Not much is yet known about the tragic accident at the Aegean 600, but a strong Meltemi had severely challenged the fleet on its course through the Greek islands in the Aegean Sea and had already caused 14 teams to abandon the race. According to the organisers and other information so far, two sailors from the French Pogo 44 "Heaven" with the sail number ESP 3462C went overboard on the section to Kasos northwest of the island of Kasos. One of the sailors suffered serious head injuries. According to the regatta organisers, all resuscitation measures were unsuccessful. No further information on the accident was initially released. An initial announcement from the organisers stated: "All sailors and the organisers of the regatta will mourn this terrible loss of a fellow offshore sailor."
Aegean 600: Sadness overshadows the triumph
In view of the sad news from the Aegean Sea, it was difficult for everyone involved on Tuesday to celebrate the other finishes and the new "Zoulou" record time. The fourth edition of the Aegean 600 started on 7 July off Sounio on the southern tip of Attica. The still young but increasingly popular regatta leads through the Greek islands, past Santorini, Kassos, Karpathos, Rodos, Kandelousa, Kos and other picture-book islands. After the course, with a total of 13 island passages, the route returns to the start and finish harbour of Souino. The participants will be challenged on a long-distance course of 605 nautical miles.
According to the tracker, 51 yachts were still in the race on the afternoon of 9 July or had already finished, while 14 had given up by then. The co-favoured French MOD-70 trimaran "Zoulou" secured the line honours in the multihulls after just 1 day, 13 hours, 18 minutes and 52 seconds with an average speed of 16.2 knots. The first monohull yacht to cross the finish line a good ten hours later was Bryon Ehrhart's Juan K 27M "Lucky", sailing under the US flag, after 1 day, 23 hours, 31 minutes and 6 seconds.
"Black Pearl" takes overall IRC victory
However, it was not enough for the fast "Lucky" to win the IRC overall. The team led by owner Stefan Jentzsch on the Botin 56 "Black Pearl" has the best chances here, leading the field after a formidable run. The team flying the German flag completed the race, which was held for the first time in 2021 and has all the makings of a great classic, in 2 days, 12 hours, 43 minutes and 48 seconds. The resulting calculated time of 3 days, 12 hours, 35 minutes and 53 seconds could be enough for the current leader to win the IRC overall. Sascha Schröder's team on the German Neo 430 Roma 2.90 "Neomind" was initially in the top five after a sailed time of 2 days, 23 hours, 4 minutes and 39 seconds.
Note: We have subsequently corrected some of the information in this article because new information has come to light.
