The confident and very successful Grand Soleil shipyard gave the brilliant design talent (and regular Seahorse contributor) Matteo Polli free rein with their first collaboration. The result is exceptional... in every sense

The proof of the pudding is in the eating. And the old saying holds true for yacht designers and builders too. No matter how much CFD modelling has been done, the first sea trial of a new model is always a nervous occasion. Can it match its polars? Could it even beat them? Whatever the numbers say, when you take the helm does the boat behave, respond and feel like a thoroughbred? When the brand new Grand Soleil 44 Performance set sail for the first time off Portofino, it had a lot to live up to.

The boat’s designer Matteo Polli gave his own verdict. ‘With the helm in my hands, I was able to judge the characteristics of the boat in various different wind conditions,’ he says. ‘The GS44 sailed well at all speeds, both upwind and downwind, confirming my expectations as a pleasant and fun hull to be at sea with, especially thanks to the ability to make careful and precise adjustments to the sails and the well-designed deck layout.

‘Even in windier conditions, pointing high on the wind and at a steep angle of heel, the helm responds well,’ he says. ‘You can even afford some handling errors: her stability allows you to carry full sail even in strong winds, an interesting aspect for a boat that does not necessarily rely on having the weight of a full crew on the gunwale.’

The GS 44 is a particularly important boat for the builder and the designer. Polli is the most successful ORC designer in recent years – his boats have won three world championships since 2015 – but this is his first design for Cantiere Del Pardo and it had to be even faster – but with a higher-volume hull, too. Likewise for the shipyard, this is the most race-focused boat they’ve built in a long time but it still has to work equally well as a cruiser. Easy handling for a shorthanded crew is crucial.

‘We had a range of conditions between 6kts and 14kts with sea state from calm to 0.5m waves with a pretty long wavelength,’ Polli says. ‘The boat was equipped with a cruising fully battened mainsail and furling jib plus a furling Code 0 and sailed in double handed mode. Unfortunately the instruments were not calibrated so we had the chance to check the speed but not the angles.’

That said, even with cruising sails the boatspeed read-outs were promising. Top speed close-hauled was 8.2kts and 15.5kts was achieved on a beam reach with a Code 0, which is remarkable for a production cruiser-racer. There wasn’t a gennaker or spinnaker on board so the boat’s downwind potential is yet to be confirmed.

So how is this boat different to Polli’s previous designs? ‘The GS44 being larger and with a more cruiserracer soul compared to more racing oriented designs I did in the past, needed a diverse approach on the hull shape,’ he explains. ‘Extensive use of CFD allowed me to find the best compromise between rating and performance while trying to maximise real performance, which is always important even when racing on handicap. More attention was paid to the low wind range where boats with such a high level of comfort tend to lack speed and fun factor.’

‘The most important feature of the hull is the ability to change the shape characteristics as the heel angle varies, passing from a relatively narrow, dry and low prismatic shape when upright to a wide, powerful and longer shape at higher heel angles. It is particularly challenging trying to achieve this goal while maintaining the correct longitudinal trim balance and of course the volume for the interiors. The result can be easily seen looking at the boat from the stern and when entering in the saloon… hopefully soon we will also see it on the scoreboards!’

The GS 44 is very much an all-rounder. ‘From the design perspective, I have tried to achieve an all-round performance profile without preferring one range of points of sail to another, looking for a balance that could be enjoyed both when racing and when cruising,’ he says. ‘Of course particular attention has been paid to VMG performance since it often represents the largest percentage of sailing, not only during inshore racing.’

Why the pinhead mainsail and fixed backstay? ‘A square top mainsail can be a big performance booster in some conditions but running backstays are not really a feature that most of the cruising market would accept,’ Polli explains. ‘Nevertheless, the rig has been designed with quite a long crane to allow a pretty wide mainsail head. And it is still possible to convert to running backstays and square top mainsail.’

