Monaco Yacht Club won the Admiral's Cup for the first time on Wednesday. They were the first team to win the prize from the Principality after a long series of races that culminated with the Fastnet Race.

Monaco won the Fastnet final after a fierce battle in six inshore races on the Solent. The Royal Hong Kong Yacht Club finished second, with Italy's Yacht Club Costa Smeralda rounding out the podium.

Pierre Casiraghi was the co-skipper and vice-president for the Monaco Yacht Club, the Carkeek42 Jolt 6. He could not contain his amazement at the victory.

"I still cannot believe what we have achieved." Casiraghi said that it was beyond words to win the Admiral's Cup during its revival year, and Monaco's very first participation. "I am not a professional skipper and this was the most tiring race I have ever done."

Casiraghi praised the resilience of the Monaco team under the pressure of rival monohull yachts Callisto & Beau Ideal. He credited navigator Will Harris with being "phenomenal".

This is a historic moment for Monaco. We are a small town, but we have just demonstrated that we can achieve greatness," Casiraghi said, hinting already at a potential title defence, despite admitting to being too tired to consider "another off-shore race on a 40-footer anytime soon."

Monaco entered two boats for the Admiral's Cup: Jolt?3, a TP?52, skippered Peter Harrison and competing in AC1 (big boat division), and Jolt?6, a Carkeek?42, skippered Casiraghi in AC2 (smaller vessel).

After a hiatus of two decades, the Admiral's Cup returned after its first appearance in 1957. It was long considered as an unofficial world championship for offshore racing.

The event pits two or three monohull top-tier yachts from each national team against each other in a series demanding offshore and inland races. The combined performance of the team's boats is used to score.

Admiral's Cup Final Results: 1. Yacht Club de Monaco - Monaco 2. Royal Hong Kong Yacht Club - Hong Kong 3. Yacht Club Costa Smeralda - Italy 4. Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron - New Zealand 5. Cruising Yacht Club of Australia - Australia 6. Royal Maas Yacht Club - Netherlands 7. Royal Swedish Yacht Club (KSSS) - Sweden 8. Royal Ocean Racing Club (White) - United Kingdom 8. Yacht Club de France - France 10. Royal Ocean Racing Club - Red - United Kingdom 11. New York Yacht Club - Black Magic - United States 12. Regatta Verein Greifswald - Germany 13. Royal Irish Yacht Club - Ireland 14. Bayerischer Yacht Club - Germany 15. Hamburger Segel Club – Germany (Editing By Pritha Sakar)

(source: Reuters)