Spectacular start for the 19th Palermo-Montecarlo
by Palermo-Montecarlo 21 Aug 05:16 NZST
20-25 August 2024
19th Palermo-Montecarlo Regatta day 1 © Circolo della Vela Sicilia / Studio Borlenghi
An amazing, spectacular start for the 19th Palermo-Montecarlo, the offshore sailing regatta organized by the Circolo della Vela Sicilia with the collaboration of the Yacht Club Costa Smeralda and the Yacht Club de Monaco.
The singular weather conditions made the start phases exciting: dark clouds and clear skies chase each other on the hills behind the gulf of Mondello which offers a Caribbean scenery. At sea, however, medium-strong wind between 15 and 18 knots from the West and challenging waves for everyone.
The first stretch of the route, between the starting line, the windward disengagement buoy and up to the open sea, is strongly influenced by the promontory of Capo Gallo which creates turbulence with violent and sudden gusts well over 20 knots, alternating with moments of calm and shifts in the wind. Definitely a challenging and exciting start for the crews, who are required to have maximum concentration.
Different technical choices were seen: among the maxis, Black Jack chose to reef the mainsail, while Balthasar and Lucky kept the whole sail. Also in the rest of the fleet, many reduced the sails, others kept the most powerful sail plan, demonstrating the variability of the conditions.
Only off Capo Gallo, the boats found a more stable wind, around 15-16 knots from West-North West, making high averages, but unfortunately the wind direction is exactly in line with the route to follow towards the Porto Cervo gate, and this forces the fleet to a long upwind tack. The night will be decisive: an important technical choice is at stake: stay in the center of the Tyrrhenian Sea to avoid the expected wind hole due to a high pressure on the eastern coast of Sardinia, or go less far and head towards the island trusting in the coastal breezes. This will be the first decisive moment of the Palermo-Montecarlo 2024.
The weather forecast for the next few days highlights the return of high pressure on the north-eastern Mediterranean, with a prevalence of medium-light winds. The larger boats could remain in phase with the wind until the rise of Corsica, while the smaller ones could find themselves with little air already around the mandatory gate in Costa Smeralda.
The first hours of the race
In the afternoon, the tracking shows Lucky, a 27-meter boat owned by the American Bryon Ehrhart, in first place, skippered by New Zealander Stuart Wilson with the former America's Cup kiwis Dean Phipps and Simon Daubney on board, who seems to be tacking better. Second and third, very close, are Black Jack, the 100-foot boat owned by Remon Vos, skippered by Tristan Le Brun (the former Esimit Europa 2, record holder of the race since 2015: 47 hours and 46 minutes), and Balthasar, a 21-meter Maltese with the Dutch ocean-going Bouwe Bekking on board. Immediately behind the trio of large maxis, the group remains compact and we note Red Bandit, the TP52 in sixth position, with a route that seems to choose the hypothesis far from the Sardinian coast, and Sagola Lauria owned by Beppe Fornich, in seventh. In twelfth position for the moment Selene, the Swan 42 armed by the Circolo della Vela Sicilia with Edoardo Bonanno and Gaetano, Riccardo and Federico Figlia di Granara. The most radical choice towards the center of the Tyrrhenian Sea at the moment seems to be that of Fantastica, the Class40 with Andrea Caracci on board who is in 28th place on the tracking. Tyrolit with Matteo Sericano and Luca Rosetti is the first Class40, in 11th place. Closing the fleet is the Dufour 36 Moogli with the all-female crew of skipper Carolin Petit, who last year finished out of time and who this time aim to reach the finish line in Monte Carlo.
The start of the regatta was enriched by the LNI sailing ketch Azimut, boat of legality dedicated to the memory of Don Pino Puglisi, which moored in front of the Circolo della Vela Sicilia hoisted three large and colorful sails made with the coordinated graphics of the ROSALIA400 project, designed in collaboration with the Academy of Fine Arts of Catania, for the anniversary of the patron saint of the city.