both in ancient history and timeless beauty, giving a sense of being at one with those countless generations of mariners who have sailed here for commerce, for war or just for fun. Even the large perpetual trophy for this race, which is an exact replica of an ancient Attican ceramic vessel from the 5th Century BC, is symbolic of the deep roots this culture has had with the sea. Take- home trophies for division winners include silver copies of ancient artefacts from 3,000 BC of the Early Cycladic Civilization until the 5th Century of the Classical Age. This feeling starts on the
downwind leg to Milos, birthplace of the famous Venus de Milo statue in the Louvre, followed by sailing within the spectacular caldera of Santorini, where the white of the ridge-top houses blends with the volcanic rock creating unique contrasts and images. Then it’s on to Kassos, southernmost island in the Aegean, and turning up to a long port tack reach to leave Karpathos to port, the nativity island of Athena, and the residence of Prometheus. The next rounding is at the Palace of the Grand Master of the Knights in Rhodes. The course then continues west towards the scenic island of Kos, home to the father of medicine Hippocrates, and Kalymnos, the island of sponge divers, while on the way there are many beautiful small islands, each with its own history. On the return leg the fleet is in the full teeth of the Meltemi, on a high- speed reach screaming past Mikonos with its own ancient and modern attractions, before returning to the finish at Cape Sounion. What lay at the start and the finish to this epic journey is the official shoreside venue of this race, the world-class facilities at Olympic Marine. This is a superb full-service marina, with not only suitable dockage facilities for yachts of all sizes and drafts, but every support feature needed for the visiting yachtsman: full-service boatyard, chandlers for marine equipment, repair specialists in electronics and other systems, access to sail repairs, provisioning from a food market, etc. There are cafes and bars, and the yacht club offers excellent meal service to all. Getting team members to and from the boat is also easy: there is a shuttle service to the international airport in Athens, only 40 minutes away.
And for family and friends who want to come to visit but not sail the race, the local tourism board offers plenty of sites to visit throughout Attica. One favourite in the nearby town of Lavrio are the mines that produced the silver that the
Top: the whole fleet sailed right through the spectacular caldera of Santorini, one of the 26 turning points on the Aegean 600 course. Above: Blur Sailing Team came all the way down from Sweden, put up a great race and shared a fascinating account of their
experience on social media
Athenians spent to build the large fleet of ships used to defeat the Persians in the Battle of Salamis in 480 BC – and thereby preserve their society as the foundation of Western civilisation. Even for those without an interest in ancient history, the Attica region has much to offer in recreational and cultural resources. For those who cannot get enough of Aegean sailing, the timing of the Aegean 600 in mid-July 2022 is also just three weeks after the HORC’s annual Aegean Rally that lasts a week and consists of a series of day races to different Aegean islands every year. In 2022, the Aegean Rally will run its 59th edition which is considered to be one of the oldest offshore events in the Med. The Rally is a favourite among the Greek offshore fleet and a superb way to get accustomed to warm weather, blue skies, clear water, fresh breeze and the outstanding hospitality of the Greek culture. Closer to the start of the race, HORC offers more practical steps in preparation, including a safety seminar for those needing knowledge and certification for offshore category racing taught by experts in this topic. Social events are also planned around all official functions, such as the opening ceremony, skippers’ meeting and
awards. And in the busy days leading up to the start of the race the HORC members and staff are endlessly available and helpful in getting everyone registered and prepared to sail. The atmosphere for this is friendly and cooperative, focused on making sure everyone gets what they need to be ready for the race. The race format is accommodating and flexible and will feature classes and awards that pertain to interests in not only full-crew monohull sailing, but will welcome line-honours, multihulls and double-handed entries as well. 71:54:00 is current monohull course record, set by Carlo Alessandro Puri Negri’s Farr/Felci 70 Atalanta II which won line honours and was also crowned the overall handicap winner of the inaugural Aegean 600 as the overall winner in IRC. While this is a fast time – an average of just over 9kts on the course – it’s believed to be beatable with the right team and reliably good weather.
The two Mocra entries in 2021 retired from the race, leaving a multihull course record still unclaimed, so this award could also be ripe for the picking. While some legs do have some upwind work, there is ample reaching and running in this race that should make for good fast fun on any capable offshore multihull.
If getting your own boat to Greece is not easy, consider a charter: there are several options available from X- Yachting Sailing Center,
Fastsailing.gr and
OffshoreRacingCharter.gr, all official charter agents for the race. Regardless, whether on a record contender, a club racer with your mates, or on a family adventure, consider coming to the Aegean 600 to enjoy sailing the spectacular Aegean Sea, the Sea of the Gods.
www.aegean600.com
q SEAHORSE 77
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