Two things worth noting are the single rudder and lack of chines in the boat’s aft quarters. ‘That decision has many reasons behind it,’ Polli says. ‘And it’s not really true that a single rudder blade configuration makes a boat more difficult to steer provided it is designed correctly.’ The twin rudders and chined hull combination works well at high heel angles and high speeds, he says, but that only happens when power reaching in strong winds. ’On all other points of sail and also when mooring, a well-designed single rudder can be more efficient. For the GS44 I have designed a fairly big rudder blade and positioned it quite far forward to avoid ventilation at high heel angles. This created some problems with the boat’s interiors, which the yard staff solved brilliantly and the result when sailing is remarkable. Pushing the boat hard at true wind angles of even less than 90° under a big Code 0 in 12-14kts and with 25° to 30° of heel, I never managed to lose control at the helm which is surely reassuring.’

The GS44’s big foretriangle is another key design feature. ‘Large headsails help in acceleration not only out of tacks but also during starts, and it is particularly evident in light wind situations,’ Polli says. ‘This is due to the aerodynamics of this kind of sailplan and not about boat handling.’ With a non-overlapping headsail the amount of sheet to be pulled when tacking is very small, he explains. ‘And the Race deck layout, having jib tracks on the coachroof, allows really narrow sheeting angles and in most cases just two metres of rope is sufficient to tack the jib.’ By contrast, the Cruising deck layout has a self-tacking jib as standard.

Above: the Grand Soleil 44 Performance logging 15.5 knots on a beam reach with a cruising Code 0 and its designer Matteo Polli at the helm. Not bad at all for a boat with teak decks and a full cruising interior, and in just 12-14 knots of wind. The fully optimised race version will go even faster – and that’s before you add a square-top mainsail and runners.
Below: one of the go-faster options on this boat is a pair of transverse jib tracks mounted on the coachroof just aft of the mast, which enable the boat to point very high on the wind and allow precise trimming adjustments

Naval architecture is clearly crucial but there’s more to the GS44’s design than that. To win regattas – and to work well as a cruiser – the deck plan and cockpit design must be as efficient as possible with perfect ergonomics. This is a pivotal part of Grand Soleil’s design DNA and that’s largely down to Nauta Design. While the GS44 shares many key features with the rest of the Grand Soleil fleet, the emphasis on racing has produced some new ones, as Nauta founding partner Massimo Gino explains: ‘It has a modern deck layout that racing sailors will appreciate for features that keep it very clean and functional,’ he says. ‘For example, the genoa sheet is concealed in a lead that runs under the coachroof all the way up to its winch.’

‘Racers will also appreciate the fact that on request, the longitudinal genoa tracks can be replaced by two transverse tracks placed just aft and at the side of the mast base on the coachroof,’ he says. ‘This innovative layout is typical of pure racers and allows for finer genoa tuning and very close-hauled sailing for better upwind performance. Better boat performance and better sailing sensations are the result of this race-friendly deck layout.’

One of Nauta’s key strengths is their ability to work collaboratively with naval architects. ‘Early in the project we received a project brief that included a long J dimension,’ Gino says. ‘We managed to do an excellent job of reconciling the elements imposed by the powerful sailplan with the interior design and arrangement. We met the J length requirements and also designed a saloon that feels large and is comfortable, bright, luxurious and perfect for a yacht this size. We also managed to lengthen the cockpit a bit and to widen it so that it’s almost as large as the one on the Grand Soleil 48.’

‘Thanks to this increased size, the two halyard winches beside the companionway, the two primary winches on the coamings and the winches for the mainsheet further aft are far enough away from each other. This is a big advantage for racing because an increase in distance between crew makes for better efficiency and safety while manoeuvring. This is one of the most innovative aspects of the GS44 Race cockpit layout.’ The cruiser-racer version has a four-winch layout.

Also at Portofino to test the new model was Enrico Zennaro, a highly regarded professional sailor, who also gave it a double thumbs-up. ‘The hull with its narrow waterline performs very well in light airs, a feature also confirmed by the upwind angles and acceleration coming out of tacks,’ he says ‘After the first few manoeuvres, you realise that everything is very well balanced.’

