Monaco is gearing up for the 36th Primo Cup – Trophée Credit Suisse set to kick off on Thursday 6^th February. Organised by the Yacht Club of Monaco, the competition is a meeting par excellence for one-designs.
The regatta has been held every February since 1985, the month it was launched at the instigation of YCM President HSH Prince Albert II.
Each year, top European one-design sailors gather in Monaco to compete in this first event on the Mediterranean circuit. The event is unusual in that top European teams are competing on the same race area as enthusiastic amateurs.
The profile of classes and competitors this year once again points to a high-level regatta that will live up to expectations, with some 450 sailors expected. Primo Cup regulars will be
there – the Smeralda 888s, Melges 20s and a big fleet of J/70s with several Nordic teams who have based themselves in the Principality over the winter for the Monaco Sportsboat Winter
Series of monthly regattas from October to March.
It’s a larger fleet due to the fact that Monaco is hosting the World Championship for this class from 18th to 23th October 2021, a deadline attracting international teams like the Americans on Team Newport Harbor and the British on Redshift. The latter will have Hannah Diamond onboard who recently cut her teeth on the Volvo Ocean Race after years in dinghy classes, notably the Nacra 17 in which she won the European Vice-Champion title in 2013.
Alongside will be the Longtze Premier, a 7m keelboat developed by the team on Le Défi at the America’s Cup in 2007 and which has spread rapidly in Europe.
Last but not least is a newcomer to the Primo Cup – Trophée Credit Suisse, the L30, recently selected as the class for the first offshore World Championship in Malta to be held this October.
This is a truly international new class, judging by the list of nations already signed up including Japan, Ukraine, South Korea, Belgium and France. The 30-foot keelboat was developed by Rodion Luka, the Ukrainian Olympic medallist and contestant in the 2008-2009 Volvo Ocean Race, in collaboration with RC44 designer, Andrej Justin. The new Offshore event should be at the 2024 Paris Olympics as mixed doubles, although this has yet to be confirmed. Unlike the double-hander racing at the Games, the Primo Cup – Trophée Credit Suisse will be a team event for this class.
The arrival of a fleet of Onefly dinghies, a winged and foiled one-design, completes an already well orchestrated spectacle. These flying dinghies have the features required to allow them to be sailed in all weather conditions. The YCM is expecting around a dozen on the water for Saturday 8th and Sunday 9th February for exhibition phases and test runs.
 
 
Source: Yacht Club of Monaco