Image: © 2024 Nastro Rosa Il Veloce

The Royal Ocean Racing Club has entered three RORC teams in the 2024 Nastro Rosa Il Veloce which started on Sunday 03 November, 2024. Organised by the Yacht Club La Maddalena, Yacht Club Italiano and Yacht Club Venezia under the authority of Italian Sailing Federation.

An international contingent of sailors are representing the Royal Ocean Racing Club: RORC 1 – Elstrodt & Lourens, RORC 2 – Ibbotson & Nico, RORC 3 – Kurta & Holmbom. Racing double-handed in Figaro 3 yachts the crews are taking on the longest offshore race in the Mediterranean - 1500NM non-stop. 

The event started with a ceremony in Venice with a start line just outside the famous city on the Adriatic Sea. In front of a fascinated audience, the ten one-design Beneteau Figaro 3 boats started in the Grand Canal in front of Piazza San Marco. The competitors will go through a series of gates positioned around the mainland Italian Coast including Sicily and its outlying islands. In the Tyrrhenian Sea, the fleet must past through a gate in the Bay of Naples. The penultimate gate is off Livorno near the City of Pisa before finishing in Genoa.