YCM AWARDS – CREDIT SUISSE TROPHY 2019

 

Yacht Club de Monaco’s racing members were in the spotlight on 18th December 2019 for the Club’s annual awards ceremony, held during the traditional winter cocktail welcoming new members. HSH Prince Albert II paid tribute to the results and team spirit of sailors, when presenting the YCM Awards 2019 – Trophée Credit Suisse. It was also an opportunity for the Club’s President to outline some of his convictions for the coming decade.

 

YCM Awards 2019 – Trophée Credit Suisse, the winners are …

In the YCM Youth Awards 2019, which encourage talented youngsters, tributes were paid in the following categories:

  • Optimists: Noah Garcia, aged 13, for the progress he has made since he started sailing at Summer Camp in 2016, and finishing 2nd in the Monaco Optimist Team Race in 2019.
  • Laser: Jérémy Moutout, the 21-year-old Monegasque who leads the YCM competition team and is in the Monaco Sport Academy. He is involved in high-level Laser Standard competitions and has his sights set on the Olympics.
  • Nacra 15: Logan Viciana & Mathieu Choquet, both under-17, cut their teeth on Optimists and have only been competing in the Nacra 15 class for two years.
  • Kiteboarding: Alexander Ehlen who showed remarkable consistency throughout the year and finished 4th in the under-19s on the IKA Gold Cup World Series circuit.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In the YCM Awards 2019 for adult members, sailors recognised for best defending their Club are:

  • Smeralda 888: Prince Charles de Bourbon-Siciles who won the Smeralda 888 International Championship 2019.
  • J/70: Ludovico Fassitelli for his consistency and results in this highly competitive one-design class.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This year’s big winner of the Credit Suisse Trophy is Kostia Belkin, owner of the beautiful 1908 Fife-design gaff cutter Viola who has had an outstanding season.

 

 

 

Monaco Sport Academy celebrates first year

Launched at the 2018 Winter Cocktail, the Monaco Sport Academy, initiated by YCM member Philippe Ghanem, celebrated its first year. The Academy is a gateway to high-level competition by providing 360o support to help youngsters from the YCM Sports Section reach their full potential. A key mission is to help them become ambassadors of values associated with top-level sport.

For the second year class, 11 young athletes are competing in six disciplines (Laser Standard, Laser Radial, Nacra 15, Optimist, Jet-Ski and Kiteboarding). The MSA shares with them dreams of gold, silver and bronze medals at the big international meetings, their sights set on the 2020 Paris Olympic Games.

 

Countdown to 2020:

“As a new decade dawns, one that will be decisive for the future of our planet, this evening is also a precious moment to share with you some of my convictions.

I believe that one of the key challenges over the next decade is addressing concerns over our climate. In accordance with the United Nations sustainable development programme to 2030, the next ten years should focus on ocean sciences to increase our knowledge and encourage technical innovation to – hopefully – reverse this decline in the health of our oceans,” said HSH Prince Albert II of Monaco in his speech to new members.

 

With this in mind, the YCM’s President wants the Club to continue expanding and building on projects such as:

 

  • The YCM Explorer Awards, in a partnership with Credit Suisse, which recognises superyachts that strive to reduce their environmental impact. This year, a combination of new criteria developed to measure this impact will be taken into account when awarding the trophy on 26th March 2020.
  • The Monaco Solar and Energy Boat Challenge, the seventh edition of which runs from 30th June to 4th July 2020, transforms the YCM into an incubator supporting research and development in the maritime sector, stimulating the creativity of young engineers to work with professionals to devise clean propulsion methods for boats.

 

And developing new technologies, key examples being:

  • The Dynamic positioning buoys now used in YCM regattas
  • The Zero Emission Committee Boat currently under construction.

 

The Winter Cocktail was an opportunity for YCM members to get together and end 2019 in style, and for the Club to announce its plans for the next decade of new adventures – sustainable ones!