Tag: Monaco Yacht Club

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US Naval Academy Midshipmen Meet Prince Albert

Anthony Cervini, Richard Kang, Susan Feaster, Prince Albert, Arianna Lexie Ruiz
Jessica Bakken and Nicholas Feaster at the Monaco Yacht Club Library. Photo: Axel Bastell.

On Wednesday, March 15, Prince Albert II met with five Midshipmen from the United States Naval Academy (USNA) at the Monaco Yacht Club Library. The Midshipmen presented their USNA Challenge Coin to Prince Albert.

Prince Albert, who is Commander-in-Chief of the Palace Guards (the Compagnie des Carabiniers du Prince) in which he actively served from 1986 to 2005, returned the gesture by offering the two female and three men Midshipmen his official coin. It is tradition when military and foreign leaders meet to exchange Challenge Coins as a symbol of respect for each other’s commitment to service at a high level.

What is the Challenge Coin? USNA Midshipman Nicholas Feaster explains the history Video: Caroline Mindus.

Additionally, the Prince bestowed from Monaco to the Naval Academy a plaque of the country’s Coat of Arms, as well as a work of art from his private collection, the bronze sculpture “Oceans 11” by local artist Carol Burton, as a symbol of the importance of Ocean Sustainability.

On behalf of the USNA, the Mids had presents for 8-year-old twins Heredity Prince Jacques and Princess Gabriella – USNA t-shirts and the USNA goat mascot. And, as Prince Albert celebrated turning 65 the day before, on March 14, he was surprised with a slice of cake as the group sang Happy Birthday. He was gifted a special Top Gun Maverick F-18 Lego to mark the occasion.

USNA Midshipmen wish Prince Albert Happy Birthday.

During their convivial hour together, the Mids shared stories about determination and dedication to service with His Serene Highness. The Prince recalled the time at age 17 when he took an admissions tour of the Naval Academy with his mother, Princess Grace. He chose instead to attend Amherst College in Massachusetts. (Grace Kelly’s first cousin John Lehman Jr was former Secretary of the US Navy from 1981 to 1987.)

The USNA was honourably represented by Jessica Bakken (Julian, California), Anthony Cervini (Vineland, New Jersey), Richard Kang (Columbus, Indiana), Arianna Lexie Ruiz (Greenville, Pennsylvania) and Nicholas Feaster (US residence, Arlington, Virginia).

Nicholas, 20, was educated in Monaco from a young age (Cours Saint Maur, FANB) and is the first graduate from Lycée Albert 1er to receive an appointment to the US Naval Academy. He was also a member of the choir, the Petits Chanteurs de Monaco, for five years and interned at the International Hydrographic Organisation (IHO).

Report on Monaco Info.

The Mids have been visiting the Principality for five days over spring break and are leaving Saturday. On Wednesday morning, they visited the IHO headquarters on quai Antoine 1er with IHO Director Admiral Luigi Sinapi. They also had the opportunity to meet Monaco resident Keith Chapman, the creator of two blockbuster animation series, Paw Patrol and Bob The Builder, and Bernard d’Alessandri, General Director of the Monaco Yacht Club.

The Challenge Coin event was organised by the US Ambassador for Yacht Club of Monaco President, Susan Feaster.

USNA and other military academies first accepted women in 1976.  According to USNA’s website, of the 1,215 graduates in the Class of 2021, 27% were female (327) and 37% minority (451) midshipmen. It is worth noting that there were 16,299 total applications that year. Each USNA candidate must receive a nomination from a member of congress, who are limited to five constituents attending the Naval Academy at any time. 

Prince Albert gives his Chalenge Coin to Midshipman Richard Kang. Photo: Axel Bastell.
On behalf of USNA, Midshipman NIcholas Feaster accepts Monaco’s Coat of Arms from Prince Albert. Photo: Axel Bastell.
Prince bestowed from Monaco to the Naval Academy a work of art from his private collection, the bronze sculpture “Oceans 11” by local artist Carol Burton (right) as a symbol of the importance of Ocean Sustainability. Photo: Axel Bastell.
Richard Kang, Jessica Bakken and Arianna Lexie Ruiz present Prince Albert with
USNA t-shirts and the USNA goat mascot for his 8-year-old twins
Heredity Prince Jacques and Princess Gabriella. Photo: Axel Bastell.
The Midshipmen present the Prince with a special birthday gift, Top Gun Maverick F-18 Lego. Photo: Axel Bastell.
Arianna Lexie Ruiz presents Prince Albert with a piece of birthday cake. Photo: Axel Bastell.
Prince Albert is greeted by Arianna Lexie Ruiz, Jessica Bakken, Richard Kang, Anthony Cervini and Nicholas Feaster at the Monaco Yacht Club Library. Photo: Axel Bastell.

