Surfing the waves of Monaco bay

Marco, Dionysios, my father and I sailed the first regatta of the J/70 Monaco winter series last weekend.
Monaco bay is know for big swell but very little wind, two observations we can testify for ourselves.
NOT THIS TIME. Day one 25 knots average wind and HUGE waves. We have had tramontana wind, which, so we heard from the locals is a one a year event in Monaco. It builds in the  Pyrénées and is quite forceful indeed.
There was one race on day one, four on Saturday and three on Sunday. We have had major speed issues for which the excellent starts could not compensate. We finished 15th of 25 which is not what we expected.
Anyway, the hospitality was great as always and surfing the waves was absolutely worth the trip.
Photo credits: Mesi, Yacht Club de Monaco.

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