Click here for more information on Grand Soleil »

Nautor’s Swan has always worked hard to ensure that owners continue to enjoy their yachts long after the pink ribbon comes off. Now the new Nautor’s Swan Experience takes this already rarified level of customer care to an even higher level

‘We have long wanted to present the Nautor Group at 360 degrees and the Nautor’s Swan Experience concept has been on our table for many months. The current situation, with the cancellation of nautical events all over the world, has speeded things up, but we are ready. Nautor’s Swan is a brand walking hand in hand with its owners, making them feel part of an amazing and international family,’ says Giovanni Pomati, Nautor Group CEO.

Fully respecting all the regulations regarding Covid-19, from 13 to 20 October, Nautor’s Swan Experience was held at the Marina di Scarlino on the Tuscan seaboard. Comprising two overlapping events, the inaugural Swan One Design Worlds and the Scarlino Private Boat Show, the event was the first of a new series of unique opportunities to become immersed in the whole world of Swan.

With the inaugural ceremony on 13 October, the Finnish boatyard opened the week with the Swan One Design World Championships. This was the very first stand-alone edition of the Swan OD Worlds, which wrapped up on Saturday 17 October with the attendance of 26 Swan OD yachts including 15 ClubSwan 50s, six ClubSwan 36s and five Swan 45s.

Main picture: strong and closely matched fleets of Swan One Design class yachts gathered for the first ever stand-alone Swan OD Worlds in Scarlino during last October.
Below: the ClubSwan 50 fleet was particularly strong with 15 high-quality racing teams competing for the world championship title over four days

From 16 October the racing programme was accompanied by the Swan Private Boat Show where the full Swan line was on display, supported by some pre-owned yachts available for sale through Nautor’s Swan Brokerage. Both services, Charter and Brokerage, allow a fully assisted entry at any time, the ideal front door for those wishing to experience the Swan world.

While more traditional designs retain the familiar elements of cruising comfort along with an ability to compete when required, ClubSwan designs are distinct in their role and direction with the specific objective of leading the development of highperformance yachts based upon cutting-edge design principles. Both design strands were showcased at Marina di Scarlino. The 11 beautiful yachts on display included the Swan 78, two versions of the Swan 65 and Swan 48, each showing different options of interior designs, the Swan 54, Swan 115, Swan 70 and Swan 75, ClubSwan 50 and ClubSwan 36. All of these were available for viewing and sea trials. Yachts appearing in the Private Boat Show were subjected to comprehensive cleaning processes between visits in order to comply with the Covid-19 regulations, while social distancing, compulsory mask wearing in public spaces, together with the need for staff and crews to be tested ahead of the event, were just some of the measures put in place.

The current and prospective Swan owners also had the opportunity to visit Nautor’s Swan Global Service Hub in Scarlino, the new star of the brand born to assist clients 24/7, where the team specialists introduced themselves and were available to explain all the services offered. Born from the merger of the existing service hubs of Palma de Mallorca, Badalona, Villefranche and Scarlino, together with the worldwide authorised service centres, Nautor’s Swan Global Service has the main goal to be closer than ever to its customers and respond to their needs, offering 360-degree customer care and after-sales service based on three key pillars: quality, flexibility and proactivity.

The new company will have its own autonomy with a dedicated staff and management team reporting to Nautor Holding, taking advantage of the know-how and the unrivalled levels of workmanship existing in Finland and the capillary network of the brand around the world.

‘We’ve been working very hard over the past years to find the best solution to be hand-in-hand with our customers, to make their cruising aboard a Swan a pleasure and a joy without worrying about anything else,’ explains Oscar Ibanez,

Nautor’s Swan Global Service CEO. ‘The Global Service is just that! The freedom to call us anytime for anything our customers need.’ Nautor’s Swan Global Service will be a guardian angel for all the Swan owners around the world, offering refit and maintenance but also racing assistance, original spare-part supply, technical consultancy and surveys, yacht management and gardiennage. In fact it’s a total service designed to exceed the owners’ expectations and enhance the Swan ownership experience. Brand new programmes will be specially devised dedicated to the restoration of the older generation Swans, as well a certified maintenance programme.

