Noon 11-07-25: Despite the presence of some of the hottest new boats and leading professionals on the international offshore racing scene, the 2025 Aegean 600 has been won by Kay-Johannes Wrede from Hamburg skippering his own veteran Swan 441 Best Buddies.
In a stop-start race in which the Meltemi wind might go from a flat calm to a gear-breaking 50 knots in a matter of seconds, the winning package proved to be a hefty cruiser-racer that could take the rough with the smooth, yet despite being a 44-footer, was racing on a rating of just 1.049.
Second place overall went to the similarly-sized Elan 450 Karpo, while third was the Elan 400 Elaya. In fact, in a race which seems to have favoured consistency and boat-strength against the usual race-winning features, the only "special" in the top six was Chris Hemans' Cookson 50 Varuna from the USA, placing sixth.
Chris Hemans' Cookson 50 Varuna approaching the finish of the Aegean 600, wih the headland appooriateiy topped by the remains of a temple of Poseidon. Photo: A600
Team Howth Yacht Club skippered by Darren Wright on the Xp44 Gazelle finished at 11:32 local time this morning, putting them in 6th in IRC2 and 12th overall, while the west of Ireland's Malta-based veteran X37 Chillax (Paul Sheahan) has been improving as the race goes on, having worked her way up to 23rd, but still with 90 miles to sail.