This article was first published on March 16, 2023.

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PinkWave Monaco

PinkWave Monaco sailing team. Photo: Martin Messmer

PinkWave Monaco was founded in March 2019 by what member Femke Doeksen describes as “a bunch of crazy Dutch-speaking women”. As the Monaco resident explains, “Like nowadays, there was hardly any female participation at the annual Primo Cup. Out of fifty or sixty participating teams, only two were female. So, the conclusion was that if their sailing boat could make it from Start to Finish, they would automatically end up on the podium in the Ladies’ ranking.”

Initiated by the energetic Anne Schouten, PinkWave Monaco was born. Today the sailing team consists of 45 women ages 24 to 76 ranging in levels from absolute beginner to high-profile regatta expert. And typical of Monaco, members come from all different backgrounds and nationalities.

British Olympic gold medallist Saskia Clark moved to the Principality last year and has been racing regularly since then. Saskia is supporting the PinkWave idea as an outstanding initiative for Monaco and the efforts to create a solid team to get more women racing regularly. “She is positive that she can guide the decision-making process during the racing and support PinkWave in developing its strong team,” says Anne.

From March 25 to 26, 2023, the Monaco Yacht Club will host their first-ever Ladies Sailing Cup. “PinkWave is not only about being a female sailing team amongst the highly successful predominately male Monaco crews. It’s also a statement we wanted to make, that everything, no matter which age or level, is possible if you keep on pursuing a dream. Needless to say, we are looking tremendously forward to such an event at our club,” Anne enthuses.

PinkWave member Kathrin Hoyos recently bought a pre-owned J/70, to be more independent and to be able to take part in regattas at the team’s discretion. This is the only female-owned J/70 on the YCM. “Hopefully, there are many more to come. The level of sailing on the Monaco Sportsboat Winter series organised by the Monaco Yacht Club is highly competitive and entirely dominated by professional male sailors. Most J/70 sailors of the PinkWave team are between 30 and 60 years, and most of us are, yet, far away from performing on a highly professional level. Our focus is less on the final results at the end of the races but more on the progress of adapting to the conditions and, most importantly, on succeeding as a team. The motto of Pink Wave remains: Progress, Fun, and Freedom.”

PinkWave Monaco competes in a wide range of regattas and various social activities already in the Monaco Yacht Club (YCM). In 2022, PinkWave participated for the first time at the regatta “Dames des Saint Tropez” with the YCM Flagship TUIGA. Much of TUIGA’s crew consists of PinkWave ladies, participating in an entire circuit of Classical Sailing regattas.

At the J/70 World Championships, which took place last October 14-22 at the Yacht Club Monaco, PinkWave Monaco had one boat at the start helmed by Anne Rodelato. “Three years of preparation went into this,” shares Kathrin. “The team ended up ranking first amongst the Ladies’ Teams. One of our PinkWave members, Axelle Foucaud, is on the Monaco team that became Vice-World Champions.”

Additionally, each year several PinkWave members participate in the Monaco Sportboat Winter Series and for two years in a row, PinkWave Monaco has participated in the Helga Cup in Hamburg, the biggest Women’s regatta in the world.

“Worldwide, the number of female sailors and female regattas is increasing rapidly. Only a handful of European countries organised Ladies-only Regattas two years ago. Since then, this number has more than doubled. The world’s biggest annual women-only regatta in Germany hosts over 70 teams – some 300 women. In France, the Ladies’ Sailing Circuit consists of seven races,” Anne says.

She adds, “Although we are quite competitive, our main objective remains to have fun, the love of sailing and after-sailing. We show constant perseverance, believe in ourselves and support amongst each other. Solidarity amongst women overcomes the harshest criticism by men. All in all, we are always considered the underdogs or outsiders, which pushes us to be the best version of ourselves on water and land.”

PinkWave believes supporting women in sport is essential. “We connect and reach out to other female sailors worldwide – so easy via social media – and we actively maintain dialogues with like-minded women worldwide, striving to create a true movement of support and understanding and an environment which feels safe and non-judgmental”

In addition to the 2023 sailing calendar (see “PinkWave 2023” below) an upcoming highlight of the year will be the participation of PinkWave in the “Lady Liberty Regatta” in New York from September 8 to 9 on J/24 class, an 8 m long boat with a crew of five. The race is organised by the Manhattan Yacht Club. “A dream coming true,” reveals Anne. “A Monaco women’s only team with a huge Monaco flag on the spinnaker sailing racing around the Statue of Liberty. We are very excited that we were invited to this extraordinary event and look forward to representing the spirit of the women of the Principality of Monaco with pride.”