‘It has been our goal to develop Swan as a global brand through all areas of our activities,’ says Nautor’s Swan president Leonardo Ferragamo. ‘The Swan Experience here in Scarlino has provided us with the first real opportunity to showcase all these aspects and explain how they relate. This includes our craftsmanship, the many elegant and innovative models and ranges, one design racing, the brokerage and charter services as well as the Global Service customer care.’

‘The Nautor’s Swan Experience is an incredible event and a vision which comes from our chairman to be a brand which does not just build a product, but delivers a full 360° Experience,’ adds Nautor’s Swan vice president Enrico Chieffi. ‘It focuses on enjoying all aspects of one’s yacht.’

The racing component of the inaugural Nautor’s Swan Experience, the very first Swan One Design Worlds, was hosted in collaboration with the newborn Yacht Club Isole di Toscana.

Four very contrasting races were completed in the ClubSwan 50 competition where a high-quality, 15- strong fleet battled for supremacy, guided by world class tacticians. All four victories were claimed by former world champions, Skorpidi (2019 champion, Russia) winning races one and three; Onegroup (2018 champion, Germany) claiming races two and four. However the former’s 13th place (in race two) and the latter’s 10th and 11th finishes, together with the shortened racing programme due to the whimsical breezes, put pay to their title ambitions. Despite a ninth place finish in what turned out to be her final race, two second place finishes and a fourth propelled Hatari to the title.

‘We are very happy,’ said Hatari’s owner Marcus Brennecke. ‘We had lots of fun and showed great crew work as a team and as individuals. It is a very competitive class with nice people and a good spirit.’

‘I love the spirit of Swan sailing,’ added Earlybird’s owner Hendrik Brandis, a former Swan 45 world champion. ‘It is still driven by the spirit of seamanship which is a great benefit. There is a challenge in finding the right balance between ambitious and sporty without losing that spirit. Swan has done a great job in achieving this. I love the boat-onboat competition and fully expect the ClubSwan 50 class to grow.’

Above: the Tuscan port of Marina Scarlino was an ideal venue for the inaugural Nautor’s Swan Experience, hosting the Swan Private Boat Show and the official launch of the first edition of the Swan One Design World Championships (below), which were organised by the newly founded Yacht Club Isole di Toscana

Two victories and a third in the week’s three races enabled Motions to claim the Swan 45 world title for the first time. Her nearest rival was fellow Dutch crew K-Force, winner of race two, who finished two points behind. Lennard van Oeveren, Motion’s owner, was understandably proud. ‘This is fantastic. We have been building for years and gradually improving our level. We don’t sail with a lot of professionals so it is real Corinthian sailing.’

A world championship competition will be organised for the ClubSwan 36 class in the future. In Scarlino the fleet contested the Gold Cup. Six crews, five from Italy, formed the competition. Of the four races, three were won by Andrea Lacorte’s Cetilar-Vitamina.

‘It was a nice week, we did well,’ reflects Lacorte whose crew have been together for a number of years having also competed in the ClubSwan 50 class. ‘We are looking forward to having more boats join with many strong teams entering soon.’

Those who have been there from the beginning will benefit from being part of a steep learning curve. ‘The boat can accelerate very fast,’ explains Sease owner Giacomo Loro Piana. ‘It offers fun, safe sailing, great maneuverability at high speeds and the stability of the boat is fantastic.’

The same winning boats also claimed The Nations League 2020 prizes, calculated on combined Swan One Design Worlds and Swan Tuscany Challenge points.

The guests were able to entertain themselves with a beautiful art exhibition, Mare by Roberto Ghezzi, which underlines the sustainable commitment of the brand hand-inhand with Marevivo.

The Nautor’s Swan Experience will continue to evolve and is scheduled to return later in 2021.

Click here for more information on Nautor’s Swan »

We know more about the Moon and Mars than we do about the deep ocean... but we know enough to do a better job of looking after it

The spirit and values of ocean racing – leadership, resilience, tenacity and collaboration – are exactly what’s needed to address the health of our oceans. The deep ocean might seem to divide us but beneath the surface, it’s actually what connects us to each other across continents and to the complex web of ecosystems that sustain and support all life on this planet. In this era of massive, manmade environmental impact we don’t seem to know what is at stake. Now is the time to find out and take action.

