Entries 40 days from departure (22 August): international boom and 5 Maxi Yachts

The Palermo-Montecarlo 2023 announces a regatta… Maxi!
Entries 40 days from departure (22 August): international boom and 5 Maxi Yachts
Circolo della Vela Sicilia reveals the boat that will race for the club: it's the 90-foot Shockwave 3 Prosecco DOC
One all-female crew is also at the start

The Palermo-Montecarlo 2023, edition number 18 of the classic 500-mile Mediterranean crossing which from Sicily arrives at the Principality of Monaco, through a gate just out Porto Cervo, is fast approaching, expectations are growing and interesting updates arriving. There are 40 days left before the departure on August 22nd from the gulf of Mondello, and there are more than 30 registered yachts and a high-quality fleet, with an international dimension and a growing number of Maxi Yachts.

Circolo della Vela Sicilia, also intitled in the challenge of Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli at the 37th America's Cup in Barcelona 2024, is doing big things in preparation for the last organizational details.

Five big boats are entered: Marc Bradford's 100-foot Black Jack, winner this year of two prestigious line honors such as the 151 Miglia Trofeo Cetilar and the Rolex Giraglia; the other 100-footer ARCA SGR, owned by Furio Benussi's Fast and Furio Sailing Team, a long-awaited return to racing after some refitting; two VO65 returning from the Grand Finale of the Ocean Race in Genoa: Austrian Ocean Team (Team Genova) skippered Gerwin Jansen, and I Love Poland by Gregor Baranowski. And the fifth is…

THE 90-FOOT SHOCKWAVE 3 PROSECCO DOC WITH THE CIRCOLO DELLA VELA SICILIA - The big news is the announcement of the participation of Shockwave 3 Prosecco DOC, Claudio Demartis' 90-footer, which will race with the colors of Circolo della Vela Sicilia, alongside that of the Monfalcone Yacht Club. It’s a double news: the organizing club's choice of boat for that race in recent years has been oriented towards competitive hulls on corrected time, this time the decision is to race with a Maxi to aim for victory in real time and perhaps run for the record.

Shockwave 3 Prosecco DOC is one of the longest-lived and most successful big racing boats in international offshore sailing: former Alfa Romeo, former Rambler, a Reichel/Pugh project built in Australia by McConaghy and still innovative and impressive today for its level of performance. Sailor Max Maneschi will be on board in the Palermo-Montecarlo to represent the Circolo della Vela Sicilia.

The collaboration between CVS and Shockwave 3 Prosecco DOC is also based on a long-standing sailing friendship between the president of the Palermo club Agostino Randazzo and the owner of the 90-footer Claudio Demartis. On the Venice-Palermo axis, the two were partners in the highly specialized FIV team (SAS) of the 470 Olympic class in the three-year period 1976-1978. And it was precisely in 1978 that Claudio Demartis won the Italian 470 championship in Mondello, in Agostino Randazzo's waters, starting from that moment on his career on larger boats.

HIGH LEVEL AND INTERNATIONALITY - Two thirds of the boats registered so far have international flags, with a prevalence of French hulls. In addition to the 5 Maxis, the many highly competitive hulls for offshore races in corrected time will be followed closely: the French Ker 36 Tonnerre del Glen by Dominique Tian, winner of the last edition of the regatta in IRC, the other French Ker 40 Chenapan 4, the Maltese Artie Jeep, HH42 already seen at the Rolex Middle Sea Race, the JPK 1080 Colombre of Massimo Juris (who races in the X2 category, in pairs), the Mat 1180 Jacanda 3 of another Frenchman, Marc Rouanne. Also present are three Class40s, led by the navigator-character Kito De Pavant (Made in Midi), now a regular at the Palermo-Montecarlo, to which are added the ACI 40, skippered by the Croatian former Olympic gold medalist in skiing Ivica Kostelic and OPA of the French Marie Goulven.

Among the pleasant news approaching the 18th Palermo-Montecarlo there is the first 100% female crew, onboard Moogli, Dufour 36 Performance of the French skipper Caroline Petit, from Marseilles, entrepreneur and navigator (she has an Atlantic crossing in the Transquadra regatta), founder of Team4You.

A sparkling Palermo-Montecarlo 2023 is announced, which will speak many languages, but above all that of sailing! In Mondello and at the Marina di Villa Igiea which moored the boats, they are preparing for the pre-regatta programme: welcome cocktail, press conference, skipper meeting. The same happens at the Yacht Club de Monaco, the prestigious finish line of the regatta, while we should mention the collaboration with the Yacht Club Costa Smeralda, which will take the steps at the gate in front of the marina.