Race report ·
Palermo–Montecarlo: fourth on an offshore ride aboard the VO65
From our inland-lake Liberas to a 20-metre carbon yacht: 867 kilometres non-stop, and fourth place in a fleet of 48.
Photos from this post
From Lake Attersee onto an offshore rocket
For the Palermo–Montecarlo offshore race our team lined up together with Austrian Ocean Racing. Normally a race day on the lake ends for us in the late afternoon. Aboard a VO65 like “Sisi”, other rules apply: a 20-metre hull, a 28-metre rig and sail areas that generate enormous loads. Here the race simply carries on around the clock — at night, in a seaway, and when tiredness starts to tell.
Two intensive training days in Palermo let us get used to the scale of the boat and to the grinder routines of a maxi racer.
Sixty-eight hours on the edge
The gun went at midday on 20 August off the Circolo Vela Sicilia, in a brisk Mistral. With gusts to 35 knots and a sea to match, the course began under full pressure from the first metre. Offshore, strong wind is not an obstacle but a way of making miles — exactly the right weather for a racing yacht of this class.
Over 867 kilometres, tactical calls, watch changes and constant trimming kept us fully occupied. After precisely 2 days, 20 hours, 11 minutes and 56 seconds we crossed the line off the Yacht Club de Monaco at 8:11 on the morning of 23 August.
A strong overall result
Fourth place in a fleet of 48 international teams shows that our crew can hold its own on the big offshore stage too. The miles logged and the way the crew worked together in offshore conditions are the foundation for what comes next — above all the Österreichische Hochsee-Staatsmeisterschaft in Croatia.
Our thanks go to Austrian Ocean Racing for the opportunity and the trust in having us aboard this exceptional boat as a guest crew.
An earlier version of this report was published by the UYCAs.
