Dmitriy Rybolovlev presents his Rolex Fastnet Trophy to HSH Prince Albert II of Monaco

Monaco 20th September 2021. Yacht Club de Monaco (YCM) paid tribute to the crew on Skorpios who won the prestigious Rolex Fastnet Race earlier this year.

Representing the Monegasque club, the crew were on Skorpios, a ClubSwan 125 (sail number MON001) launched just a few weeks before the race. Skorpios rose to the challenge, performing brilliantly to take line honours by being the first to cross the finish line. Skorpios therefore becomes the first YCM team to win the Fastnet in the race’s nearly 100-year history.

Attending the handover ceremony were members of the YCM’s Management Committee, directors from the Swan yard and representatives of the Skorpios crew.

During the ceremony, the yacht’s owner and helmsman Dmitriy Rybolovlev presented the cup to YCM President HSH Prince Albert II of Monaco, and thanked the club and the Prince for their support and wished the crew every success. HSH Prince Albert II responded by wishing Skorpios and the team a long life and successful career.

The skipper on Skorpios, Spaniard Fernando Echavarri, Olympic sailor and World Champion, expressed his hope that the team would return often to the YCM often with new trophies.

Skorpios completed the Rolex Fastnet Race in 2 days 8 hours 33 minutes 55 seconds – a new benchmark for monohulls. The race starts from Cowes on the Isle of Wight, UK, and for the first time in its history finished in Cherbourg, France, a total distance of 695 nautical miles. The first Fastnet race was in 1925.

The ClubSwan 125 Skorpios is the largest monohull sailing yacht in the world and the biggest yacht ever to have participated in the Fastnet Race. The yacht was built by Finnish Nautor’s Swan’s shipyard and launched in July 2021 and requires a crew of 29. Skorpios has been designed and built by the best constructors with state-of-the-art equipment from experienced suppliers. According to the designer, the famous naval architect Juan Kouyoumdjian, this sailing yacht is opening a new page in the history of sailing.

Dmitriy Rybolovlev, businessman, philanthropist and president of AS Monaco football club, has been passionate about sailing for a number of years. He helms Skorpios which is named after the Greek apartment belong to Mr Rybolovlev’s family. In 2019, the crew led by Dmitriy Rybolovlev and Fernando Echavarri won a world title after winning at the ClubSwan 50 in Palma de Mallorca, Spain, and won a bronze medal in 2020 in the World Championship at Scarlino in Italy. Skorpios is the only team to win medals at the ClubSwan 50 World Championship two years in a row.

The next international event for the yacht is the Middle Sea Race this October, which starts and finishes in Malta, a round trip of  606 nautical miles that includes going round Sicily.