Kay-Johannes Wrede's "Best Buddies" in the Aegean 600 have achieved a rare success. The Swan 441 R has won the IRC and ORC overall rankings of the long-distance race through the Greek islands! In fact, the entire podium looked the same in both handicap classifications: Second place went to the Slovenian Elan 450 "Karpo" of Max Vrecko. Third place went to the Elan 400 "Elaya" (Slovenia).
Aegean 600: Double success for "Best Buddies"
The double success of the "Best Buddies" was perfect after 4 days, 17 hours, 55 minutes and 13 seconds. As the 19th boat to cross the finish line, the Ron-Holland design with sail number 4908, competing for the Norddeutscher Regatta Verein and the Royal Ocean Racing Club, still shot past everyone. The aged but well-maintained racer was once built for the 1979 Admiral's Cup and sailed under the name "Milene IV" for owner Albert Mirlesse and the Swiss team.
Back then, the beautiful Swan survived the fatal Fastnet Race almost unscathed. The current owners bought the boat in 1996, subjected it to an extensive refit and sold it in 1999 - only to buy it back in 2006! Since then, "Best Buddies" has been sailed successfully - and is never to be sold again. That's what the crew had written to the organisers before the start of the race. That has not changed.
Kay Wrede, Jesper Möller, Katrin Möller, Nils Reichert, Susanne Ring, Oomke Möller, Christian Heermann, Tina Lülfing and Ole Paulsen experienced their Aegean 600 première to the full. "There are other areas where the wind blows nice and light and even. Here it was more like someone was constantly hitting you on the mast with a sledgehammer. We ended up swapping helmsmen every hour," said owner and helmsman Kay Wrede, describing the challenging conditions.
Not a race for everyone
Wrede said of the Aegean 600: "This is not a race for everyone, but a tough, incredibly demanding area. If you're looking for regular changes of guard, you won't find them here. Anyone looking for a challenge is in the right place. I have to pay my team a huge compliment. They worked day and night and never stopped. Hundreds of sail changes... And they kept fighting even in the wind holes in the island covers."
The crew experienced everything between zero and 35, 40 knots of wind. "Sometimes it went down to zero in a second behind the mountains. It was foaming everywhere. That was pretty extreme. For that, you need a crew that can bite through it," says Wrede. On the other hand, he enthused: "The Aegean 600 is a great regatta in this island world. You sail close to the islands and experience them. Santorini at sunset, for example - that was incredibly beautiful."
According to Wrede, the success of the "Best Buddies" was fuelled not only by the intensive crew work but also by the conditions. While the boat is often quickly overtaken by modern competitors in other regattas on downwind sections, it was able to show off its powerplay strengths in the Aegean 600. "Firstly, the boat is relatively old and heavy. Thanks to the constricted IOR stern, we had a good hull for the conditions and not so much wetted surface area. The overlapping genoa allowed us to generate enormous pressure," explains Kay Wrede.
It's such a highlight of life - it's great." Kay-Johannes Wrede
37 boats reached the finish line in the fifth year of the still young Greek race through the paradisiacal island world of Milos, Santorini, Kassos, Karpathos, Rhodes, Kos and Kalikos. 13 crews gave up. On its varied course, the fleet also passed the islands of Farmakonisi, Agathonisi, Patmos, Mykonos, Delos, Giaros and Kea, until the Temple of Poseidon marked the end of the long haul to and from Sounio. Click here for the course overview.
Versatility test in Greece's island world
If you like to spend your holiday sailing in a beautiful area and are looking for new challenges, the Aegean 600 is the right place for you. Frederic Puzin, skipper of the French Carkeek 54 "Daguet 5", which crossed the finish line just eleven minutes after the largest monohull - George Procopious's Volvo 70 "Aiolos" - describes it as a "fantastic race, one of the best".
The racer and his crew were caught by a heavy 50-knot gust shortly after the gate at Mykonos, which knocked their wind instruments out of the mast. Puzin said: "I really like this race because it tests skills in all areas with its toughness."
The owner of the Cookson 50 "Varuna" (USA), which finished just behind "Daguet 5", took a similar view. Chris Hemans was racing with Californian amateur sailors, some European professionals, his two daughters and their girlfriend. He said: "This race is very different to the race to Hawaii: it's only a quarter as long, but requires three times as many sail changes and challenging navigational decisions."
Aegean 600: the records remain untouched
In the calculated final classification of the Maxi class, Philip Rann's Swan 80 "Umiko" (Great Britain) came out on top ahead of "Aiolos" and Francesco Illy's Italian "E Vai" after several changes of position. The Mocra division of the 605 nautical mile Aegean 600 was won by Adrian Keller's Swiss 86-foot catamaran "Allegra". Click here for the tracker and the results.
This year, "Aiolos" took the line honours in the monohull category after sailing 676 nautical miles in 3 days, 19 hours, 7 minutes and 8 seconds. The course records were unattainable this year: The best monohull time, set by "Leopard 3" (Monaco) in 2023 with 1 day, 21 hours, 5 minutes and 25 seconds, remains standing, as does the multihull record of 1 day, 13 hours, 18 minutes and 52 seconds, which "Zoulou" established last year.
The highlights from the start of the Aegean 600:
