Maxi yacht racing’s pinnacle event sets sail on the azure waters of the Costa Smeralda today (8 September). Fought between the world’s largest race boats, this Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup is set to be the most competitive yet.
Suitably, since this year marks the 40th anniversary of Rolex’s sponsorship, it will feature not one, but two, world championships.
As usual the event is organised from Porto Cervo by the Yacht Club Costa Smeralda in conjunction with the International Maxi Association (IMA) and is the penultimate event of the IMA’s annual Mediterranean Maxi Inshore Challenge. Leader of this is currently George and Christina Sakellaris’ Proteus ahead of Jean-Pierre Barjon’s Spirit of Lorina and David M Leuschen and Chris Flowers’ Galateia. See the present results here
Returning for 2025 is a World Championship for what is now called the Maxi Grand Prix class (previously Maxi 2, Maxi 72), last held officially in 2018 when it was won by Momo (now Jim Swartz’s Vesper).
Proteus is the defending champion and returns not only to a class twice the size but race-fit having spent Thursday until Saturday competing in a training regatta backed by Peter Harrison’s Jolt team. This had multiple winners with no one team dominant. “That was a really good innovation,” commented Stu Bannatyne, Proteus’ strategist.
Over the winter Proteus has had work carried out, including the fitting of water ballast (just under 2 tonnes), as all the Maxi Grand Prix fleet now has. “The regatta is going to be the toughest it has ever been. Everyone’s taking it really seriously and we’re going to have some great racing. Everyone will have their moments,” Bannatyne predicts.
All eyes will be on Giovanni Lombardi Stronati’s wallyrocket 71 Django 7X, launched in June. She features twin rudders and 2.7 tonnes of water ballast while displacing 12 tonnes, ie lighter with more moveable ballast. In her class she has the lowest rating save for Peter Dubens’ North Star – the only one in Maxi Grand Prix racing with reduced crew allowance (70% of the number on her IRC certificate).
Very much in the running too are Sir Peter Ogden’s Jethou, the longest here at 77ft and Peter Harrison’s Jolt, the highest-rated due to her trim tab (winner as Cannonball in 2019/21). Vesper won here in 2022 while Hap Fauth’s Bella Mente was the 2023 victor. Filip Balcaen’s Balthasar is more optimised for offshore and will relish the stronger conditions later in the week.
The Rolex IMA Maxi 1 World Championship returns with nine boats. The newest is Sir Lindsay Owen-Jones’ Magic Carpet E. Launched earlier this year, she is the innovative first maxi yacht from former Emirates Team New Zealand designer Guillaume Verdier. Ground-breaking features are her keel that not only cants but can be raked aft to reduce draft. Her all-electric operation permits her to day sail with no need to run her engine to drive her extensive hydraulics. She is highest-rated in Maxi 1.
Owen-Jones’ previous Magic Carpet Cubed is back as Pascale Decaux’s Tilakkhana with a mixed crew including world class female sailors Dee Caffari, Annemieke Bes, Marie Riou, Emily Nagel, Sophie de Turcheim, Rebecca Gmuer Hornell and Lena Le Meillour in addition to the owner.
Joost Schuijff’s Leopard 3 returns to defend her World Championship title. New to her afterguard are Australians, round the world race skipper Chris Nicholson and double Olympic Laser/ILCA gold medallist Matt Wearn. Pier Luigi Loro Piana’s 80ft My Song and Leopard 3 are the only Maxi 1 entries competing with reduced crew allowance. On Leopard 3 this still means 20: “That is enough on this boat and we’ve set it up for that,” explains her captain Chris Sherlock.
Within Maxi 1 there will be races within a race. In addition to Tilakkhana, there are two other former Wallycentos, Karel Komárek’s V and Chris Flowers and David M Leuschen’s Galateia. V won this battle in 2024.
“There’s been a tonne of effort by the team who takes care of the boat to get her in great shape,” says V tactician Ken Read. In terms of the competition the North Sails President adds: “We were quite good in the Caribbean. Then Galateia really made a nice step for the beginning of the season – they changed weight, bulb size and weight and put in more water ballast. So right now Galateia is the boat to beat in this class.”
