenzor Sport signed up.
Monegasque Loïc Pompée and his men on Sailing Racing Team will also be there, buoyed by their 5th place in the recent European Championship, their hearts set this time on a podium finish at home.
Qualifier warm-up
This season the Monaco Sportsboat Winter Series is part of the qualification system for the J/70 World Championship (14-22 October 2022) being organised for the first time by Yacht Club de Monaco in partnership with FxPro. The 120 teams that qualify will be in two groups: one for those competing in the Open category and the second for the Corinthian (amateur) teams, and this Winter Series is a great opportunity for contenders to get to know the Monegasque race area.
The 38th Primo Cup-Trophée Credit Suisse (3-6 March 2022) counts as the fourth and final Act, and will be the last major on-location test event for those qualifying for the J/70 World Championship.
A breezy edition
Grimaldi Trophy – San Remo – Monaco – San Remo – 16-17 October 2021
Sunday 17th October 2021. Around 30 boats lined up on the start of the Grimaldi Trophy, an inshore race between Sanremo in Italy and the Principality, jointly organised by Yacht Club Sanremo and Yacht Club de Monaco. Four entrants were representing YCM, including its flagship Tuiga, Valter Pizzoli’s Ange Transparent II, Gorilla Gang XL helmed by Andrea Statari and Alain Mazzoleni’s Alcyon.
Three races on the programme
For 2021, there were three stages, the first an 11.6 nautical mile race launched in Sanremo on Friday in an 8/12 knot easterly taking the fleet to Ventimiglia. YCM’s Valter Pizzoli (Ange Transparent II) came 2nd in the ORC A while in the IRC Tuiga crossed the line in 5th. The next day, contestants were out on the water again for the second race covering the ten nautical miles from the new Cala del Forte marina in Ventimiglia to Monaco, with Valter Pizzoli (Ange Transparent II) again clinching 2nd in ORC A while Tuiga upped her game to arrive 4th in the IRC.
Great art!
Smeralda 888 – Championship Finale – 16-17 October 2021
Sunday 17th October 2021. There can be no doubt that Smeralda 888 teams are totally in control of their boats as their talent was again on display at the Championship’s finale in Monaco. After the Primo Cup – Trophée Credit Suisse, Trofeo Luigi Carpaneda in Alassio, Corsica Cup in Calvi and Coppa Europa in Porto Cervo, the ‘Band of Brothers’ were keen to meet at home for the finale which included a team composed of young sailors from Société Nautique de Genève (Geneva).
Like a metronome
The tone was set from the word go. With three races started without any general or individual recalls and mark roundings negotiated in magisterial style, the magic of this class of gentlemen sailors again saw everyone in agreement. Friday evening, title holder Timofey Sukhotin (Beda) of a championship that only gets tougher as the years go by, was neck and neck with Vamos mi Amor of Charles de Bourbon des Deux-Siciles who is also President of this class.
Loïc Pompée at his peak
J/70 – European Championship – Denmark – 27 August – 4 September
Saturday 4th September 2021. They let the fun last to the final race. Loïc Pompée and his J/70 crew brought home an excellent 6th place in the European Championship hosted by the Royal Danish Yacht Club.
Qualifying heats: a second wind
The cream of European J/70 sailors made the trip. With 98 teams from 18 nationalities lined up on the start, the qualifiers were far from easy, but the YCM member kept a cool head from the start to win two of the five races. “It’s always nice to finish the qualifiers at this level (in 10th position), just ahead of teams like the European Champion, the Italian Claudia Rossi,” he says.
In the big league
Galvanised by a superb start, the Monegasque team had no trouble making it into the gold group, then set themselves the objective of scavenging points that separated them from the top rankings. Lying 4th in the Championship after three races, the YCM boat faced several tactical challenges, but while they may not have made it onto the podium they finished a very respectable 6th.
Next year, Loïc Pompée takes on a new challenge at the J/70 World Championship on a race area he knows well – in Monaco – 14-22 October 2022.
4th title for Yacht Club de Monaco’s Guido Miani
Palermo-Montecarlo
Tuesday 24th August 2021. The goal announced at the start has been achieved! It was at 23:03 Monday 23rd August after 59 hours 3 minutes 8 seconds that Guido Miani from the Yacht Club de Monaco associated with Furio Benussi crossed the finish first in elapsed time to take line honours of the 16e Palermo-Montecarlo on Arca SGR. Sailing with his son Daniel and nephew Francesco Vauban it is his fourth title on this Mediterranean classic, having won it twice in corrected time (2007 and 2008) and elapsed time (2013).
Behind them, it was a nail-biting battle for 2nd place between Pendragon VI and Aragon, won by Laurie Davidson 69 Pendragon VI over the last few metres. Organised by Circolo della Vela Sicilia, in partnership with Yacht Club de Monaco and Yacht Club Costa Smeralda, it’s become a major event on the calendar since its launch in 2005.
