Course record smashed in the AEGEAN 600
by AEGEAN 600 11 Jul 2023 21:43 BST
7-15 July 2023
Chris Sherlock's Farr 100 LEOPARD 100 smashes the AEGEAN 600 course record © Kostas Karageorgiou / AEGEAN 600
Crossing the finish line at 11:05:25 this morning local time, Chris Sherlock's Farr 100 LEOPARD 100 from Monaco established a new monohull course record for the 605-mile AEGEAN 600 race of 45H 05M 25S, smashing the previous mark of 63H 02M 20S set last year by Phillipp Kadelbach's Elliot 52 RAFALE.
This offshore classic race is organized by the Hellenic Offshore Racing Club (HORC) and co-organized by the Region of Attica, Olympic Marine and supported by the Deputy Ministry of Sports.
"We came here to achieve this goal and happy that the weather, the boat and the crew did not disappoint," said Sherlock.
Yet this was not easy at all for the 20-strong team, especially at the southern end of the course. "We saw winds up to 35 knots and huge 3-4 meter seas in the channels between Karpathos and Rhodes, and again at the [northeast] corner of Rhodes. Even going through Santorini was not easy for us on a 100-footer since it was at night and we'd never been there before. The whole race course was challenging, but we're really pleased we came. This is a fantastic race and expect it to grow in popularity."
The toughness but satisfaction in completing the course was also expressed by the team on Grzegorz Baranowski's Volvo 70 I LOVE POLAND who also crossed the finish faster than the previous record with an elapsed time of 50H 27M 45S.
Navigator Konrad Lipski said "We were leading in IRC scoring the Maxi Class for the entire race, except in the last leg to the finish when the wind went light for us and LEOPARD took the lead [in corrected time]. Other than this we very much loved this race, it was a real test of skills for our team and very different than the other 600-milers. If you like warm weather, clear skies and lots of wind, this is the race for you."
The remainder of the fleet is spread from Mykonos to Rhodes on the east side of the course, with the ever-present Meltemi winds propelling them to their own fast finishes. Details can be found using the YB tracker system, accessed at this link: cf.yb.tl/aegean6002023.
For those unable to participate themselves but interested in sailing the race digitally, there is a Virtual Regatta ready for them...more information at aegean600.com/vr.