Want to support PinkWave? “Spread the word,” says Anne. “We are also open to accepting sponsorships to support us in pursuing our various activities and participation with regattas.

“Sailing is a very cool sport, hugely beneficial physically and mentally, and accessible right here in the Principality. Those interested are invited to contact the Section Sportive of the Yacht Club Monaco or at pinkwave@monaco.mc. We are looking forward to welcoming more female sailors within the Principality!”

PinkWave Calendar 2023

Over the past two years, PinkWave Monaco (PWM) has built strong bonds with female sailors from Germany, Holland, Belgium, the UK, the US, Switzerland, Italy, Ireland, Brazil, Sweden, Denmark, Austria and Dubai. From March 25-26, the YCM will organise its first Ladies’ Sailing Regatta. Several PinkWave Monaco members will take part in 2023 in the Monaco Sportsboat Winter Series, which always ends with the famous Credit Suisse Primo Cup on the first weekend in March.

After the success of 2022, PinkWave Monaco will again participate in May in the Dames de St Tropez regatta, hopefully with two ships and 30 female sailors in total. As in the last three years, PWM will participate in the Helga Cup in Hamburg and possibly at some of the French Female Regattas organized by the Federation Francais de Voile. PinkWave members will again join in the Mediterranean Classical Regatta circuit, such as Les Voiles d’Antibes, Les Voiles de Saint Tropez, and other famous regattas like the Palermo-Monte Carlo, the Rolex Giraglia or the SNIM in Marseille. “The advantage of the diversity and the spread of our team is that in any given race in the Mediterranean, most of the time there is a PinkWave member participating!” says Anne Schouten.

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Monaco residents launch World Cleanup Day initiatives

It was in 2008 that World Cleanup Day began when 50,000 people in Estonia came together over five hours to clean up their country. Today, the movement counts 50 million volunteers – from citizens to business to government – in some 180 participating countries.

The event is organised by Let’s Do It World (LDIW) who appoint a leader or leaders in the capacity of volunteers, “from all walks of life – strong women defying societal boundaries, environmentalists fighting for a better tomorrow, organisations uniting concerned citizens.”

LDIW relies on five principals: cooperation with the public sector, corporations and civil society who believe that waste does not belong in nature; Positivity in looking for solutions for “trash blindness” instead of pointing fingers; Leadership and empowering a new generation of leaders that aims to create a waste-free world; Technology by adding smart tech and engineering ingenuity to motivated volunteer power; and Fun in mobilising millions of people around the world to clean their communities and have fun while doing.

This year’s World Cleanup Day falls on Saturday, September 18, and the Tuiga crew from the Monaco Yacht Club is responding to challenge. “As passionate sailors, we want to keep our seas as clean as possible,” says Tuiga member Irina Peterson (above). “This is an opportunity to participate and to raise awareness of the problem of plastic pollution in the Mediterranean, one of the most polluted seas in the world. Every waste that is not properly disposed of and recycled will end up in the sea.”

Through her association Ocean Amazon, Irina has initiated a 30-minute cleanup with participants of Les Voiles d’Antibes, which will take place at Port Vauban, Zone 2, at 6 pm on Saturday. The sailing event for Traditional Yachts and Metric Classes brings together some 75 boats with more than 700 crew members and 100 volunteers and president Joannon Yann is in full support of the cleanup.

“This will also be a chance to honour the memory of Kate Powers, an extraordinary eco-warrior who sadly passed away recently,” entrepreneur Irina shares. “She was deeply committed to the protection of the oceans and the fight against waste pollution. Her legacy will live on through actions like this.”

Also on Saturday, The Animal Fund (TAF) will be holding a beach cleanup in Villefranche-sur-Mer. “Come with your paddle, kayak, snorkel or diving gear to help clean up the sea or come along help us to clean up the beach,” says TAF founder and Monaco resident Berit Legrand (pictured below right).

Rubbish bags and gloves will be provided and refreshments provided by partner Blue Coast afterwards. Meeting point: 9 am at the parking lot at the end of beach Marinières.

