History

The Palermo-Montecarlo is one of the most important and renowned offshore regattas of the Mediterranean Sea, it is part of numerous international circuits including the Italian Offshore Championship organized by the Italian Sailing Federation, the Mediterranean Trofeo d'Altura and the Owner of the Year Trophy for the UVAI, and it's also part of the Championnat et Trophees Inshore et Offshore Mediterranee en Equipages-IRC.

In 2015, the Palermo-Montecarlo was also included in the IMA-Mediterranean Maxi Offshore Challenge circuit, a trophy reserved for the Maxi Yachts which from 2018 also includes the Rolex Middle Sea Race, the Tre Golfi Regatta, the 151 Miglia-Cetilar Trophy and the Giraglia Rolex Cup.

Founded in 2005 following the wish from the Consul of the Principality of Monaco and the Councilorship of Sport from the Municipality of Palermo to unite two historically friendly cities, the Palermo-Montecarlo offers a regatta with high technical and landscape features to all sailing lovers.

So many world-famous boats have set sails from the magnificent Gulf of Mondello over the years, to sail across the Strait of Bonifacio until the end of the racecourse, in the Bay of Monaco after 500 nautical miles at sea: from Steinlager 2, the legendary triumphant ketch of the round of the world race (winner of the 1989-90 Whitbread with Sir Peter Blake at the helm), to the super Maxi Yachts such as Esimit Europa 2 or Senso One, to name just a few of the most famous boats.

Pluri-Olympic sailors, protagonists of the world's most important transoceanic races and stars of the America's Cup, have given prestige and sporting values to the regatta, allowing year by year an exponential growth of the number and quality of the competitors: from Azzurra and Luna Rossa famous skippers like Mauro Pelaschier and Francesco De Angelis, to Pietro D'Alì, Gabriele Bruni, Flavio Favini, Lorenzo Bressani, Tommaso Chieffi and Alberto Bolzan, through the German Jochen Schuemann, the Australian Mitch Booth, the New Zealander Brad Butterworth and the French Lionel Pean, Philippe Monnet, Kito de Pavant and Catherine Chabaud, the list is really long and includes a lot of big names of the international sailing world who all found in the Palermo-Montecarlo a truly unique event in the Mediterranean to challenge each other on the sea tacking and jibing.

In 2018, an edition characterized by an extraordinary number of participants and by the prestigious presence at the star of His Serene Highness Prince Albert II of Monaco, the real-time success and the related Giuseppe Tasca d'Almerita Trophy went to the American Maxi Rambler 88 owned by George David, while the French hull Tonnerre de Glen, finsihed first overall in the IRC ranking, winning the Angelo Randazzo Trophy.

Last year, with 51 boats on the starting line, the line honors of the regatta (and the Giuseppe Tasca d'Almerita Trophy) went to the Argentine Maxi 82' Vera owned by Miguel Galuccio (with the Dutch Bouwe Bekking as skipper and the Italian Michele Regolo as tactician), with the ICE 52 Primavista Lauria (on board the skipper Gaetano Figlia di Granara and also Matteo Ivaldi and Sandro Montefusco) dominating the ORC International overall ranking, and also winning the Angelo Randazzo Trophy. "It was a long and difficult edition due to the great heat and the light winds, but it was also extraordinarily exciting from the first to the last mile", said the Agostino Randazzo, President of the Circolo della Vela Sicilia. "Congratulations to all, regardless of the result, concluding the Palermo-Montecarlo always deserves applauses."

The record of the regatta still belongs to the Maxi Esimit Europa 2 owned by Igor Simcic, protagonist of several editions, with 47 hours, 46 minutes and 48 seconds. The record was established in 2015, breaking the previous record of an hour and 15 minutes. This will be one of the main goals, in addition to the victory in real time, of the Maxi Yachts expected at the start of the next edition of the Palermo-Montecarlo, edition number 16, scheduled from 21 to 26 August 2021.