Added to this group is the slightly shorter Bullitt, a Wally 93 of YCCS Commodore Andrea Recordati.
Another group at the lower end of Maxi 1 is separated by just 5 points of rating and includes some of the newest hardware: Wendy Schmidt’s 85ft Deep Blue has under gone major surgery, including moving her mast position. Similarly My Song has been in a constant state of evolution since she was launched in 2022. Newest of this trio is Alessandro Del Bono’s Capricorno, launched last year.
The rest of the fleet is divided into three classes: Maxi 3, 4 and Super Maxi.
Maxi 3 is the biggest class with 12 entries, spanning the highest rated – the Carbon Ocean 82 Aegir, now being campaigned by Philip Rann – the lowest, Paul Berger’s Swan 80 Kallima.
2024 winner Aldo Parisotto’s Mylius 65 Oscar 3 is back with a crew led by former America’s Cup helmsman Paolo Cian. “It’s a very strong competition this year in Maxi 3 and the weather looks better than the last year,” says Parisotto. Oscar 3 has some new sails. Of this year’s competition Parisotto is most concerned about Jean-Pierre Barjon’s Botin 65 Spirit of Lorina, winner here in 2023 and runner-up last year with Massimiliano Florio’s Southern Wind 82 Grande Orazio – also back this year.
New kid on the block is former RORC Commodore James Neville with his recently acquired Spirit of Lorina sistership Artemis Bleu. Compared to his Carkeek 45 Admiral’s Cup racer Ino Noir, his new steed, originally Max Klink’s Caro, is a racer-cruiser, although with a crew including former Emirates Team New Zealand skipper Dean Barker and other A-list pros Rodney Ardern and Juan Vila.
This is Neville’s first time at the Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup. “Our focus is getting the boat going well and to tune her up by bringing in some good people,” he says.
They will face the trio of increasingly competitive Baltic 68 Cafe Racers, with former IMA President Thomas Bscher’s Open Season returning, accompanied for Scorpione Hormar and Ganesha. Alex Laing is back with Nice, a slender 30-year-old ILC maxi, but highly successful – as Capricorno she won the 2022 IMA Mediterranean Maxi Inshore Championship. Also returning is Spain’s Andres Varela Entrecanales with his Vismara 68 Pelotari.Project, the heavily campaigned canting keel Mylius 60 Cippa Lippa X of Guido Paolo Gamucci and Dario Castiglia’s Re/Max One, looking forward to conquering her demons after her grounding here 2023.
The nine lowest-rated boats are in Maxi 4, where the favourite is Riccardo De Michele’s H2O. The silver Vallicelli 78 is the defending champion here and that was the sixth time she had won her class. This year she will not be faced regular competitor, Wallyño of IMA President Benoît de Froidmont, which is undergoing major keel repair work. De Froidmont is here aboard his giant Sunreef 80 catamaran Seaclusion – one of four among the 47 total entries, not racing.
Also in Maxi 4 are old foes Luigi Sala’s Vismara-Mila 62 Yoru, Franz Wilhelm Baruffaldi Preis’s Mylius 60 Manticore and sistership Robert Szustkowski’s R6 (ex-Sud). There will similarly be good racing between the Swan 601s Gerard Logel’s @robas and Giancarlo Gianni’s Durlindana IV, replacing his Carroll Marine 60. Newer than both is the ‘modern’ Swan 65 Marlin II of Enrico Aureli, while it is a pleasure to see the return of Riccardo Eugen Genghini’s Swan 651 Lunz am Meer. New here is the CN76 Beautiful Day being campaigned by Jonathan Litt.
While these are all racing under IRC, the four in the Super Maxi class will be competing under ORCsy. In addition to being the longest entry, Vittorio Moretti’s Maxi Dolphin 118 Viriella is one of the yachts that has been competing here the longest. She faces Marco Vogele’s 33m electric green Briand design Inouï and Juan Ball’s Swan 115 Moat, which finished second here in 2024. Inti, Marcos Vivian’s Wally 94 returns, having raced here extensively during the 2010s under a previous owner.
Racing gets under way on Monday when, in contrast to 2024, the weather for the first two days appears light, followed by moderate to strong conditions for the remainder of the week.
