Final preparations underway for AEGEAN 600
by Offshore Racing Congress 8 Jul 2022 16:51 NZST
10 July 2022
On Sunday the fleet will start and finish under the Temple of Poseidon at Cape Sounio - The AEGEAN 600 © HORC / George Alevromytis
An impressive fleet from 13 nations is assembled at the Olympic Marina in final preparations for the second edition of the AEGEAN 600, the premier 600-mile ocean race of the eastern Mediterranean region. The race starts on Sunday 10 July with first finishers expected within a few days while the rest of the fleet comes in throughout the remainder of the week.
The AEGEAN 600 is organized by the Hellenic Offshore Racing Club (HORC) and co-organized with Region of Attica and Olympic Marine.
The AEGEAN 600 is unique in having a fantastic start and finish venue: in Sounio under the ancient Temple of Poseidon. From here the fleet embarks on a challenging course designed by the HORC to be "by sailors for sailors," giving them a navigational and seamanship challenge designed to promote International Offshore Racing in Greece.
Even from the start spectators can see the boats head southeast towards the horizon, passing Milos before going through the Caldera of Santorini. They then continue south to Kasos, and after leaving Karpathos to port they will pass Rhodes, Kos, Kalymnos, Pharmakonissi, Agathonissi, Patmos, and onwards will cross the Icarian Sea. Then they will sail between Mykonos and Delos and, after passing Gyaros and Kea islands, they will finish back in Sounio. The total course distance is approximately 605 nautical miles. Scoring for the race will be using IRC, ORC and MOCRA.
This year's fleet is incredibly diverse, with participation of Superyachts, trimarans, and catamarans, in addition to more conventional offshore-capable monohull designs. Their speed around the race course will be determined by more than just size: navigation, seamanship and boat handling are important as well.
Having said this, the largest boats will have an edge on elapsed time performance. Among these the largest monohull entry in the fleet includes ERATOSTENES from Malta, a Swan 112 skippered by noted Italian sailor Jacopo Ferrari-Bravo. Since the AEGEAN 600 was chosen by the International Maxi Association (IMA) to be on its circuit of races in the IMA Mediterranean Maxi Offshore Challenge, ERATOSTENES will earn valuable points in this series.
Another large yacht entered in the race is the Holland 68 FOUR SEASONS IV from Australia, skippered by Tim Wilson, and the Italian Scuderia 65 HAGAR V, skippered by Gregor Stiefl, who participated in last year's inaugural edition of this race. With a background of racing offshore in the Rolex Giraglia and Rolex Middle Sea races, the Vismara Mills 62 LEAPS AND BOUNDS 2 from Malta skippered by Jean-Philippe Blancpain is also a boat to watch.
There are a few multihulls also entered who will present a serious challenge to the monohulls around the race course. One is the Greek trimaran AKRON AOTON, an ORMA 60 skippered by Yannis Barkas who will be present again this year. And for the first time in the Aegean, there will be fast offshore catamarans such as ALLEGRA from the Cayman Islands skippered by Adrian Keller, the Italian LYNX, an Outremer 4x skippered by Pietro Farilello, the British QUICK DECISION, another Outremer 4x skippered by Stuart Austin, and the all-carbon HH66 performance luxury catamaran R-SIX skippered by Robert Zustkowski of Poland.
In all there are 29 entries from all over the planet - Australia, Bulgaria, France, Germany, Great Britain, Israel, Italy, Malta, Poland, Romania, Switzerland, Cayman Islands and Greece - gathered now at the Olympic Marina in preparations for Sunday's exciting start.
Organized activities also associated with the race include a Safety Training session held today, the Skipper's Meeting held tomorrow, and an organized tour of the Temple of Poseidon on Saturday.
For more information on the AEGEAN 600, visit aegean600.com.