Venice to Monte Carlo Race is Back

As a test to the full race scheduled for 2024, the Venice to Monte Carlo organisation organized a Prologue race, in reduced format from Venice to Rodi Garcanico. This reduced format event of three hundred nautical miles, with departure from Venice Cervia to Pescara and then final leg at Rodi Garganico saw ten participants. 

In this ninth Venice Monte Carlo race it was interesting to see boat builders coming with production units at the races.  Tornado came with the 50S a production model released in 2010, while Grady White also participated with a full production 36 unit powered by triple Yamaha outboard motors.  Albatro and Outerlimits also competed with modified production units, while Vittoria Shipyard competed with its fast patrol Interceptor 43 unit. Ten teams participated in total, with the British team on the Outerlimits SV52 N25 winning the race, followed by NS95 an Albatro 32, and SeaRex Baltec number N66 in third.  

This Venice Monte Carlo race made me think, that it would be nice for the UIM to create a full production cruiser class with the likes of Tornado 50 at around 15 meters and possibly even a smaller one around twelve meters powered by twin diesel and three to five endurance long range races in Europe and possibly USA.  To be honest I never understood how it never happened but the potential for production sport cruisers to compete have always been there.  I think it can be a good marketing tool for some boat builders.  We have to remember that Ferrari never made adverts but used race as its advertising, today the horse badge is the most valued auto marker in the World.

The old Venice - Monte Carlo was always a test base for testing production boats in it, and its good to see the same story continuing.  Baia, Magnum, Mig, Itama, Ferretti, and Pershing are previous competitors with the first three being winners of a leg and or all the Venice-Monte Carlo in the respective class.  So is there a potential for some serious boat rally endurance races? I definitely think so, though a serious set or rules which go inline with the current production market needs to be drawn.  In the eighties and nineties automotive Rally racing was as much popular as Formula One racing for example.