The start of the Palermo-Montecarlo was given on Tuesday 22 August in the Gulf of Mondello in Sicily, in a very light north-easterly wind. Off Palermo, 46 boats, including 4 Class40s, set off on a 450-mile course through the heart of the Mediterranean towards Monaco.
Tactical battle announced in the light airs
"I don't think it's any hotter than it is in France at the moment, but it's not cold," commented Kito before the start. But the water is 23 degrees when it's usually more like 30...". The strange weather conditions in the summer of 2023 may hold some surprises in store for the participants in the 18th Palermo-Montecarlo. But on the day of the start, "it doesn't look very windy," added the skipper of the Class40 Made in Midi. We were expecting a big gust of mistral, which will start a little later than expected. It'll be calm with a northerly wind as far as the Porto Cervo gate and then it'll be a little windier so we can accelerate towards the end of the course, which we hope to be able to complete in three and a half days. So it won't be a race of speed, but rather a tactical headache chasing the reefs for two and a half days on the way to the last course mark to the north-east of Sardinia. "After Porto Cervo, the course will be free as far as Monaco. We'll have to choose whether to pass to the right or to the left of Corsica," he adds, "We're going to have a good fight on our hands, and it's going to be a match, because we have boats that are more or less equivalent in terms of speed, with the possible exception of Vaquita," comments the sailor from the Occitan region, who is hoping to claim his fourth victory this year. Even so, I don't think he's doing too badly in the light airs. There's a good crew of ministers on board. It's going to be a good fight."
Four Class40s have lined up for the start of the Mediterranean classic: the 130 ACI skippered by the Croatian Ivica Kostelic, the 49 Vaquita, an old Lombard design skippered by the Italian Alessio Bernabo, the 171 Imagin'Act Socomec skippered by the Italian Marco Guerra and Kito de Pavant's 142 Made in Midi.
We've been getting used to battling with our Class40 friends for a few regattas now, especially the Croatian Ivica Kostelic, who's a tough nut to crack," explained Kito de Pavant on his arrival in Monaco. It was a great battle on a beautiful course, perfectly organised, both simple and friendly.
A great battle between Class40s
The Class40 Made in Midi and her crew, made up of Kito, Françoise Velland and Philippe Gros, arrived in Monaco on Friday night after three and a half days of racing, neck and neck with the Class40s and other categories of boat that are very well suited to the Mediterranean conditions. There's a lot of play between Sicily and Monaco," comments Kito. It's lacked a bit of air this year but it's still very interesting because there are a lot of moves to be made. We had a constant tug-of-war with our Croatian friends, but in the end it was us who won. It was a lot harder than it looks on paper. At every regatta this season, we end up ahead but it's always very close. It adds a bit of spice!
"On the first day, we were all grouped together," Kito continues. 171, a recent, high-performance VPLP design, put in a bad tack which cost him dearly. Ivica, who obviously slaloms just as well at sea as on the snow, always puts in a good performance and he's a competitor so he doesn't give up. And a third tough competitor, Vaquita, the 49, with a crew of ministers who have worked very well. Their boat is efficient in light airs and they gave us a hard time because they were pretty fast. Every time we looked at the positions on the map, we wondered where Vaquita was, as she was never far away. This means that the old Class40s are still in the game in these conditions that we regularly see in the Mediterranean."
The icing on the cake
46 boats lined up at the start of the Palermo-Montecarlo last Tuesday in Sicily. Kito and his team finished 6th in real time, undoubtedly one of the best performances of this 18th edition. "It seems incredible that our little Class40 is just behind the Maxis and Volvos, which are really big boats with crews of 10 to 18 people. And ahead of boats that are used to winning this type of regatta in real time and corrected time," Kito is delighted to say. When there are only 3 of us on board, the manoeuvres are longer and more complicated, and we don't get as much sleep. It's obviously more difficult with 3 than with 12! Maybe not for everything, though...
Françoise and Philou and I are really proud to have given all those boats a hard time, as they should have been well ahead of us. We've got a Class40 which isn't really suited to the conditions we've encountered over the past 4 days: a lot of upwind sailing and light airs, which tends to give the advantage to boats with a narrow waterline. We got away with it because we sailed really well. In fact, everyone came to congratulate us at the finish because we sailed a great course."
Source : Made in Midi - C. Gutierrez
race ranking : Palermo - Montecarlo - Class40
Med. trophy ranking :mediterraneantrophy23postpalermo.pdf (class40.com)
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