In a sign that this newest of the world’s 600-mile classic offshore races has reached maturity, organizers from the Hellenic Offshore Racing Club (HORC) are pleased to announce yet another large international fleet will be assembled for its 5th edition of the AEGEAN 600.
This annual race is co-organized by Olympic Marine. Rolex is once again supporting the event as the Official Timepiece.
The race start is a little over 1 month away, and on Sunday July 6th the fleet will set off at Cape Sounion under the ancient Temple of Poseidon, complete the race course in 2-6 days and re-assemble at Olympic Marine for the awards ceremony held on Saturday July 12th in Lavrion.
A total of 19 nations from Europe, Asia and the Americas will be represented among 60 competing teams that will be racing monohulls and multihulls that range in size and speed from Elisabetta Maffei’s Mini 6.50 25NODI from Italy to Adrian Keller’s 84-foot Nigel Irens catamaran ALLEGRA from Switzerland.
After the spectacular start held before the crowds assembled at the ancient Temple of Poseidon on Sunday, the crews will then be like their ancient sailing predecessors who were on their own to face the winds and seas of Greek myth and legend while passing some of the Aegean’s most famous islands.
These include Milos – the island of Aphrodite – before passing through the caldera at Santorini with its dramatic beauty before arriving at the southernmost Aegean islands of Kasos and Karpathos where the prevailing Meltemi winds can peak at gale-force strength. From there the race passes Rhodes – the island home of the Knights of St John – before pushing northward to pass Kos – the home of Hippocrates – and Patmos, the island of the Apocalypse of John the Evangelist.
Then comes the Icarian Sea, known for its unpredictable winds and challenging conditions, before traversing the exhilarating straits between Mykonos and Delos, the sacred birthplace of Artemis and Apollo. Then it’s on to the finish at Sounion where famous Greek hospitality awaits the teams on their return to Olympic Marine.
Among the new teams to this year’s race is also the furthest-travelled of all the entries: US-based Chris Hemans and his mixed team of Italian and US sailors on his Cookson 50 VARUNA. Hemans is a veteran Southern California offshore race competitor and organizer of numerous editions of the Transpac, the 2225-mile biennial race from Los Angeles to Honolulu. Hemans visited last year’s race as a spectator and was impressed with what he saw.
“I came to visit with my daughters and was very impressed with everything: the impressive setting, the high caliber of the venue and the events, the incredible hospitality, this is really a world-class place. We bought our Cookson 50 in Italy last year and wanted to make this our first long offshore race, so there’s been a lot of preparation. We have a great team assembled and very much look forward to it.”
Among numerous pre- and post-race activities – the complete schedule can be found at here – is an important new preparation event: an Offshore Personal Safety Seminar hat allow participants to comply with Article 6.1.1 of Appendix G of the World Sailing Offshore Safety Regulations.This will take place on both Wednesday and Thursday, July 2-3rd at Olympic Marine. Registration and more information will be available to all participating boats by the Secretariat.
“We are very happy to see the teams that have come from far and wide to enter this year’s race,” said Ioannis Maragkoudakis, President of the AEGEAN 600 Organizing Committee and Commodore of HORC.
“It’s always a pleasure to see the interest and enthusiasm others have to come visit us here in the Aegean. It is a very special place and we look forward to sharing this experience with them in our 5th edition of this great race.”
