Intro:

Esimit Europa 2 took line honours as the Rolex Cup reached a finish in Monte Carlo on Friday, but Tixwave triumphed overall on corrected time.

Script:

The Rolex Cup normally finishes in Italy with San Remo or Genoa the final destination but on this occasion, the glitz and glamour of Monte Carlo was the final port of call.

The change of venue was to coincide with the inauguration ceremony of the new Yacht Club de Monaco building which was opened by Prince Albert II of Monaco along with his wife, Charlene, Princess of Monaco

As for the race itself, The 206 strong fleet arrived in Monaco , at the end of the 241-mile race after starting at Saint-Tropez in southern France and around Corsica before finally heading for the principality.

Esimit Europa 2, the biggest yacht in the event at 100-feet long, crossed the finish line first in 24 hours and 36 minutes to take line honours with their skipper Jochen Schumann happy with his teams efforts.

SUPER CAPTION: Jochen Schumann, skipper, Esimit Europa 2:

"Well it was better than expected because we never stopped 100 per cent. We always had slight breeze down to two or three knots. We never stopped 100 per cent and that's what usually happens at night, especially around the Corsica tip where often it's very calm, very glassy and there actually we had 30 knots of breeze and we sailed around with 14 or 15 knots of boat speed - just perfect."

But it was Tixwave, a 42-footer skippered by its owner Bernard Vananty, that took overall honours on corrected time.