The Palermo-Montecarlo race 2023 has started: the 44 boats fleet sails with 8-10 knots wind

• Circolo della Vela Sicilia: from the America's Cup with Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli to offshore sailing
• In the lead, the 100-footer Black Magic reeched speed of over 12 knots
• The 90 footer Shockwave 3 Prosecco DOC of the Circolo della Vela Sicilia follows just 4 miles away
• Forecasts for the first night of racing

Palermo-Montecarlo 2023 race started from the Gulf of Mondello, Palermo, at 12:30 hour, with light wind 6-7 knots, which gradually strengthened up to 10-11 knots. The fleet of 44 boats had to repeat the starting procedure three times, after the Race Committee, chaired by Fabio Barrasso, postponed the first due to a 70 degree wind shift, and had to cancel the second with a general recall (too many boats over the line). At the third attempt the regatta started regularly.

Anyway the start was a show: the Palermo-Montecarlo unique fleet with boats from 35 to 100 feet, crossed the line all together, creating a very suggestive scenario with the gulf and the beach of Mondello behind, and the promontory of Capo Gallo, also due to the presence of many spectators boats.

After the first five hours of racing, the line honour leaderboard sees the Australian Peter Hamburg's 100-foot maxi Black Jack in the lead, with New Zealand tactician Brad Butterworth, helmsman and strategist Joao Signorini, and navigator Alex Nolan. The largest boat in the race, which is also the holder of the race record (47 hours and 46 minutes, established in 2015 with the name of Esimit Europa 2), achieved an excellent average speed of around 12 knots. The first estimate time to complete the course is 2 days and 12 hours.

Behind the leader, however, the fleet remains compact: the second hull is the 90-foot Shockwave 3 Prosecco DOC which races with the colors of Circolo della Vela Sicilia, with Roberto Ferrarese at the helm at the start, and is just 4 miles behind Black Magic. Then VO70 I Love Poland, 11 miles behind, and in fourth Franco Niggeler's Cookson 50 Kuka 3, with Mitch Booth and Pietro D'Alì, 12 miles behind the leader and well ahead of VO65 Sisi, who in turn just 2 miles ahead of the sixth hull, Tonnerre de Glen, Dominique Tien's Ker 46, last year's winner.

However, it is very soon for the first real indications on the regatta: the weather evolution is uncertain and the forecasts change from one model to other. The imperative for everyone seems to avoid an area of calm in the center of the southern Tyrrhenian Sea on the first night of navigation, and to move further west to first meet the flow of breezes on Sardinia coastline.

The direct link to the tracking on the official website to follow the regatta: https://cf.yb.tl/pm2023

ORGANIZERS, CIRCUITS AND PARTNERS - Palermo-Montecarlo race has been organized for 18 years by the Circolo della Vela Sicilia with the collaboration of the Yacht Club de Monaco and the Yacht Club Costa Smeralda and under the aegis of the Italian Sailing Federation, UVAI (Unione Vela d'Altura Italiana) and the IMA (International Maxi Association).

Included in the "long" regatta circuit of the FIV Italian Offshore Sailing Championship, among those with the highest coefficient for the purposes of scoring for the final classification, the 500 miles of the Palermo-Montecarlo are also part of the following prestigious circuits: the IMA Mediterranean Maxi Offshore Challenge; the Mediterranean Offshore Trophy; the Mediterranean Trophy for the Class40; and the 2023 edition of the Championnat et Trophées Inshore et Offshore Méditerranée en Équipages-IRC.

The event is also directly promoted by the Sicilian Region Department of Tourism, Sport and Entertainment, with the participation of the Metropolitan City of Palermo and the support of the Sicily Foundation. Sponsor partners are Tasca d'Almerita and Porsche, Centro Porsche Palermo.