Legrand launched TAF in 2015. “It is important that we are aware of how our habits impact the ecosystem and how we can prevent further damage and danger to the ocean,” she explains. “Every minute a truck full of plastic enters the ocean and it takes thousands of years to break down. Plastic contains toxic compounds and pollutants that pose a serious threat to marine life and us and more than 700 marine species are in danger of extinction because of our plastic consumption.”

Photos: TAF Facebook and Irina Peterson Facebook.

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Kaitlin Kraemer

American Kaitlin Kraemer grew up playing a variety of instruments, taking dance lessons, and trying her hand at painting courses.

“While I’ve not descended from a family of creatives per say, my parents have a great appreciation for the arts,” she says. “I suppose my folks recognized my passion for the arts at a young age and did everything they could to foster that.”

A full-time artist whose solo exhibit “Confessions Intimes” is at the Monaco Yacht Club this week, Kaitlin originally decided to major in Anthropology and minor in Studio Fine Arts. “This stemmed from this innate passion for creating, as well as my desire to understand human behaviour – why we do what we do, think how we think, love what we love – and how many of these traits and evolutions are quite similar cross-culturally,” she explains.

An opportunity to study in Aix-en-Provence came at the recommendation of her undergraduate arts professor and mentor, Walter Hatke, who believed she was an ideal candidate for this immersive painting program. “He strongly encouraged me to apply to the summer semester course at The Marchutz School of Fine Arts. The experience honed my French language skills and really legitimised my own ability to see myself as an artist,” she recounts.

That summer of 2007 she fell in love with painting, as well as with the South of France, which influenced her permanent move back to France in early 2018. “I decided to return to a part of the world that I love, to continue to do what I love – in the sunshine, with a glass of rosé. As a full-time as an artist, you have the unique ability to live and work from anywhere.”

The move, she says, definitely wasn’t a seamless or easy transition although being proficient in French helped, as does being an extrovert. “There have been many ups and downs, but that is par for the course when you’re an expat. I wouldn’t change any of it – except, perhaps, having my family closer. Being so geographically distant from them has been the only downside.”

Kaitlin has been painting regularly for 15 years now, but didn’t become a full-time artist until 2017. “The decision was one part mind-numbingly terrifying, the other part, an absolute necessity. I woke up one morning and realised how stuck and unhappy I felt in my seemingly ‘perfect’ life – I had a good job, a husband, lived in a nice apartment, but was fundamentally unhappy and unsatisfied. So I did something about it.”

Within six months, she changed everything about her life: she gave notice at work, filed for divorce, left London where she had been living for four years and moved back into her parents’ house in the US, and enrolled on a year-long rigorous graduate arts program at Tufts University.

“I look back at that time now and it both shocks and thrills me. I kind of can’t believe I had the courage to do it, but am incredibly grateful that I followed my instinct and made it happen. It’s not been an easy journey, but the fact that I’ve done it – that I wake up every morning passionate about and proud of what I do – is definitely my greatest achievement to date,” she admits.

Kaitlin, who has had shown her work in Boston, London and on the Riviera, was given the opportunity to exhibit in the IQOS Showroom at the Yacht Club through the Monaco-based consulting agency, Highlights. “I was put in contact with them through a mutual friend, and worked with their team over many months and pandemic-related setbacks to organise this exhibit.”

In normal times, Kaitlin would have held a vernissage but obviously this was not possible under the Covid guidelines. However, she emphasises that everyone is welcome to visit her exhibit this week (up to four people at a time, with a terrace to accommodate those waiting) at IQOS, just steps from the Wine Palace. “There are only four days left so please pop by this week to have a look, up close and in person,” she encourages.

Kaitlin wants to inspire others with her art and her story – to show people that almost anything is possible if you want it badly enough – and “that through chaos, there is beauty.” But finding beauty in the last twelve months of Covid have been incredibly difficult for her.

“I am an eternal optimist, and have tried to keep as busy and productive as possible, but I’ve found it more challenging than ever this past year. My younger sister, whom I was very close with, passed away in a tragic accident in July. I still find it incredibly hard to talk about.

“My family and I have experienced a loss that no family should ever experience, during a time when gathering and consoling one another has been nearly impossible. It has been horrific and heart-breaking, to say the very least.

“I’m still not a point where I can share these emotions in my art but I carry my sister in my head and heart each and every day, now more so than ever, and am trying to live my life stronger and bolder and better, for both of us.”

Visit Kaitlin Kraemer’s “Confessions Intimes” exhibition at the Monaco Yacht Club’s IQOS showroom until February 6, from 10 am to 7 pm.