That was the take-away message from the third edition of The Ocean Race Summits, broadcast online from Newport, Rhode Island, U.S. and sponsored by 11th Hour Racing, where some of the world’s leading sailors, scientists and changemakers discussed the urgent need for greater global interest, engagement and investment in the field of ocean science and exploration.

While the need to act is urgent, the situation is far from hopeless. In fact, as the oceanographer Philippe Cousteau explained during the Summit, we already have most of the technology we need to transition to a sustainable future. We just need the collective willpower and resolve to make it happen.

We know more about the Moon and Mars than we do about the oceans of our own planet. Although we’ve been exploring the oceans for thousands of years, more than 80 per cent of them are still unmapped, unobserved and unexplored. Many scientists reckon that the true figure is more like 95 per cent unexplored, and point out that almost everything we do know about the ocean is in the shallows. We know very little about what lies beneath and quite wrongly assume that beyond the Continental Shelf is merely an empty abyss. In fact, it’s the largest ecosystem on earth and contributes significantly to supporting human life, in ways we are only starting to understand.

Main picture: beyond the continental shelf is a vast deep ocean ecosystem full of surprises like these harp ctenophores (a type of comb jellyfish) spotted in the Coral Sea Marine Park at a depth of 385 metres
Below: the Schmidt Ocean Institute ROV SuBastian is a unique and invaluable tool for scientists around the world who work at the cutting edge of deep ocean research

Some compelling evidence of how much we still have to learn about the deep ocean was presented at The Ocean Race Summit by Dr Carlie Wiener of the Schmidt Ocean Institute. To the amazement of most attending the summit, Dr Wiener revealed that the longest known sea creature – a giant siphonophore nearly twice the length of a blue whale – was only discovered in 2020. If something of that size has eluded us for so long, what else might we have missed?

Schmidt Ocean is at the forefront of deep-ocean exploration. A sibling organisation to 11th Hour Racing, Schmidt Ocean hosts scientists from around the world aboard its research vessel, Falkor, providing state-of-theart operational, technological and informational support for pioneering projects at sea. The equipment aboard Falkor includes a unique, high-performance computing system for fast processing of data, and a 4,500-metre capable remotely operated vehicle (ROV) SuBastian.

‘Almost every expedition leads to important discoveries,’ Dr Wiener says. ‘We’ve discovered the longest ocean animal, new fields of hydrothermal vents, and 14 major undersea features like seamounts, reefs and canyons. This year alone we have discovered more than 50 new species, mapped more than 78,000 square kilometres of sea floor; and made some really important observations.’ Ocean science is relevant to everyone, she explains. It’s not just about studying ecosystems and finding new species; it also has practical benefits.

For example, ocean research has identified unique chemical compounds with the potential to cure diseases. Deep-sea corals are time capsules with crucial evidence that helps us understand long-term phenomena like climate change. Ocean science also provides the data that allows us to predict earthquakes and tsunamis. And while commercial ocean exploration focuses on finding new sources of food, minerals and fuel, Schmidt Ocean’s frontier science is a vital counterbalance, helping to safeguard our future by establishing a baseline for the deep sea to understand what animals are found there and how they use these fragile systems.

With a major international initiative starting this year – the UN Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development, which aims to promote ocean science in the context of global ocean conservation for the next generation – Schmidt Ocean’s work is set to become even more relevant. Falkor has already mapped more than a million square kilometres of sea floor and is now tasked with doubling that. Schmidt Ocean’s data and imagery also contributes to the global mapping effort established by the Nippon Foundation, and the 30 x 30 campaign, which calls for at least 30 per cent of the oceans to be protected from mining and fishing, by 2030. ‘Our aim is to support these initiatives with our science and help policymakers to understand what’s there,’ Dr Wiener says.

