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Month: August 2022

Monaco handed favourable European draw

by: Luke Entwistle
29/08/2022

AS Monaco discovered their opponents for the upcoming Europa League campaign during the draw in Istanbul last Friday, with Philippe Clement’s side avoiding the tournament’s big names.

The draw is favourable for the Monégasques, on paper. Avoiding big names such as Manchester United and Arsenal, who were both in pot 1, Monaco instead drew Red Star Belgrade. Clement’s men will however have to contend with an intense atmosphere when they visit the Rajko Mitic stadium in Belgrade on 8th September.

The hostile atmospheres don’t stop there. As well as heading to the most decorated side in Serbian football history, Monaco face another trip to eastern Europe for their fixture against Hungarian side Ferencvaros on 27th October.

Monaco will rack up the air miles once again with a trip to Turkey to face Trabzonspor, the lowest-ranked team in Monaco’s group, on October 13th. On paper, all are winnable fixtures, but factoring in the hostility of the crowds and the lengthy journey’s in what is a condensed season, difficult challenges await Clement’s Monaco.

Reacting to the draw, spotting director Paul Mitchell is wary of the side’s upcoming opponents: “At first viewing, we perhaps haven’t been drawn against the big names in the competition, but I have been in football long enough to know that when you face teams like this, in these stadiums, the atmosphere is special. These will be difficult ties, ih supporters who can be hot-headed and passionate.”

Last season, Monaco’s Europa League campaign came to an end in the round of 16 against Braga, and Mitchell has set the club the objective of reaching that stage of the competition once again this time around.

“It’s a big step for our young players to make, to face these types of situations. We have the objective of winning the most matches possible in this Europa League and trying to get out of the group stages. We have the feeling that the team is better prepared than last season,” said the Englishman.

Fans hoping to follow their team on the European adventure have some long journeys to make, and they can also support their side at the Stade Louis II on 15th September (Ferencvaros), 6th October (Trabzonspor) and November 3rd (Red Star Belgrade).

 

 

Photo by Monaco Life

 

 

 

“Mission accomplished” as tourists return to French Riviera

by: Stephanie Horsman
28/08/2022

The French Riviera has had a fantastic summer, according to the Regional Committee of Tourism Côte d’Azur, with occupancy rates as high as 90% and a jump in visitors and economic benefits, with numbers easily reaching pre-pandemic figures.

The local tourism board, the Regional Committee of Tourism Côte d’Azur (CRT) has released the statistics for tourism in the region thus far this year, with encouraging results.

In June 2022, hotel occupancy in the Alpes-Maritimes reached 80%, the best since 2000, and 75% in tourist residences. By the next month, the hotels had hit 85% and 83% in residences, which are the highest numbers seen in a decade. These rates are indeed impressive, but it was August that has stolen the show with a huge 90% occupancy rate, almost that of 2019 and 2021 combined, thanks in part to the bank holiday weekend mid-month, which was sold out. As the month is not yet over, the rates are expected to exceed the 2019 figures, marking an excellent return to normal. The first half September is set to hit 75% occupancy rates, another good sign.

The coastal regions fared extremely well, but the inland regions also saw a 5% leap in occupancy over 2019. It is believed this is due to an uptick in sustainable tourism focused on the great outdoors, a policy the CRT has encouraged.

“After two years marked by the health crisis and a tense international context, tourist attendance for this summer season 2022 marks a virtual return to normal on the Côte d’Azur,” said Alexandra Borchio Fontimp, President of the CRT Côte d’Azur France. “The CRT Côte d’Azur France and all of its partners are delighted with these results, which consolidate a recovery in activity that was already well underway in the spring.”

With Nice Côte d’Azur airport’s 107 destinations, 88 of those being from outside France, people from abroad have returned in droves. The numbers aren’t quite back to pre-pandemic figures but reached an impressive 85% of the norm.

This year, the North Americans returned, alongside the British, Belgians, Irish, Dutch and Scandinavians. Those coming from Russia and Asia were far lower than past years, reaching only 20% of usual.

The French also returned, with a full quarter coming from the Paris region, and another 25% from the south, excluding the Alpes-Maritimes.

The return of high-contribution foreign customers, notably the North Americans and Middle Easterners, has enabled the strong rebound in hotel turnover, which was full in the middle of the season. Tourism spending largely benefits restaurants and shops located near accommodation and other visitor hubs.

The average daily spend per tourist was roughly €65 for French visitors and €100 for those from other places. This translates to nearly €6 billion for the area.

“The exceptional results of this summer 2022 show the effectiveness of our action plan and the resilience of our destination, which knows how to create and seize opportunities to, all together, preserve and revitalise tourism on the Riviera. The role of the Côte d’Azur France Regional Tourism Committee is to continue to diversify the origins of our visitors throughout the year by making them discover the singularity of our territory between sea and mountains and our tourist offer geared towards sustainable tourism. Mission accomplished for this beautiful season!”

