One month to the start of the 19th palermo-montecarlo!

 

It’s just over a month left until the start of the 19th Palermo-Montecarlo, the late summer offshore regatta which will turn twenty next year, organized by the Circolo della Vela Sicilia, and with the collaboration of Yacht Club de Monaco and Yacht Club Costa Smeralda.

 

The start of the 500 nautical miles regatta Palermo-Montecarlo 2024 is scheduled for Tuesday 20 August from the Gulf of Mondello, one of the most beautiful and loved bays on the Italian coast, and will, as always, be a spectacle visible from land with 50 sailing boats from 10 to 30 meters hoisting the large gennakers heading out to open sea.

In recent weeks many entries have received at the Circolo della Vela Sicilia, at the moment 42 boats are confirmed, but there are many rumors and expectations for the last-minute choices of boats and crews from the Sicilian sailing clubs, as well as interest from other international yachts, it is It is likely that we will reach over 50 boats.

There is the return of some maxis, with boats around 30 metres, from which in the event of favorable conditions one can expect an assault on the 500 nautical miles record of the Palermo-Montecarlo, which has stood for almost a decade: in 2015 it was set from Esimit Europa 2 in 47 hours, 46 minutes and 48 seconds. The same boat, which today is called Black Jack 100, will return as a protagonist in the regatta with the new Maltese flag: the owner Remon Vos will manage this iconic Reichel-Pugh project which in almost twenty years of regattas has won everything. Skipper from YCM Tristan Le Brun will lead a crew of  29 sailors.

Another maxi that signed up a few days ago is Lucky (USA), 27 meters by Juan Kouyoumdjian built in 2014, owner Bryon Ehrhart and skippered by the expert Stuart Wilson. Also worth keeping an eye on are the 22 meters of the Maxi 72 Balthasar, ex Caol Ila R, a Mills project by the Maltese shipowner Filip Balcean, Belgian skipper Rogier van Overved, and the 21 meters of the VO65 SISI, already a protagonist in the latest edition of The Ocean Race.

Other large hulls that will be protagonists of the Palermo-Montecarlo 2024: the Polish Mylius 60 R, 18 and a half meters by Robert Szustkowski, a design by Alberto Simeone for a powerful cruise-racer; the Botin 56 Black Pearl, German nationality, skipper Stefan Jentzsch, 17 meters among the first registered this year; the Solaris 55 Team 42, a Soto Acebal project for the Italian shipyard, by the French owner and skipper Bernard Giroux; Red Bandit, TP52 by Carl-Peter Forster of the Bavarian Yacht Club: triumphant at the Giraglia 2023 and voted best German offshore sailing boat.

Mauro Pelaschier also returns on the Elo II prototype of the Italian Yacht Club, the platform for the training program for young people from other classes in offshore sailing. And the Class40s are also worth seeing, among which the Tyrolit by Matteo Sericano and Luca Rosetti, a 2022 VPLP project, stands out.

The Circolo della Vela Sicilia has announced that the standard-bearing crew will race with a Swan 42, skipper Edoardo Bonanno, with ocean navigator Alessandro Torresani on board, among others. As tradition, the list of starters at Palermo-Montecarlo is updated until the day before the start. Three Monegasque crews are among the entries: Andrea Statari’s Comet 45S Gorilla Gang XL, Paul Basson’s Swan 46 Foreign Affair, and Loïc Pompée’s Le Joy, a Grand Soleil 48. In keeping with tradition, the organization will be able to update the list of participating crews until the day before the start.

The Rosalia 400 lights in Palermo and the Principality

As is known, in 2024 a very important event for the city will take place in Palermo, which in some way will also involve the participants in the regatta: the 400th anniversary of the discovery of the remains of Santa Rosalia, the Patroness of Palermo on Monte Pellegrino. To underline the anniversary, the Sicilia Foundation, which has been a partner of Palermo-Montecarlo for years, has given life to the Rosalia 400 project, through a program of cultural initiatives of an artistic, literary and editorial nature. Among these, the artist Domenico Pellegrino has created an installation of lights that will be on a sailing boat in Mondello on the evening of the eve of the regatta, visible in front of the headquarters of the Circolo della Vela Sicilia. The same installation will then also be proposed in Monte Carlo.

Included in the circuit of “long” Italian Offshore Sailing Championship FIV regattas, as one of the highest coefficient for final classification score, the Palermo-Montecarlo 500 miles are also part of the following prestigious circuits: the IMA Mediterranean Maxi Offshore Challenge; the Mediterranean Offshore Trophy; the Mediterranean Trophy for the Class40; and the 2024 edition of the Championnat et Trophées Inshore et Offshore Méditerranée en Équipages-IRC. The event, which has become a landmark in the offshore sailing calendar, is organised by the Circolo della Vela Sicilia, which is also involved with Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli in the 37th America’s Cup to be held in Barcelona in 2024.