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Guide

Monaco Yacht Club: the season’s key events

@mesi_BD

The 2023 season promises to be a busy one for the Monaco Yacht Club, which this year is celebrating the 70th anniversary of its creation by Prince Rainier III.

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With Prince Albert II of Monaco as President since 1984, the Monaco Yacht Club is once again preparing to put on some high-profile events this season.

Through “Monaco, Capital of Advanced Yachting”, an initiative launched by the Club, the Principality intends to further establish itself as a centre of excellence for this sector.

Here are the six key dates in 2023.

13th Monaco Optimist Team Race (11-15 January)

The young generation got things started on Wednesday, 11 January, bringing together the international team-racing elite in the Optimist class. Sixteen nations are represented by sixty-four sailors under the age of 14.

A total of one hundred and twenty races are scheduled on Monegasque waters, requiring finesse and tactical brilliance.

YCM
©Yacht Club Monaco

Monaco Sportsboat Winter Series (2-5 February and 2-5 March)

The best J/70 crews are getting ready to meet up again for the continuation of the Monaco Sportsboat Winter Series, a major event in the winter calendar for international crews for the past ten years, of which February will be the third act.

Tenzor Consulting Group to partner Monaco Sportsboat Winter Series

The race promises to be a close one between Ludovico Fassitelli’s Junda crew from Monaco, followed by Graeme Peterson (Moonlight II) and Stefano Roberti (Piccinina), also from the Yacht Club.

The J/70s will meet for the fourth and final act on the same weekend as the 39th Primo Cup-Credit Suisse Trophy (see below).

Monaco Sportsboat Winter Series
©Yacht Club Monaco

Primo Cup-Credit Suisse Trophy (2-5 March)

The traditional event, which was launched in 1985 at the instigation of Prince Albert II, President of the Yacht Club, will bring together the Smeralda 888s and the Longtze Premiers along with the RS 21s.

This regatta, equipped with technical clothing provided by the equipment manufacturer Slam, has established itself as the largest European monotype regatta in the Mediterranean.

PrimoCup-2022-YCM
©Yacht Club Monaco

Monaco Ocean Week (20-26 March)

During Monaco Ocean Week, organised by the Prince Albert II Foundation along with Monaco’s Oceanographic Institute and Scientific Centre, the Monaco Yacht Club will be entrusted with the yachting aspect of this special week dedicated to ocean protection.

Four events are on the programme this year, including the 12th Environmental Symposium dedicated to the 10th Monaco Energy Boat Challenge, which will address the topic of “Encouraging the future of more responsible yachting” and the Captains’ Forum, a gathering of shipowners, captains and industry leaders from the superyacht industry.

Following the success of its Monaco Smart & Sustainable Marina Rendezvous, whose next event will take place at the Yacht Club on 24 and 25 September, M3 (Monaco Marina Management) will also be launching the first Monaco Smart Yacht Rendezvous, a networking event that will run until Friday 24 March and conclude with the Smart Innovative Yacht Awards.

Thursday 23 March will conclude with the presentation of the 3rd YCM Explorer Awards by La Belle Classe Superyachts. Prince Albert II will preside over the ceremony, which rewards boat owners who have distinguished themselves through their commitment to the preservation of the marine environment, both by the design of their yacht and their sailing.

©Yacht Club Monaco

Monaco Energy Boat Challenge (3-8 July) 

For the past ten years, this event has drawn young engineers from schools and universities around the world, putting them in touch with the stakeholders in the yachting industry.

This 10th edition will be full of new features with the organisation, in partnership with Aqua superPower, of the first E-Boat Rally using electric boats that are available on the market, enabling a record number of electric vessel builders to show the public what the future of pleasure boating will look like.

©Yacht Club Monaco

Monaco Classic Week – La Belle Classe

This event, organised by the Monaco Yacht Club, will be an opportunity to learn about the most prestigious vintage sailing boats, classic motor yachts and vintage motorboats.

This 16th edition will also be the occasion to celebrate the hundredth anniversary of the birth of Prince Rainier III, who founded the Monaco Yacht Club in 1953, and had a real passion for the sea and boats.

Monaco-classic-week
©Yacht Club Monaco/Studio Borlenghi