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Month: April 2021

Monaco takes position at UN Women

by: Cassandra Tanti
26/04/2021

Monaco has been elected to the Board of Directors of UN Women, the United Nations entity dedicated to gender equality and the empowerment of women.
A global champion for women and girls, UN Women was established to accelerate progress on meeting their needs worldwide.
UN Women supports UN Member States as they set global standards for achieving gender equality, and works with governments and civil society to design laws, policies, programmes and services needed to ensure that the standards are effectively implemented and truly benefit women and girls worldwide.
The entity also works to position gender equality as fundamental to the Sustainable Development Goals.
On 20th April, Monaco was elected to the Board of Directors of UN Women by the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC).
Monaco makes an annual voluntary contribution of €20,000 to UN Women and regularly intervenes on the subject of the protection of women’s rights, including the annual report on the status of women.
Since 2015, Monaco has been a founding member of the Group of Friends for Gender Parity, whose objective is to advance women’s leadership, advocate for parity and preserve gender balance in the world. In 2020, the Principality joined the Group of Friends for the Elimination of Violence Against Women.
 
Photo by Simon Maage on Unsplash
 
 

Drama and excitement at Historic Grand Prix

by: Stephanie Horsman
26/04/2021

The Historic Grand Prix of Monaco was an enormous success on the weekend, despite fears that the health crisis would dampen spirits.

The 2021 Historic Grand Prix was dazzling from start to finish with beautiful cars, exciting races, and even a dramatic crash. The event saw a hundred cars compete in seven races, broken down by age of the vehicles.

Race A, featuring pre-war cars, was Patrick Blakeney-Edwards’ for the taking, until his 1935 Frazer Nash ran into technical problems, leaving the door open for Christian Traber in his sky-blue Talbot-Lago. Ewan Sergison took the bronze.

For Race B, with cars dating from post-war to 1961, the winner was Spaniard Guillermo Fierro-Eleta in his Maserati 250 F, which incidentally raced in the Monaco Grand Prix in the 1950’s, followed by Max Smith-Hilliard in his Lotus 16. Third place went to Alex Birkenstock in his Ferrari 246.

Next up were those in Race C, featuring front engine race cars from 1952 to 1957, it was again Fierro-Eleta in a Maserati 330S who won top spot on the podium, followed by the Jaguar D type driven by Niklas Halusa and Nicholas Bert in a Jaguar C type.

Race D saw Grand Prix F1 cars from 1961 to 1965. Lotus reigned as Mark Shaw took the gold in his Lotus 21. Nick Taylor came in second in a Lotus 18, followed by Lotus again, this time a Lotus 24, driven by Stephan Jobstl.

In Race E, three litre Grand Prix F1 cars from 1966 to 1972 took to the course. Michael Lyons came first in his Surtees TS9, followed by the McLaren M19A driven by Stuart Hall and Jamie Constable in a Brabham BT37.

Race F, a race with Grand Prix F1 cars from 1973 to 1976, saw a bit of drama as a crash shuffled the winners around. Despite being in the lead most of the race, Jean Alesi and his Ferrari 312B3 were taken out with only three laps to go as three-time Le Mans winner Marco Werner in a Lotus 77 clipped him, sending him into the barriers. This accident cost Alesi the race, but also penalised Werner, who instead of the top spot, landed in third place. This gave Michael Lyons his second victory in his McLaren M26 with Julien Andlauer and his March 761 in second.

Photo of Prince Albert during the Historic Grand Prix of Monaco 2021, by ACM

Finally, Race G featuring Grand Prix F1 cars from 1977 to 1980 saw Michael Lyons pull a hat trick, winning three for three on the day. In this race he drove his Hesketh 308E to victory, with Mike Cantillon in second driving a Tyrell O1O. Matteo Ferrer-Aza rounded out the podium in his Ligier JS11/15.

