Wednesday 10th August 2022 – Just over a week to go for competitors registered for the 17th Palermo-Montecarlo 2022 which starts from the Gulf of Mondello in Palermo. The offshore race has been organised by Circolo della Vela Sicilia in partnership with Yacht Club de Monaco Yacht Club Costa Smeralda since 2005.

The start gun will be fired at midday Friday 19th August to launch a race in which many sailing champions are again taking part, reinforcing an already consolidated tradition for this challenge.

Among those in competition is the Circolo della Vela Sicilia local team on Manolis Kondilis’s Carbonita which will have onboard Tommaso Chieffi, Alberto Bolzan, Gaetano Figlia di Granara and Diego Battisti, co-ordinated by co-skippers Edoardo Bonanno and Paolo Semeraro. Other big names include Ambrogio Beccaria and Alberto Riva (Alla Grande Pirelli), Gabriele Bruni and Giuseppe Angilella (Spirit of Nerina Lauria), Andrea Caracci (Solano), Mauro Pelaschier (Elo II), Stefano Raspadori (Karmak) and Frenchmen Kito de Pavant (HBF Reforest’action) and Nicolas Berenger (Lady First III).

Competing alongside them are three Monaco boats namely Gorilla Gang led by Andrea Statari, Andreas Feichtinger’s Lung’ta and K’Mena.

 

 

 

This high-level international fleet will tackle the circa 500 nautical mile distance that separates Palermo from the Principality of Monaco. A course that takes them through the tricky Strait of Bonifacio then up the west or east coast of Corsica (tactical choice) to the finish in Monaco.

Most are vying to win the Giuseppe Tasca d’Almerita Trophy as the first to cross the line in real time or the Angelo Randazzo Perpetual Challenge for the winner in corrected time for the largest group between ORC and IRC. New this year is the Circolo della Vela Sicilia Trophy rewarding winner of the smallest Group between ORC and IRC.

“The start date is fast approaching and I cannot hide my satisfaction at seeing that once again we have a Palermo-Montecarlo fleet that is really top notch in terms of quality and numbers,” says Agostino Randazzo, President of Circolo della Vela Sicilia, a club engaged alongside Team Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli in the next America’s Cup. “After a few difficult years for everyone, our organisation is finally back on track and I’m delighted by the many positive responses by the crews. They really like this event and we will do everything we can to make it even better this year”.

The race is part of the Italian Offshore Championship circuit organised by the Italian Sailing Federation, the IMA’s Mediterranean Maxi Offshore Challenge and the Class40 Mediterranean Trophy and is for offshore sailing boats with an international ORC classification or IRC.