The sixth Aegean 600 may be another brutal one. Following tomorrow’s 1400 start from beneath the Temple of Poseidon at the tip of Greece’s Sounion peninsula, a 25-knot Meltemi should propel the 10 maxi yachts competing off down the course.

Still among the newest of the world’s ‘600-mile offshore races’, the Aegean 600 is organised by the Hellenic Offshore Racing Club (HORC) and Olympic Marine and is the penultimate event in the International Maxi Association’s annual Mediterranean Maxi Offshore Challenge.

Its 605-mile course is an anti-clockwise lap of the Aegean Sea, taking yachts south to Kasos, east to Rhodes, then zigzagging up to the northeasterly turning mark of Agathonissi before returning to the start/finish line. En route it passes numerous islands, well known hotspots such as the Santorini caldera and Mykonos and others steeped in Greek mythology such as Milos, from where the Venus de Milo originates.

Since 2021 the race has steadily grown with 71 yachts competing this year. Much like the Royal Ocean Racing Club’s Caribbean 600, its course and usually brisk conditions favour maxi yachts and following Carlo Puri Negri’s 70ft Atalanta II victory in 2021, maxis have claimed two other editions, including Leopard 3 in 2023.

While this year there are no maxi-multihulls or 100ft monohulls, competition for line honours, and possible overall IRC honours, will still be tough among the maxis.

Scratch boat is the 90ft Prosecco Doc Shockwave³ (left) originally launched in 2002 and line honours winner of that year’s Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race. Since 2019 she has been owned by Claudio Demartis and has been raced largely on the Adriatic. Here she will be helmed by Trieste hero Lorenzo Bressani.

“We want to take part in the Aegean 600 simply because it’s a fantastic regatta,” says Demartis. “We’ve actually wanted to participate for years, but we weren't ready because it’s a challenging race, often with strong winds. And it’s long - it can take two or three days.”

Naturally, the weather will play a key part: The forecast indicates the northerly Meltemi peaking around start time, before easing, especially around the northwest part of the course, including the finish, where from Tuesday afternoon arrivals may find themselves becalmed.

While the 90 footer has withstood Rolex Sydney Hobarts, she has a modest beam for her length compared to the ex-Volvo Ocean Race yachts she faces, which may prevail reaching.

Favourite is certainly the VO70 Aiolos. She first took part as I Love Poland in 2023, before being acquired by the race’s principal backer, George Procopiou, president of Yacht Club of Greece, who has since claimed monohull line honours twice in her, winning the maxi class in 2024.

“It is a great pleasure to see so many very fast boats, with very good sailors, again in Olympic Marine,” commented Procopiou. “The weather conditions will be challenging with strong winds. I wish to everybody great success, good competition. Irrelevant of results, just participating is a great achievement.”

His navigator, Konrad Lipski predicts: “The Meltemi will be well established for the start and we are expecting strong breeze all around the course. It’s very demanding race course, even for our VO70, which is built for racing around the world, not 50 mile legs. It takes much effort to handle.” While the forecast shows moments of 35 knots, this can easily accelerate to 50 between the islands. Lipski compares it to the Caribbean 600 “but with more Guadeloupes, so it's all about being prepared.” Coming out of the lee of an island, there can be a 20 knot increase in wind strength in as little as 10 minutes.

The prospect of the wind dying at the finish is also not new. Lipski remembers being beaten to maxi class IRC honours while becalmed 200m from the line.

The two other VO65s are both Polish campaigns including Big Sky, skippered by two time solo round the world racer Zbigniew Gutkowski, and Selma Racing-Sisi, skippered by Artur Skrzyszowski. As a team, Selma Racing returns for a third time. This time they are back with their largest yacht to date. “We combine professional and amateurs and run training academies for Polish sailors to build a team,” Skrzyszowski explains. “Previously we’ve had 30+ knots on the start line, so I'm used to it. We just have to make wise decisions and no mistakes. There are places where you have to be very careful, like Kasos-Karpasos where you can expect 40-50 knots.”

The second wave of maxis will be led by Hungarian Márton Józsa’s canting keel 60 footer Wild Joe, originally the 2003 Australian Admiral’s Cup winner Wild Oats IX. Fitted with a lateral DSS foil to provide lift to leeward as her speed builds, she will relish the big conditions. She will face the 78ft Nice, the former Capricorno and a past winner of the IMA’s Mediterranean Maxi Inshore Challenge under her previous owner, now chartered to a crew led by Mauro Montefusco.

Made from carbon fibre, longer, but heavier, more comfortable and with a lower rating than these is the Garcia 86 Meliti. She is entered by Stratis Andreadis, son of long term patron of sailing and former International Maxi Association board member, the late George Andreadis. Following George’s death, in 2024 as a tribute to him, the IMA created the George Andreadis Challenge Trophy. This is won by the highest placed IMA member in the Aegean 600 - twice won by George Procopiou.

For Stratis this will be his first Aegean 600 (although he has competed in the Rolex Middle Sea Race) and marks his return to participation in the sport, as in recent years he has been following in his father’s administrative footsteps as the Yacht Club of Greece’s Fleet Captain and Overseer of Sailing. He has already stuck his toe in the water, racing Meliti at the Barcolana and Bosphorus Cup and is now contemplating the world’s leading offshore races, although he acknowledges: “I'm racing a boat that has air conditioning, a generator and a coffee machine.”

Stratis is hoping the windy forecast holds. “Meliti is really nice in strong winds. I was looking at the sail change chart and we can hold the staysail up to 44 knots! We think we'll enjoy sailing her.”

He adds: “Some of the last unexplored race courses in the Mediterranean lie in the Aegean, so it's great to take part. The Aegean 600 can become one of the great races, if it's not already. It's a tactical race testing all points of sail, with strong winds and parking lots. It is a great race where great sailors, tacticians and navigators find their legs.”

Another strong player will be Gregor Stimpfl’s Scuderia 65 Hagar V, returning for a third time after winning the race outright in 2022. This is her first race since a tornado dismasted her in the 2024 Rolex Middle Sea Race. Like Meliti, she is carbon but fully fitted out with all mod-cons including a washing machine.

Italian Stimpfl races with a crew of friends, his son and some pros, including One Sails CEO Dede De Luca, who has known him for 30 years. Hagar V was commissioned as a cruiser which can be enthusiastically raced, as demonstrated her the 2022 victory. She too should perform well in the big breeze forecast. “The boat is strong and well-built, so we can push hard,” says De Luca. “It looks like it's going to be a windy edition - we should see 30 knots. But it's very nice sailing - the air is warm; the water is warm; you go around very nice islands; you have very long days; few hours of dark. I have done it twice only wearing shorts and t-shirt - even at night in 30 knots! It is really enjoyable.”

Also in the mix will be Jean-Michel Caye’s well travelled Vismara 80 Luce Guida.