Teams from 21 nations are assembling in Lavrion, Greece, with one week to go before the start of the 6th edition of the Aegean 600.
Organised by the Hellenic Offshore Racing Club (HORC) and hosted at Olympic Marine, a record fleet of 74 monohull and multihull entries will start from Cape Sounio at 1400 local time on Sunday, 5 July. The 605-mile course winds through the Aegean Sea.
Over the coming week, teams must complete registration formalities with HORC, including safety equipment inspections. A Safety Seminar is offered on Thursday, 2 July for crew members not already certified. A skippers’ meeting follows on Friday evening, 3 July.
A short Practice Race is scheduled for midday Friday, held just east of Olympic Marine, giving teams a chance to test their boats before the main event. A welcome ceremony, with Greek hospitality, follows that evening after the Skippers Meeting.
On Saturday, 4 July, participants are invited on a tour of the Ancient Temple of Poseidon, which sits on the same cliff-top overlooking the start area at Cape Sounio.
More details on event timings are at https://aegean600.com/schedule-of-events/
The Aegean’s prevailing Meltemi winds are a defining feature of this race. The forecast for start day looks encouraging. After lighter-than-average conditions at the end of the week, the Meltemi is predicted to build to its customary 20-plus knots for Sunday and Monday, pointing to a fast opening to the race.
The monohull course record of 1 day, 21 hours, 5 minutes and 25 seconds was set in 2023 by the Farr 100 Leopard 3. Whether that mark is under threat remains to be seen, but the fastest-rated boat in the fleet is Claudio Demeris’s Reichel/Pugh 90 Prosecco Doc Shockwave 3 (ITA). The offshore racer is capable of downwind speeds exceeding 20 knots in a strong Meltemi. George Procopiou’s Volvo 70 Aiolos (GRE) is similarly quick, setting up what could be a close contest at the top of the fleet. In all, 11 Maxis are entered this year.
While those two teams will be chasing elapsed-time honours, the rest of the fleet competes for class and division prizes on corrected time. IRC and ORC handicap ratings apply to the 69 entered monohulls, with MOCRA ratings used for the 5 entered multihulls.
Entry information, including boat names, types, skipper and owner names, crew lists, class entries, and ratings, is available at the entry portal on the event website.
The course presents a range of conditions. High winds and steep seas characterise the southern end near Kassos and Karpathos. Wind holes on the lee shore of Rhodes add further complexity. That pattern of contrasting conditions may repeat as the fleet works north and west back towards the finish at Cape Sounio.
More than 500 sailors are now gathering at Olympic Marine in Lavrion. Further information on this year’s race and previous editions is at www.aegean600.com.