Prince Albert II got in on the fun on Saturday when he was spotted in the paddock just prior to the Race E qualifiers. There he spoke to several drivers, including René Arnoux, Jean Alesi and Monegasque driver Frédéric Lajoux.

 
Photo by Olivier Caenen / Stephane Demard / ACM
 
 

“We are a very strong team”

by: Stephanie Horsman
26/04/2021

AS Monaco have taken on Angers on the opponent’s home turf and once again brought home the victory, sitting pretty in third place in Ligue 1 standings and continuing their exceptional run.
Everyone loves an underdog, and at the start of the 2020-21 season, that is exactly what AS Monaco was. Having had the previous season cut short due to the Covid crisis, the Red and Whites were able to push the reset button and came out swinging this year.
Winning the last five games, the team has steadily made the climb up the rankings and are now a mere two points off the top spot.
The match against a determined Angers team started out tame enough. Monaco took advantage of the chances that came their way early on, with an Aleksandr Golovin attempt eight minutes into play, followed by another from Stevan Jovetić a few minutes later. Then, there was no other clear chance until just before the half time break when Golovin again had a chance but was up against a very aggressive Angevin defence.
After the break, Coach Niko Kovac shook things up, changing the line-up, but even this wasn’t breaking the Angers defence. In the end, it was a ball recovered by Youssouf Fofana who expertly shifted it to Wissam Ben Yedder, giving him the shot that not only opened scoring, but won the match.
The Red and Whites held onto their slim lead until the end, giving them five-in-a-row and their sixth consecutive clean sheet.
“The most important thing is that everyone contributes something, this is important to the results of the team,” said Coach Kovac about the team’s success. “I keep repeating myself but Ligue 1 is a very tough league, very difficult for everyone, there are very good teams and Angers is one of them. That kind of game, if you win it, is the kind of win you can take with you to help achieve your goals, and we went looking for that success again today.”
AS Monaco go up against fourth place Lyon on Sunday 2nd May at home.
 
 

Huge fireball lights up sky

by: Cassandra Tanti
26/04/2021

A webcam in Cannes has captured the stunning footage of a large meteorite crossing the skies above the south of France on the weekend.
The yearly phenomenon was visible in the French Riviera and was captured on video in Cannes by the webcam on Quai Laubeuf. The fireball crossed from east to west, appearing to fall behind the Esterel.
 


 
NASA France reposted the webcam footage on its Instagram account, saying “A meteor burning in the atmosphere was seen around 10:26pm in the south of #France.”
The meteorite was also captured crossing the sky above Saint Tropez.
 


 
The meteor was part of the annual Lyrid Meteor Shower, which is usually active between 16th and 25th April every year and peaks at around 22nd or 23rd. The meteor shower is visible from both the northern and southern hemispheres, but is much more active in the northern where the meteor’s radiant is high in the sky.
Named after constellation Lyra, the Lyrids are one of the oldest recorded meteor showers. According to some historical Chinese texts, the shower was seen over 2,500 years ago. The fireballs in the meteor shower are created by debris from comet Thatcher, which takes about 415 years to orbit around the sun. The comet is expected to be visible from earth again in 2276.
Meteor showers occur when the earth crosses the path of a comet, colliding with a trail of comet crumbs. As they burn up in earth’s atmosphere, the meteors leave bright streaks in the sky commonly referred to as shooting stars.
 