Schmidt Ocean is also working hard to raise public awareness. ‘My goal is to interest people who don’t think or know about the deep sea,’ Dr Wiener says. ‘It’s important precisely because it isn’t in people’s purview.’ To help spread the message, Schmidt Ocean has an artist in residence programme. More than 30 artists, sculptors and musicians have already joined Falkor’s expeditions, helping to tell the story in ways that transcend language and cultural boundaries, with a reach that goes far beyond the scientific community.

What role can sailors play in this ambitious new wave of ocean science? 11th Hour Racing Team supports it by inspiring people to find out more about the ocean. The team’s current focus is a four-year campaign to win The Ocean Race, which starts in 2022. This involves designing, building and racing a next-generation Imoca 60 while actively advocating for ocean health, running an international outreach programme, influencing marine industry supply chains, and putting sustainability at the heart of all of the team’s operations on land and sea.

It’s a complex undertaking that requires a dedicated sustainability team led by Damian Foxall, a hugely experienced professional offshore racer himself. ‘I feel lucky that this job allows me to step outside the sailing world and meet people who are working at the cutting edge of ocean science,’ he says.

While a large part of Foxall’s time is spent on things like hi-tech boatbuilding innovation and life cycle assessment of Imoca parts – more about that in a forthcoming article – he also facilitates legacy grants that fund ocean science projects. In addition, he manages an outreach programme that brings the team’s sailors together with scientists, helping the sailors to be effective advocates for key ocean health issues such as marine protected areas, acidification, biodiversity and plastics pollution before, during and after the race. There is evidence that environmental advocacy at The Ocean Race stopovers has prompted real action, Foxall says, such as New Zealand joining the Clean Seas pledge and a plastic-free campaign at V&A Waterfront in Cape Town, South Africa.

Above: Schmidt Ocean used multi-beam mapping to discover this 500m tall detached reef in the Great Barrier Reef – the first reef found there in 120 years
Below: Schmidt Ocean also discovered new fields of hydrothermal vents that drive entire ecosystems of microbes and animals.
Below: on a transatlantic crossing last August, 11th Hour Racing Team sampled seawater 24/7 and relayed high-quality oceanographic data ashore in real time

Most of the team’s legacy grants will be awarded at The Ocean Race stopovers but several are already under way in France, where their new boat is in build. These include support for education programmes at Station Marine Concarneau, the world’s oldest marine research facility, and Explore, a marine science educator and ideas incubator co-founded by the ocean sailor Roland Jourdain.

On a practical level, The Ocean Race boats and crews aren’t just raising awareness of ocean science. They’re also conducting it. As Wendy Schmidt, the co-founder of 11th Hour Racing and Schmidt Ocean Institute explained to attendees at The Ocean Race Summit, the entire fleet is involved in an important and unique science initiative. ‘The teams will continue to collect data from ocean waters never measured before in any way,’ she says. ‘And that’s important. Our knowledge today of sea surface temperature relies on a single measurement point derived from an area twice the size of Portugal. The observations made from our boats tracking across the globe supply a missing link for scientists, helping build on their model of the ocean as a whole system and enabling them to measure the scale of changes occurring as a result of human impact.’

And the scope of this work is now set to expand. ‘Measurements taken from The Ocean Race boats will provide scientists with baseline information not only on sea surface temperature but also salinity, acidity, dissolved carbon dioxide and microplastic pollution,’ Schmidt says.

‘Our boats will also supply realtime weather measurements that will help validate and improve weather forecasting systems. Not to mention the extraordinary life our sailors may report about at sea, or the larger plastic pollution they may encounter. There’s a phenomenon experienced by astronauts while in space flight that’s known as the overview effect. It’s a cognitive shift in perception that happens when the earth is first witnessed in its reality, hanging alone in the void of space, wrapped in a paper-thin protective atmosphere, seen suddenly as something rather fragile. At 11th Hour Racing we’re working with The Ocean Race to create an overview effect for the ocean, reaching audiences around the world online, at ocean summits and exploration zones at stopover cities, and changing their perceptions. Together we have a unique opportunity to join the sport we love with the science we need for the ocean.’

