Classic Week nearing port

Every two years “Monaco Classic Week – La Belle Classe” adorns the Monaco coastline. This year’s event starts on Wednesday September 13, shortly before the annual Monaco Yacht Show, and will be sure to impress enthusiasts and the general public alike.

One of the largest gatherings of classic boats, Monaco Classic Week was launched over 20 years ago and remains an authentic and unique Belle Époque event in the world, organised by the Monaco Yacht Club (YCM).

According to YCM, the first sailing regattas were held in Monaco in 1862, followed by motorboat gatherings in the early 20th century. From 1904, the races and presentations of the early combustion engines attracted Europe’s elite “from industry and the aristocracy”, who propelled Monaco into “a privileged circle of maritime nations, making it a regular port of call for the world’s biggest yachts”.

Owners of classic sailing and motor yachts make a point of meeting in the Principality for this major event, and thousands of keen sailors have attended the previous editions.

An exceptional collection of sailing and motor yachts will be moored in the Monaco Yacht Club Marina, including over 60 classic sailing boats, period motor-yachts and 40 vintage motor-boats.

Classic yacht races, regularity trials and speed contests combine with a Chefs’ Competition, Elegance Parades, and a host of other activities organised around the YCM’s Clubhouse.


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Monaco physician seen as top expert

Photo: Flickr
Photo: Flickr

“Intersex” athletes will learn next month if they will be required to take drugs to suppress testosterone levels. Caster Semenya, whose testosterone levels are roughly three times that of an average woman, has already been banned once from competing and ordered to take hormone lowering drugs by the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF).

Caster Semenya, Francine Niyonsaba and Margaret Wambui have swept the board at international competitions, including the Rio Olympics, leading Britain’s Lynsey Sharp to complain that female athletes are effectively competing in “two separate races”.

New evidence presented by the IAAF shows that high testosterone levels could help a female athlete by up to 2.5 seconds. There is typically less than two seconds between runners in 800m heats.

Last month, scientists from the Monaco-based IAAF published a paper in the British Journal of Sports Medicine concluding that female athletes with high testosterone had a “significant” competitive edge and called for the advantage to be taken into consideration.

Compared with women with the lowest levels of free testosterone in their blood, those in the top third performed better the 400m sprint (+2.73 percent), the 400m hurdles (+2.78 percent); the 800m hurdles (+1.78 percent); the hammer throw (+4.53 percent); and the pole vault (+2.94 percent).

The researchers noted that increased levels of testosterone could increase mental drive, aggressiveness, and encourage lean body mass and more efficient oxygen uptake. It may even help pole vaulters and hammer throwers by improving “visuospatial” awareness, the study concluded.

Stéphane Bermon, who holds a PhD in Exercise Physiology and led the research from the Monaco Institute of Sports Medicine and Surgery, said: “This study brings new evidence of the performance-enhancing effects of androgens in elite female athletes. Although long suspected to be the case, until now there was no proof.”


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Oceanographic helps Philippines project through stunning photographs

Battery of Barracuda taken in Tubbataha. Photo: Jun V Lao
Battery of Barracuda taken in Tubbataha. Photo: Jun V Lao

The Oceanographic Museum of Monaco’s exhibition titled “Tubbataha, the Philippines’ UNESCO Marine World Heritage”, which features the images of Tubbataha Reefs captured through the lenses of renowned Filipino and American photographers, ends August 31.

The exhibition showcases photojournalists Tet Lara, Marissa Floirendo, David Doubilet, and Jennifer Hayes.

The 97,030-hectare Tubbataha Reef Marine Park in Palawan, the westernmost Philippine province is home to 72 percent of the world’s coral species and according to UNESCO, is “an excellent example of a pristine coral reef with a spectacular 100-m perpendicular wall, extensive lagoons and two coral islands”.

“We would like to help Tubbataha, using our images so the tourist can come. We can create revenue for the park so we could sustain the yearly expenses to protect it,” Tel Lara commented.

David Doubilet and Jennifer Hayes are a photographic team for National Geographic Magazine, specialising in ocean environments. Their recent collaboration has taken them around the Philippines.
 
”Coral reefs are the jewels of our planet and Tubbataha is one of the best reefs in the world,” Mr Doubilet said.

The Philippines’ top underwater videographer and cinematographer, Marissa Floirendo produced the film “Tubbataha, a National Treasure,” which has the distinction of being one of the Choice Selection at the 2017 Wildlife Conservation Film Festival in New York City.

Prince Albert visited the site last year. His Serene Highness vowed to help protect the wetland of international significance.

The exhibition will run until the end of the month and be featured in the Philippines in late 2017 through the Ayala Foundation and Ayala Malls.

Tickets can be purchased online or outside of the museum (from €8 to €16).


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