Photo by Daniel Ruy on Meteo Côte d’Azur Twitter
 
 

Roca team still unbeaten in away games

by: Stephanie Horsman
26/04/2021

AS Monaco Basketball have gone eight for eight in Jeep Elite play at away games after their Friday night victory over SIG Strasbourg, 82 to 70.
The Roca team thundered onto the court in Rhénus, taking on a Strasbourg team that barely knew what hit them. Despite taking a little time to build, they hit their stride and by the third quarter were utterly dominating the game. Monaco had an exceptionally brilliant third quarter, where they added 27 points to the scoreboard over their opponent’s 12.
This gave the team their 16th Jeep Elite win, retaining the top spot in the league.
The night was full of good play, but one player stood out. Ibou Fall Faye added 11 points to the team’s score and had 12 rebounds, making him the undisputed MVP of the game.
“It was a good game to prepare for the final,” said teammate co-high scorer Mathias Lessort. “It was not our best face in the 1st half. Then, when we defend like we do did it in the 2nd half, we had all the assets to make the difference. We will now have a few days to rest and prepare for Tuesday’s (Euro Cup 7) final. With the adrenaline going, I don’t think that we will feel the fatigue.”
The Euro Cup must certainly have been on the minds of the players in Strasbourg, with the impending matches against the Kazan Unics at home on the 27th, and again on the road on the 30th.
The trip to the Euro Cup finals wasn’t even on the radar at the start of the season, but Coach Zvezdan Mitrovic and his team worked hard and made their way up the ladder in a tough first division league.
“Monaco was in a good position and the goal was to get promoted to the first division,” the coach told Euro Cup Basketball. “Thoughts about playing in European competitions at that time were very far away. It was more of trying to move up, avoid relegation the next season because oftentimes, promoted teams struggle to stay up. We were probably not even dreaming about this at that time.”
The Roca boys return Tuesday at home at 6:30pm to take on Russian giants Unics Kazan in Euro Cup 7 action.
 
 
Monaco Life with AS Monaco Basketball press release, photo by AS Monaco Basketball
 
 

Harnessing the power of the sea

by: Cassandra Tanti
26/04/2021

Yachting can be more than the ultimate leisure activity. It can also be used to harness the healing power of the water and help navigate people after being diagnosed with a disease. Maria Alekseenko, founder of Yachting Therapy, explains more about her unique Monaco-based concept.
When Maria’s close relative was diagnosed with a rare neurological illness, the first thing she says she noticed was the ‘SEA’ in ‘diSEAse’, and the power it could play in the healing process of her loved one.
“Though there are very few studies on how the sea and ocean can holistically impact the body, the evidence of the healing power of the sea is all around,” says Maria Alekseenko. “A yacht is the perfect platform to interact with the sea and experience the best of it.”
After more than 10 years’ experience in retail yacht chartering, Maria has started to explore yachting not just as a means for holidays and expeditions, but as a therapy.
It is, perhaps, a concept that is easily grasped by those who own or charter yachts and who understand how being out on the water induces a state of calm and peacefulness.
“The main purpose of yachting therapy is to help people who experience health issues or have been diagnosed with serious diseases to overcome difficult times, deeply connecting to the water element and benefiting from its healing power,” says Maria. “Yachting therapy is not a medical therapy or treatment, but an alternative complementary experience to manage disease or recovery.”

From ‘Night sea swimming’ and ‘Dancing in the sea’, to a ‘Healing jet-ski experience’ and ‘Philosophy of the waves’, Maria schedules a programme that uses yachts and water as informal therapeutic tools to make people’s lives easier and more enjoyable.
The programme is run in consultation with the patient’s doctors and specialists, and it has been designed in a way that means Maria never needs to be present on board during the sessions.
It is currently targeted at people who have been diagnosed with cancer, motor neurone diseases or diabetes, or are recovering from surgery and chemotherapy. Athletes may also find the techniques beneficial, as well as couples experiencing infertility as the techniques are based on four years’ research and Maria’s personal experiences.
Yachting Therapy forms part of her Monaco-based company Experiential Yachting and the programme can take place on either a chartered yacht or on an owner’s personal boat.
Maria says the benefits include slowing down the progression of a disease, speeding up recovery and activating self-healing.
“The aim is to shift the perception of yachting from product-orientated to experience-orientated, by enriching yachting with deep purpose and extraordinary experiences, making a difference to the world and to people’s lives,” she says.
 
 
Photos provided by Yachting Therapy