 

 

Photo by Cassandra Tanti for Monaco Life

 

 

 

 

Imperious Verstappen in a league of his own

by: Luke Entwistle
28/08/2022

Max Verstappen won the Belgium GP on Sunday to stretch his lead over Charles Leclerc and tighten his grip on consecutive World Championship titles.

Due to pre-race penalties, both Verstappen and Leclerc began Sunday’s race in the lower mid-field, meaning that the title rivals would have to work their way through the field in order to challenge for the podium places. However, Saturday’s qualifying gave an indication that Verstappen may find that task easier than Leclerc.

Despite only registering one lap in Q3, the reigning World Champion was over six tenths quicker than Carlos Sainz in P2.

The signs were ominous for Ferrari, who were nowhere near matching Red Bull’s pace. And so it proved during the race as Verstappen made light work of working his way through the field on his soft tyres. By just lap 8, he was already in P3, and only a collision or technical failure looked like depriving Verstappen victory. Neither saved Leclerc, and finishing P6, he falls further behind in a title battle that looks to be slipping through his fingers.

Flawless drive

Verstappen’s current form is ominous. His victory at Hungary just before the summer break was one of the finest of his career, and despite finding himself down in P14 at the start on Sunday, there was never the impression that the race win was beyond him.

Having made late work of the midfield, he quickly found himself on the back of his teammate Carlos Perez, and by lap 12, following a pit-stop from leader Carlos Sainz, he took the lead. Having taken the lead, he never truly looked like losing following his pit-stop on lap 16, it took him only two laps to definitively take the lead of the race. Thereafter, he was unchallenged.

His victory around the iconic Spa-Francorchamps circuit, which has been renewed for the 2023 season, gives him a hefty margin for error. He is now 93 points ahead of his nearest challenger, Perez.

Leclerc toils in the mid-field

Perez moves ahead of Monégasque driver Leclerc by five points. He, unlike Verstappen, found it more difficult  to manoeuvre his way through the field.

He was, however, handicapped by a technical issue on lap 3. Whilst running in P9, he had to pit due to a tear-off in the brake duct. That left him down in P16, and from there it was difficult to force his way into contention for the podium places.

It was a solid recovery drive from Leclerc, but a difficult race, as it was clear that the Ferrari was looking pace relative to the Red Bull. Sainz’s third place, behind Perez is a good reflection of where they are: behind Red Bull, but still ahead of everyone else.

Post-race, Leclerc said, “The feeling in the car was actually ok, but compared to our competitors we were lacking pace. They made a huge step leading up to this weekend and we have to work on closing the gap.”

A huge step is what is needed for Ferrari, who risk losing the slipstream of a run-away Red Bull, in a title race which could reach an early denouement.

 

 

Photo source: Scuderia Ferrari Press Office

 

 

 

 

Lady First III big winner of Palermo-Montecarlo regatta

by: Stephanie Horsman
26/08/2022

The 17th edition of the Palermo-Montecarlo regatta has ended, and after a voyage filled with rough seas and difficult wind conditions, it was the Lady First III who took the cup.

This year’s Palermo-Montecarlo sailing race pulled in 40 teams from nine countries and drew big crowds in the process.

The event, organised by Circolo della Vela Sicilia in partnership with Yacht Club de Monaco and Yacht Club Costa Smeralda since 2005, is a 480 nautical mile race and is one of the stages in the Italian Offshore Championship circuit, organised by the Italian Sailing Federation, IMA’s Mediterranean Maxi Offshore Challenge and the Class40 Mediterranean Trophy.

“Wind and sea conditions were quite difficult this year, which made it all the more exciting,” said a delighted Agostino Randazzo, President of Circolo della Vela Sicilia.

Despite the challenging environment, the racers all left from the Gulf of Mondello in high spirits, but it was to be Jean-Pierre Dreau’s Lady First III helmed by Nicolas Berenger who would cross the finish first on Sunday evening at 11:47pm after 2 days 11 hours 47 minutes 6 seconds of sailing, winning the Giuseppe Tasca d’Almerita Trophy for the first to finish in real time.

“Everything went well,” said skipper Berenger, “we had quite tough conditions for the first part of the course, crossing the Maddalena Archipelago then the Strait of Bonifacio and then managed to escape the whims of the Corsican coast to end on a good crossing from there to the continent, with the wind pushing us along in the right direction. Despite the last 25 miles being difficult, we managed to stay ahead of our rivals.”

In a close second was Dominique Tian’s Tonnere de Glen, though confusingly, after a real time correction, they were first, and therefore winners of the Angelo Randazzo Perpetual Challenge Trophy for the second time after victory in 2018.

