The decisive regatta for the FIV Italian Offshore Championship standings and IMA Mediterranean. Online Notice of Race and Registration Form
While the offshore sailing season is packed with events in both the Tyrrhenian and Adriatic Seas, anticipation is growing for the Palermo-Montecarlo, the major Mediterranean regatta at the end of August, organized by the Circolo della Vela Sicilia in collaboration with the Yacht Club de Monaco and the Yacht Club Costa Smeralda. It is considered a crucial step in the decisive assault on the Italian Sailing Federation’s Italian Offshore Championship standings.
Registration is growing, with over 20 boats registered almost three months before the race. Among the recent confirmations is the first maxi, the 78-foot Nice (formerly Morning Glory) owned by Marco Malgara, owner of the ICE Yachts shipyard, which will compete in the Palermo-Monte Carlo race with a crew of sailors from the Fiamme Gialle Sports Group, some of whom are members of the Olympic sailing team. Captain Francesco Nerone, commander of the 4th Athletes Unit of the Guardia di Finanza in Gaeta, will also be on board.
Among the entries are other boats that are easily imagined as contenders for overall victory: the Farr 52 Lucifero owned by Nanni Lombardi and Giordano Cardini, already overall winner of the 151 Miglia Cetilar Trophy 2025 and Line Honors winner of the RAN 630 this year; the TP52 Arkas owned by Bernard Arcas; and the Swan 42 Mercury owned by Erol Algül, both flying the Turkish flag.
Also to be admired at the dock and underway is the beautiful JP54 The Kid, skippered by Gilles Léraillé of the Absolute Dreamer team. This 16-meter ocean-going yacht, designed by navigator Jean-Pierre Dick, is halfway between a Class 40 and an Imoca 60. Also sure to be a star is Seaquill, the Swan 60 entrusted to ocean-going navigator Andrea Fornaro.
Also well-watched is the regatta of Our Dream, the 15-meter Sun Odyssey of the Palermo LNI, skippered by Beppe Tisci, president of the Sicilian FIV, and a mixed crew of sailors with disabilities, including Carmelo Forastieri, a leading figure in the Para Sailing circuit with the Hansa 303 class.
Now in its 21st year, the Palermo-Montecarlo regatta continues to be a popular event for shipowners and sailors, with its thrilling route that, after a spectacular start from the Gulf of Mondello, features a single mandatory gate off Porto Cervo and concludes with a finish line off the Principality of Monaco. Strategy, tactics, and route selection are the essence of offshore sailing, and this course offers the opportunity to experience them to the fullest.
On the regatta’s official website (https://www.palermo-montecarlo.it/iscriviti/), you can register online and download the Notice of Race with the provisional program. A press conference followed by a skipper’s briefing is scheduled for Monday, August 17th, at the Circolo della Vela Sicilia, while the start is scheduled for Tuesday the 18th. Upon arrival, boats and crews will be welcomed and treated to the utmost care at the Yacht Club de Monaco, which will also host the awards ceremony on Sunday, August 23rd.
The 78-foot Nice challenge is also aiming to match the Palermo-Monte Carlo record, held by the maxi Black Jack 100, which set its time in 2025 at 38 hours, 53 minutes, and 16 seconds. Organizers are awaiting confirmation of the participation of other maxis, considering that the race is the final event of the Mediterranean Maxi Offshore Challenge IMA (International Maxi Association).