Breakaway from lead group
16th Palermo-Montecarlo – 21-26 August 2021
Monday 23rd August 2021. Most of the 47 boats that started the 16th Palermo-Montecarlo from the Gulf of Mondello on Saturday finally caught some eagerly sought after breeze. Of these 18 have already made it through the Strait of Bonifacio.
No surprise to hear that race favourite, the 100-ft Arca SGR of the Fast and Furio Sailing Team, led by Guido Miani associated with Furio Benussi, has taken the lead. In their wake Pendragon, Aragon and Leaps & Bounds complete the leading pack. Arca SGR has started the ascent of Corsica via the west coast and is steadily eating up the miles at a speed of 8.5 knots. They expect to reach Monaco during the night around 2.00am.
In the thick of it now
16th Palermo-Montecarlo – 21-26 August 2021
Sunday 22nd August 2021. The first hours of this race will not have been easy on the nerves of the 47 teams in competition, a light 5/6 knot breeze blowing away any hopes of breaking the course record held since 2015 by the 100-ft Maxi Esimit Europa 2. YCM’s Guido Miani and his son Daniel who are sailing on Arca SGR took command from the start. Also taking part is Neil Cheston on Eupraxia with members from the YCM’s adult sailing division on board.
Hunting air
The fleet’s been in tacking mode since the start on Saturday, the goal being to get north as quickly as possible to grab a westerly air flow between Corsica and Sardinia. End of Sunday will see conditions strengthening, unblocking speedometers and shaking up the fleet which should result in a nail-biting end to the race! The first to arrive are not likely to be the leaders in corrected time as the wind is expected to whisk laggards to Monegasque shores between Corsica and the mainland. Some will opt to go up Corsica on the east side, if they haven’t crossed the Strait of Bonifacio before Monday evening. With three circumnavigations on the clock, Neil Cheston is also taking part on Eupraxia and offered many members in the Sports Section’s adult sailing division an opportunity to enjoy this offshore experience for the first time.
480 nautical miles non-stop!
16th Palermo-Montecarlo – 21-26 August 2021
Saturday 21st August 2021. A good start for the 16th Palermo-Montecarlo organised by Circolo della Vela Sicilia, in partnership with Yacht Club de Monaco and Yacht Club Costa Smeralda, a firm fixture on the offshore race calendar since its launch in 2005. No fewer than 480 nautical miles non-stop awaits competitors, the big favourite being Arca SGR, a 30m race machine led by Guido Miani associated with Furio Benussi.
“Light airs await them for the first 48 hours,” notes Thierry Leret from the Yacht Club de Monaco’s Race Committee. “It’s a light north/west (5/6 knots) that they have to negotiate throughout their ascent of the Tyrrhenian Sea. Weather conditions from the start will require a first tactical decision, whether to go in search of breezes off the Italian peninsular, so further away from Sardinian shores, even though it means covering more ground.”
From Monday, conditions change as the Venturi effect kicks in, generated by the Strait of Bonifacio where wind is forced to accelerate as it squeezes through this giant bottleneck between France and Italy. An easterly then takes over from Wednesday as they approach the Monegasque coast.
“Little downwind speed and difficult conditions will prevail for those trying to beat the course record held since 2015 by the 100-ft Maxi Esimit Europa 2 of 47 hours 46 minutes 48 seconds. But there is everything to play for on this course where complex conditions meteorology-wise will give many an opportunity to regain lost ground in the second half of the race,” concludes Thierry Leret.
Boats striving to succeed the 82-foot Maxi Vera which took line honours in the 15th edition and Primavista Laura, a 52-ft Felci Ice winner in corrected time, will have to find a compromise between speed and distance.
48 boats on start of 16th edition
Palermo-Montecarlo – 21-26 August 2021
Saturday 21st August 2021. A 54-strong fleet had a good start at 12 noon today 21st August for the 16th Palermo-Montecarlo, a 480 nautical mile offshore race from Gulf of Mondello in Sicily to Monaco. Faced with an international fleet, two teams are representing Yacht Club de Monaco: Eupraxia, skippered by Neil Cheston and Arca SGR, a 30m racing machine led by Guido Miani associated with Furio Benussi. Sailing alongside his son Daniel, Guido’s sights are set on a fourth title having won this challenging race in 2007 and 2008 in corrected time and taking line honours in elapsed time in 2013. It follows his line honours victory in the 68th Rolex Giraglia in June. Also participating are the Kito de Pavant / Gwen Gbick pair on the Class40 HBF – Reforest’Action, in this their last official competition before the season’s big meeting, the Transat Jacques Vabre.