Yacht Club Costa Smeralda announces new Caribbean Maxi regatta

Clubhouse Virgin Gorda - British Virgin Islands © Carlo Borlenghi

Inaugural edition of the Maxi Yacht Rolex Caribbean Cup scheduled for April 2016

The first Maxi Yacht World Championship was organized by the Yacht Club Costa Smeralda (YCCS) in Porto Cervo, Sardinia in 1980. Since then the event has grown into the quintessential annual competition for Maxi yachts with boats and yachtsmen from around the world racing each September in the Costa Smeralda and enjoying the Yacht Club Costa Smeralda's hospitality ashore. With the announcement of the Maxi Yacht Rolex Caribbean Cup, YCCS and their historic partner Rolex intend to extend the event's renowned competitive spirit to the opposite side of the Atlantic Ocean, where it will be hosted at the Club's winter home in Virgin Gorda (British Virgin Islands) from 4th to 9th April 2016.

Racing will take place over five days on coastal courses set within the Virgin Islands archipelago and boats will be divided into categories ranging from the Mini Maxi and Maxi 72 classes to Supermaxis with Wally and J-Class yachts also expected to participate. The event will be organized with the support of the International Maxi Association. The combination of first class sailing waters, steady trade winds and the elegant YCCS Clubhouse and Marina are set to provide the perfect backdrop to an extraordinary inaugural event.

The Maxi Yacht Rolex Caribbean Cup will be held biennially starting in 2016 on alternate years to the Rolex Swan Cup Caribbean. Both events further reinforce the strong bond that has existed between the Yacht Club Costa Smeralda and Rolex since the two first partnered on regattas in the early 1980s. The original Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup held in Porto Cervo continues to attract innovative and highly competitive fleets of Maxi racers with some particularly impressive yachts expected for the 2015 edition taking place from 6-12 September, full details can be found on the YCCS website.

YCCS Commodore Riccardo Bonadeo explained the thinking behind the new event: "Our activities in Virgin Gorda have been in continuous expansion since we inaugurated our Clubhouse there in 2012. In addition to a full sporting programme in Porto Cervo, we now organize three to four major regattas in the Caribbean Sea during the winter months. In recent years we have received numerous requests from owners for a Maxi event in the Caribbean. Given that the Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup is possibly the event that best embodies our sporting DNA, exporting this classic event to the other side of the Atlantic is the logical next step. We have already successfully transferred our organizational know-how with events such as the Loro Piana Caribbean Superyacht Regatta and the Rolex Swan Cup Caribbean, and the addition of the Maxi Yacht Rolex Caribbean Cup to our calendar will, I'm sure, be a highlight of the winter racing season."

The Notice of Race for the Maxi Yacht Rolex Caribbean Cup is available online. For entry enquiries please contact the YCCS Race Office.