Monaco Mayor Georges Marsan has unveiled plans for the refurbishment of the beautiful 19th century Villa Lamartine, which will eventually be used as a multi-purpose entertainment and cultural venue.
Top photo by Stephane Danna, Government Communication Department
Team Malizia, featuring Vendee Globe racer and IMOCA 2018/2020 Champion Boris Herrmann and Yacht Club Monaco Vice-President and Team Malizia founder Pierre Casiraghi, is building a new 60-foot sailing boat that will be used for the team’s hectic race schedule over the next five years.
Team Malizia is looking to expand and part of that expansion will be the commissioning of a new 60-foot boat built to better handle waves and maintain faster average speeds, whilst being highly sustainable, reliable and sturdy.
Already in the design phase, the team will be working with French design team VPLP and the Multiplast shipyard to realise the new boat. The project will be supported by the recruitment of French offshore specialists as well as the German companies Greenboats, which specialises in building lightweight vessels made of natural and recycled materials, and Schütz Composites, makers of sustainable lightweight honeycomb structures and fibre composite components.
The team has 18 races in 15 countries on the books over the next five years, including the Ocean Race 2022/23, as well as taking another shot at the 2024/25 Vendee Globe, the solo around-the-world competition which captain Boris Herrmann completed in March of this year with a fifth-place finish.
“I remember in 2001 witnessing Illbruck winning the Volvo Ocean Race and imaging myself competing in this prestigious event,” said Herrmann. “Now we have that chance to sail around the world as a team. We will use it as a test, development and training ground for the Vendee Globe 2024 and to further inspire children, collect valuable ocean-data and promote ambitious climate action.”
Team Malizia is extremely dedicated to ocean protection, having raced in the Vendee Globe under the motto ‘A race we must win’, which urged promoting climate change action and spreading the word about the pivotal role oceans play in the planet’s well-being. Additionally, Herrmann took time to collect scientific ocean data on his race, which is being used to monitor parts of the world’s seas that are not usually accessible.
“We are all together in one boat in a race against time to find solutions for the climate crisis,” Herrmann added. “Therefore, we want to highlight some of the industry-solutions our partners work on, to help inspire a common vision and advocate for ever more ambitious action. One of the key solutions in our eyes is the advancement of new fuels on the basis of renewable energies. This topic concerns our partners from the logistics, yachting, shipping, finance and the insurance industry alike. We think that those large corporations we partner with are key players in this urgently needed transformation.”
Team Manager Holly Cova explained further that the “aim is to become a global sustainability platform which creates touch-points and events along our race stopovers around the world for businesses to exchange on sustainability whilst creating opportunities to interact with local schools, scientists and the general public. We will share this story, the emotions and the unfiltered raw content as we did during the past Vendee Globe with a focus on positive impact.”
The Yacht Club Monaco’s General Secretary Bernard d’Alessandri expressed the club’s continuing support for Team Malizia, saying, “We are delighted to continue the adventure with Boris who has shown unwavering commitment and determination. He is a wonderful ambassador to promote our values, especially to our members and young sailors who follow his progress with enthusiasm.”
Monaco Life with YCM press release
For the first time in 11 years, AS Monaco has made it to the Coupe de France finals after a 5 to 1 rout against Rumilly Vallières. They will now head to Stade de France to take on the mighty PSG.
Despite having a bit of a shock when their opponents, a valiant Rumilly Vallières team, opened scoring of the game 20 minutes in, the Red and Whites went on to dominate the rest of the Coupe de France semi-final match, winning them a shot to go up against Paris Saint-Germain for the finals.
The Alexi Peuget goal spurred Monaco to action and they came back with two back-to-back goals. The first was at 27 minutes in, when Rumilly Vallières’ Arthur Bozon made an accidental header into his own side after a cross from Fodé Ballo-Toure. This was followed by another header by Aurélien Tchouameni five minutes later assisted by Cesc Fàbregas, putting Monaco in the lead.
They never looked back from there. The incomparable Wissam Ben Yedder was up next, scoring at the 55 minute mark, followed by living legend Cesc Fabregas’s goal in the 78th minute. The final score came at 82 minutes in by Russian midfielder Aleksandr Golovin who sealed the deal quite nicely.
The crushing 5 to 1 victory went a long way to putting the Red and Whites in a winning frame of mind, but they still have more challenges to come.
“I think the most important thing is to take things game by game,” said Coach Niko Kovac. “Tonight, we needed a victory to maintain our good form and good humour in the squad. Qualifying tonight was the best solution to prepare for this match against Rennes.”
About making it into the Coupe de France after more than a decade, the coach was clearly delighted, saying, “I’m very happy to play in Paris and to have this chance to play in the final against a great team. We are here to win. At the start of the season, we wanted to get back to winning ways, to put AS Monaco back on top. We have already qualified for European competition, now we have a great opportunity to win a trophy.”
Whilst the excitement of the Coupe de France finals could certainly be distracting, the team is still battling for its place in Ligue 1. They go up against a determined Rennes team on Sunday night, where Monaco need to win to ensure they hold onto their third place spot in the league.
“A great match awaits us on Sunday against Stade Rennais where we will need a lot of concentration against a difficult opponent. I see that the players want to go as high as possible and keep growing and improving. I don’t want to stop them from dreaming. They are achieving great things and we must continue to work.”
Photo by AS Monaco
The International University of Monaco (IUM) will be hosting the first edition of the Sustainable Luxury Conference on Monday 17th May, a digital event that will this year focus on ‘The Era of Luxstainable’.
It is the first year that the International University of Monaco, together with its MSc students in Fashion and in Event Management, is organising the Sustainable Luxury Conference in Monaco. The inaugural edition, called ‘The Era of Luxtainable’, will focus on how luxury companies can include sustainability in the different divisions in the value chain and their business operations in general.
A variety of guest speakers will present how their company has implemented sustainable solutions and business practices, and there will also be time for the audience to ask questions.
“Sustainability is one of the priorities for the Principality of Monaco. Our country is a kind of laboratory and plein air for innovative sustainable projects,” said Dr. Annalisa Tarquini–Poli, Program Director of MSc in Luxury Management at IUM. “The International University of Monaco is part of this ecosystem and we have fully embraced this philosophy. We have not only integrated sustainable courses in most of our programs, we also offer our students the opportunity to work on real projects as part of our experiential learning approach.
“This Sustainable Luxury conference is not only part of our promise to offer real projects to our students but is our engagement and modest contribution to support the role of the Principality to develop a sustainable consciousness.”
The International University of Monaco welcomes students, professors, professionals and IUM business partners to attend the event on 17th May from 4pm to 7pm CET. The event will be fully digital, which means that it will take place on Zoom and YouTube. Registration is required and can be made by clicking here.
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