Porto Cervo, 23 July 2021. Racing in the 18th edition of the Coppa Europa Smeralda 888 gets underway today. The event, organised by the Yacht Club Costa Smeralda, is part of the annual circuit of the class that was created in Porto Cervo and will end on Sunday 25 July.

The eight teams participating in the event include the winner of last year's edition, Beda by Timifey Sukhotin. The other seven teams doing battle on the waters of the Costa Smeralda are: Black Star, Botta Dritta, Vamos Mi Amor, Ange Transparent III, I Jhons, Smeralda V and Millennium Falcon.

Windward-leeward races will take place on board the Smeralda 888 one-design boats that the YCCS commissioned in 1991 from the yacht designer German Frers. The class is currently based at the Yacht Club Monaco.

Following the usual briefing and the Welcome Brunch at the YCCS, the crews met on the regatta course off Porto Cervo at 2.30 p.m. for the first starting signal. Two races are scheduled for today.