With six multihulls and six 60 foot monohulls, a total of twelve yachts will be on the start line of the Round Europe Yacht Race which begins on 20 June in Genoa. It will be an opportunity to discover three new arrivals to the monohull circuit.

Amongst the well known yachts present will be the victorious monohull from the last Route du Rhum – Aquitaine Innovations, reunited with her skipper Yves Parlier who, after a year’s forced absence following a serious parascending accident, will be looking to gain one of the few major sailing victories that has thus far eluded him. He will also be using this fully crewed race to fine-tune his yacht in time for the year’s major rendezvous – the Transat Jacques Vabre which he has already won twice.

Catherine Chabaud, on Whirlpool-Europe 2, has just confirmed she will be taking part in the race. Having been further developed this winter, the yacht, which showed real potential in the Route du Rhum before her unfortunate retirement, should show her full potential in crewed racing.

Eric Dumont also obliged to retire from the last Route du Rhum, will be at the helm of the new monohull Le Havre 2000. This skipper from the multihull circuit who came fourth in the last Vendée Globe is thirsty for victory and is looking forward to showing his yachting qualities during the two long legs of the event.

Amongst the newcomers will be Andrea Scarabelli, a 37 year old Italian, has accumulated victories in the Mediterranean on Riviera di Rimini, a 55 footer designed by Vallicelli. In order to have a fair chance, the yacht has been modified to meet the Open 60 rating. The Riviera Sailing Team is looking forward to the start in Genoa to compete against the best Open 60s.

Another Italian in the race is Sandro Buzzi who will be skippering an Open 60 quite different to the ones normally seen on the circuit. Juno Plano, built in 1995 by Buzzi and Calderon, is quite a revolutionary design. Her beam is just 3.5 metres and she has the highest angle of vanishing stability (AVS) of any Open 60 at 170 degs. Without necessarily claiming to match the experts of the class, Sandro Buzz is keen to measure his yacht against the competition.

Finally, the monohull Bubi 6, designed by Ricardo Teixido in 1992 and skippered by Javier Sanso, 30, has also never raced against other Open class boats. Sanso is using the Round Europe Yacht Race to launch a race programme to include the Transat Jacques Vabre, the Europe 1 Star and, most notably, the Vendée Globe.