“Our crew sailed really well. We are very happy with the results, particularly as it was not an easy race,” said Dominique Tian, who good-naturedly went on to say, “I’m delighted Lady First III took line honours. We are friends and mates at the Marseille Société Nautique, so I’m very happy for them.”

Another prize offered at this race was the newly minted Circolo della Vela Sicilia Trophy which rewards the first in the overall ranking of the ORC group and was won by the Sun Fast 3600 Lunatika of Guido Baroni and Alessandro Miglietti.

Monaco had two boats in the running this year, including Andrea Statari’s Gorilla Gang, K’Mena and Andreas Feichtinger’s Lung’Ta which had two young members from the YCM’s Sports Section on board, and Oscar Royneau and Jessica Klimeck, supervised by YCM’s Thierry Leret.

“They were great throughout,” said Thierry Leret. “Over the 10 days spent at sea (between delivery and the race itself), we had only three hours downwind. The rest of the time we were close-hauled and in some very tough conditions. Despite that, these two young rookies have fallen in love with offshore racing and want to continue on this path which is a victory in my eyes.”

 

 

Photo credit: Circolo Della Vela Sicilia, Studio Borlenghi

 

 

 

 

Jim Ratcliffe signs €7 billion deal with China

by: Stephanie Horsman
26/08/2022

Monaco resident Jim Ratcliffe is expanding his INEOS empire into China, signing three separate deals with state-backed China Petroleum and Chemical Corporation, which are expected to make a combined turnover of €10 billion from seven tonnes of capacity.

Jim Ratcliffe’s rags to riches story of growing up in a Manchester, England council estate to becoming the UK’s richest man are the stuff of legend. His company, INEOS, a chemical company, proclaims on their website that their “products touch every aspect of modern-day life”, and now they are expanding ever further.

The Monaco-based tycoon is making the news again, this time for the signing of three deals with China Petroleum and Chemical Corporation (SINOPEC) worth an estimated €7 billion.

The deals include INEOS acquiring a 50% stake in Shanghai SECCO Petrochemical Compnay (SECCO), a subsidiary of SINOPAEC. SECCO at present has a production capability of 4.2 millon tonnes of petrochemicals in its 200 hectare facility producing substances such as ethylene, propylene styrene and benzene amongst others.

INEOS has also agreed to set up a new 50-50 project alongside SINOPEC to increase production capacity of up to 1.2 million tonnes of Acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS), a thermoplastic polymer, to meet China’s demands.

Finally, the two companies will create another 50-50 venture to build a 500,000 high density poly ethylene (HDPE) plant in Tianjin. The hopes are that this is only the first jointly-built plant and that two additional factories will be built in the near future. The Tianjin plan is expected to go online in late 2023.

INEOS and SINOPEC already work together since the acquisition of BP’s acetyls and aromatics business in January 2021.

“These agreements significantly reshape INEOS’ petrochemical production and technology in China,” said Ratcliffe. “We are pleased to make these major investments with SINOPEC in areas that provide the best growth opportunities for both companies. Both parties recognise the potential for closer collaboration across a number of other areas as we look ahead.”

Each transaction is anticipated to be finished before the end of 2022. They will be financed through a combination of internal cash resources and external financing.

 

 

 

 

Photo source: WikiCommons

 

 

 

 

Monaco’s traditional picnic U Cavagnetü returns

by: Stephanie Horsman
26/08/2022

After two years of postponement due to Covid, Monaco’s end-of-summer picnic, U Cavagnetü, is back and being held at Princess Antoinette Park in September.  

One of Monaco’s many lovely traditions is an annual picnic held in early September to mark the turning point between summer and back-to-school and work. In the Monegasque tongue, it is called U Cavagnetü and it is reserved for those of Monegasque nationality and their families as a time to gather for an evening of fun and frivolity.

The Princely family is usually in attendance, including appearances by Hereditary Prince Jacques and Princess Gabriella, who will be marking the end of their summer holidays before starting school again.

The event is also environmentally conscious, featuring recycling bins and recyclable appetiser cups. People are also asked to bring reusable or recyclable plates, cups and silverware as part of their personal picnics.

This year, the party is being held on 3rd September and access to the event begins at 5:15pm for a 6pm start. The evening opens with a mass celebrated on the Parc Omnisports Ground and will be followed by a picnic with musical accompaniment provided by the choir of U Cantin d’A Roca and by a Jazz Quartet, led by Lionel Vaudano, professor at the Rainier III Academy.

From 5pm on the 3rd, access to the Monaco bus network and parking in the Jardin Exotique car park will be free on presentation of the Monegasque identity card or invitation.

Access to the site, Princess Antoinette Park, will be closed to the public from 29th August to 7th September for set up and break down of the event, but the kiosk and the mini-golf course, located in the lower part of the park, will remain open, except on the day of the event. Entry will only be via the entrance located on Boulevard de Belgique.

 

Photo source: Mairie de Monaco