24th Marmaris International Race Week - Competition at it's final day

by Mike Pateniotis on 3 Nov 2013 After four days of racing, the 24th Marmaris International Race Week has reached its final day. We’ve seen some great sailing from all of the teams who’ve been treated to more than their fair share of sunshine throughout the week. With an event that offers so much to it’s competitors, it’s clear to see why this regatta has grown so rapidly into the large-scale event that it is today.

As has become expected, the race week delights attendees with some memorable social events and this year’s regatta was no exception. Yesterday saw many familiar faces in a different guise as they attended a costume party. The entertainment gave everyone something to talk about as pirates, smurfs and cannibals took to the Marmaris stage to give a unique performance.



The crucial last race of the regatta was an inshore, triangular course similar to yesterday’s. The breeze kicked in early on and it wasn’t long before gusts reached up to 10 knots, perfect conditions for such a pivotal day of racing. The gulf was packed with 179 boats and both the skippers and their crews were ready to put in their best performance.

The highlight of the day was the start of IRC 1one race; ‘Boreas’ had a great start, but a few meters after the start line the jib halyard broke causing the crew some serious problems and ultimately losing them valuable speed. But thanks to some slick crew work and a great team effort they wasted little time changing the halyard and managed to get themselves back in the game just as rival ‘Matmazel’ started to get ahead.

The diversity of the participants that compete here is what makes this regatta so unique. Anyone from elite sailors to part time enthusiasts can enter and this year has seen sailors from all over Europe gather to experience the thrill of racing amongst some of the industries best.

The last day continued as it had begun, the breeze remained strong all day allowing for some fast paced racing. The first boat to cross the finish line in the IRC 1 class was Matmazel, a great end to the regatta for the team. For the other classes, after four races had been sailed, the final winners of each division were decided…

With Matmazel winning the first division of the IRC Class, it was the Turkish, X Machine who won division two. Lettland from Latvia took the top spot in division three and the Ukrainian boat named Ajuga won it’s class in division four. Finally it was Kanka from Germany who took the win in division five.

The IRC Charter Class also reached it’s conclusion today with White Butterfly taking the win in the first division for the Russians. Division two saw Russians again at the top with Philoxene and division three as won by the Russian team sailing Dans. Cornelian won division four representing Ukraine and finally it was First from Ukraine that came out on top in division five.

The closing ceremony took place later on in the evening where the winners were awarded their prizes after a successful week of sailing. With the trophies received the celebrations began and everyone made the most of their last night in Marmaris.