A perfect start to the 5th annual AEGEAN 600
by Hellenic Offshore Racing Club 6 Jul 13:39 PDT
6 July 2025
5th Annual AEGEAN 600 start © ALEN Photography / Nikos Alevromytis
At the very southern end of the Greek mainland at Cape Sounion in Attica, today's start to the 5th edition of the AEGEAN 600 was perfect: cloudless blue skies, crystal clear waters and perfect 12-15 knots of northerly wind to propel the fleet on its upcoming 605-mile odyssey through the Aegean Sea.
Race managers from the Hellenic Offshore Racing Club sent the fleet off in three waves: 8 Multihulls, 4 Maxis and then the remaining 46 monohulls being scored in ORC and IRC. All had to pass along the cliff-side shoreline in front of the 2500-year old ruins of the Ancient Temple of Poseidon where spectators had an aerial view of the scene of the teams leaving the Rolex buoy to starboard before they bore off, set spinnakers and shot off to the south towards Milos, the first of 23 islands they will pass on this course.
Olympic Marine and Region of Attica are co-organizers of this year's race, with Rolex as the official timepiece. Race sponsors include the Greek National Tourism Organization and D. Koronakis SA. This year Mercedes-Benz has joined the AEGEAN 600 as the event's Official Mobility Partner.
The fastest boats - George Procopiou's Volvo 70 AIOLOS (GRE) in the monohull Maxi class and Adrian Kellers' 86-foot catamaran ALLEGRA (SUI) in the Multihull division - sped out to lead the fleet at double-digit speeds with the remainder of the fleet in chase.
Yet by sunset the conditions were already changing. The glorious northerly breeze everyone enjoyed at the start and all afternoon was starting to die out and shift west, bring everyone into a low single-digit start to their first evening of sailing. This will be their first hurdle on what has always been a race course full of challenges in every aspect of competitive offshore sailing: sail trim, seamanship, navigation and tactics.
The current forecast predicts the light air to change later in the evening and through the day tomorrow as the fleet sails southeast and passes Milos towards the iconic transit through the volcanic caldera of Santorini. From here the fleet will sail southeast again towards Kassos, the next island at the bottom of the race course.
Interestingly, the forecast indicates this section of the course will feature westerly winds at a quite pleasant 15-20 knots, instead of the usual northerly blast of gale-force winds and high seas commonly seen in previous editions of this race.
Regardless, this race is already fulfilling its reputation to be one of the most interesting of the classic 600-milers in the offshore racing world.
Veteran offshore race commentator Dobbs Davis from Seahorse Magazine will record daily race analysis video shows based on the positions and progress of the fleet as shown on the YB tracker system. Today's first show in the series is available:
Information on how to enter the race, a complete list of entries, and the official Notice Board can be found at aegean600.com.