You can watch The Ocean Race Summit online here »

And an almightily pleasant one at that... the latest 600-mile IRC/ORC offshore contest takes full advantage of some of the finest sailing waters on the planet

It’s arguably the best place in the world for sailing. The weather’s nearly always perfect with a reliable strong, warm breeze. The scenery is spectacular and exhilaration is virtually guaranteed. And now there’s a new 600-mile IRC/ORC passage race around the Aegean, designed by local experts to deliver the ideal balance of challenge and fun on a grand tour of the Greek islands. A large and diverse fleet of entrants from 19 countries have already signed up, ranging from Orma and TP52 teams to family crews in midsize cruiser-racers and every sort of boat in between. Race-ready yachts are available for charter and there’s free berthing in a dedicated race village before and after the event. The Aegean 600 looks set to be a major highlight of next year’s Mediterranean sailing calendar. If you like the sound of it, here’s what you need to know.

The race kicks off on 4 July, when the famous meltemi trade winds are almost as regular as clockwork in the Aegean. An experienced team of race officers from the Hellenic Offshore Racing Club (HORC) have put a lot of thought into planning the route, which aims to deliver equal amounts of downwind sailing, tacking upwind and fast reaching. It includes a spectacular transit of the Santorini Caldera and tough tactical passages through the Kos and Mykonos-Delos Straits. It crosses rough patches of sea at favourable angles; keeps the fleet away from shipping traffic; avoids potential hazards such as rocky capes, shallows and lee shores; and gives a zigzag route for the upwind leg.

‘We designed the course to keep the fleet in the south Aegean Sea where there is definitely more wind than the northern Aegean,’ says HORC’s Konstantinos Tsigkaras. ‘Then we selected landmarks like the Poseidon Temple on Cape Sounio for the start and finish, and used the islands of Milos, Santorini, Rhodes, Kos, Patmos, Mykonos and Delos to create a challenging counterclockwise course that most likely will offer all points sail. You can expect to sail under spinnaker and surf all the way to Kasos and Karpathos. There’s a broad reach to Rhodes, a navigationally interesting upwind leg all the way north to Patmos, and then all kinds of reaching to the finish.’

The Aegean’s prevailing weather is driven by high pressure over the central Balkans and low pressure over the eastern Mediterranean with the difference in pressure between the two systems dictating the wind strength. ‘It can be force 6-7 but force 3-5 is normal, getting down to force 3 at night,’says Pericles Livas, co-leader of the locally based Optimum racing team. The wind is typically NNE in the Cyclades and NW in the lower part of the Aegean. On the east side, in the Dodecanese, it’s usually NNE in the morning but shifts to NNW in the afternoon.

‘The wind cycle for the meltemi is that it rises with the sun, peaks in mid-afternoon and eases off by at least 10-15 knots as the sun sets.

‘Also, when the meltemi is strong enough in the day (around force 6), it picks up again after midnight and gets to maximum speed as the sun rises. So the lightest winds are between sunset and midnight. But then you get these funny nights when it blows 25 knots all night and the position of the sun makes no difference.’

It’s also worth knowing that the meltemi tends to come in roughly three-day cycles, alternating between medium and strong. ‘A windless day at this time of the year is rare but it could happen,’ says Michalis Aftias, a member of the race organising committee. ‘I would prepare the boat and crew for light, medium and heavy weather conditions but remember we are always talking about t-shirt sailing conditions, air temperature of 30°C+ and water temperature over 25°C, no boots, no socks, just light waterproofs to wear mainly at night. If you are from the UK, just shorts and t-shirt and you will be fine!’

‘The forecasts are good at predicting where the most pressure is and the general pattern of the meltemi as you sail east towards Rhodes and then west on the return to Cape Sounio,’ explains Nikos Lazos the other co-leader of Team Optimum. ‘They tend to be accurate when the meltemi is strong but less so when it goes light or transitional. We usually look at two or three forecasts and study the variations. Then when we race we decide which prediction was closer to reality and on that for the rest of the day.’

Local sailors recommend the Greek HCMR’s Poseidon System Sailing Forecast (available in English) and advise caution for those using routing software. ‘Even the highest resolution GRIB files often fail to capture the complex local weather effects,’Aftias warns. ‘Some forecasts offer a 1.25km² matrix as a paid service but I’m sceptical about their actual usefulness.’

The start of the race should be a straightforward, breezy downwind leg to Milos. After that things get tactical with teams needing to study the geography of the island groups to pick the fastest route – which is rarely the rhumb line because the wind bends significantly around many of the islands and you can easily end up closehauled while others are reaching. ‘You have to look on how every island is positioned,’ Livas says. ‘Consider how wide it is relative to the wind direction, study the height of its mountains and decide how far from the windward and leeward side is safe passage – it can be up to six times the height of the mountains. This allows you to avoid serious katabatic gusts on the lee side or being left with no wind and confused seas on the windward side. In daylight you can cut corners by reading the wind on the water ahead, but at night that is risky unless the moon is very bright.’

The strongest winds are likely to be encountered towards the end of the second leg, in the Karpathian Sea, but there are wind acceleration zones with a strong Bernoulli effect between some of the islands, too. Teams should expect gusts when approaching Kasos, Karpathos and Rhodes; in the Kos Strait; after passing Patmos; in the straits between Ikaria and Mykonos; in the strait between Mykonos and Delos; in the Makronissos strait; and also until clear of Tinos. A top tip from a highly regarded local racing skipper is to give the southern shores of both Ikaria and Tinos a very wide berth.

Above: the Aegean 600 racecourse has been planned by a team of local experts to deliver equal amounts of surfing downwind, beating upwind and fast reaching, with the most spectacular scenery that the Aegean Sea has to offer. It’s likely to take most competitors three to five days and as it’s the first edition the course records are definitely up for grabs!
Below: Klima, one of the most colourful fishing villages in Greece, is on the island of Milos in the Cyclades – the first turning point on the course

Katabatic winds are most likely on the lee sides of Ikaria, Mykonos, Tinos, and Gyaros. The places where unwary racers are most likely to end up becalmed in a wind shadow are the east/north-east side of Rhodes and – once again – Ikaria. Reflected swell can also make things interesting off the north shores of islands such as Syros and Kea.

‘Ikaria is like a long wall to the north winds,’ he says. ‘Stay well below the rhumb line to be safe and to stay in the fresh, clear wind that funnels between Ikaria and Mykonos. Then again, when the north wind is light it can pay to go very close to the rocks on the lee side of Ikaria for the fastest route to Mykonos. Also, avoid going close to the north shore of Syros to cut the corner as the wind tends to lift more than you think.’

As this is a brand new event, the course records for both multihulls and monohulls are definitely up for grabs. ‘Around 48 hours is possible for a racing maxi,’ Tsigkaras says. ‘We would love to attract entries with the goal to set the race record for the years to come.’ For most of the boats in the fleet, he reckons it should take three to five days to sail the course.

So which are the local boats to beat? Team Optimum led by Pericles Livas and Nikos Lazos are among the leading contenders, having won the Middle Sea Race once and raced seven times while counting 31 participations in the Aegean Rally, out of which 10 were victorious. They’ll be sailing their updated Farr 52 OD (ex-Chessie Racing) with a battle-hardened crew on board, but are likely to face stiff competition for line honours from rivals including the TP52 Bullet led by Olympian Dimitris Deligiannis, GP42 Black Jack and many others who are energised by the prospect of the first ever international 600-mile offshore race in their own home waters.

But while local knowledge is undoubtedly useful, Tsigkaras says there is every chance that a skilled international team could beat the fastest Greek competitors and win the Aegean 600. ‘This is the first edition and unlike the Middle Sea Race, there is no local team that has a serious grasp of the whole course,’ Livas says. ‘So if you like t-shirt sailing conditions and nice long surfs without fear of extreme conditions, join in and enjoy the ride.’

‘The Aegean Sea is one of the most interesting sailing areas in the world,’ says Ioannis Maragkoudakis, commodore of the HORC. ‘The Aegean 600 offers non-stop sailing around islands of unparalleled beauty, in a sea that is the cradle of Western civilization. HORC with more than 40 years of experience in world championships and international offshore competitions will ensure its excellence and safety.’

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