Early World Championship leads for Magic Carpet E and Jolt in Porto Cervo
by International Maxi Association 9 Sep 22:12 BST
7-13 September 2025
The Maxi Grand Prix class piles into the top mark in today's first race - Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup 2025 © IMA / Studio Borlenghi
After yesterday's frustrating lack of racing, the Costa Smeralda delivered for day two of the Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup. The former Maxi 72s completed two windward-leewards for their Rolex IMA Maxi Grand Prix World Championship, as the remaining classes - Maxi 3 and 4, Supermaxi and the 80-100 footers competed in the Rolex IMA Maxi 1 World Championship - sailed coastals. Maxi 1 sailed a 30 mile clockwise-course around La Maddalena archipelago, taking in Isola Piana at the top of the course. The course for the remainder was identical, but 3 miles shorter, not including Isola Piana.
This year celebrating the 40th anniversary of Rolex's backing, the Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup is organised by the Yacht Club Costa Smeralda in conjunction with the International Maxi Association (IMA) and is the penultimate event of the 2025 IMA Mediterranean Maxi Inshore Challenge.
For the Maxi 1 start the westerly wind was already up to 15-16 knots kicking up a short chop. Sir Lindsay Owen-Jones' new Verdier 100 Magic Carpet E started four up from the pin and after the second tack was leading Karel Komárek's V, laying the entrance to Bomb Alley. Magic Carpet E kept her nose just ahead of V and Joost Schuijff's Leopard 3 on the beat up and after rounding the top mark cracked sheets and sped away, albeit with the wind dropping continuously. First home, she also won under IRC corrected time. V was second but Bullitt of YCCS Commodore Andrea Recordati slipped in between her and the winner.
Magic Carpet E strategist, the legendary Tom Whidden, described their race: "The boat was spectacular - very competitive today. We did well on the beat, in the bay and up Bomb Alley. We defended pretty well. Once we cracked sheets, the boat did its thing and went really fast. We got quite far offshore, where there was more wind. We made up a lot of time reaching. It's great to see it going along."
In IRC 3 Alex Laing's RP78 Nice led Dr Peter-Alexander Wacker's Baltic 68 Café Racer Ganesha into Bomb Alley. Philip Rann's Carbon Ocean 82 Aegir pulled into second with the Botin 65s, James Neville's Artemis Bleu and Jean-Pierre Barjon's Spirit of Lorina, locked in contention for third - positions which held to the finish. Nice corrected out ahead more than 6 minutes ahead of Spirit of Lorina with Massimiliano Florio's Southern Wind 82 Grande Orazio third.
"It almost sailed itself upwind - just the right conditions for the old girl," said Laing, who lives in the Cayman Islands and is returning for a second year with the former Capricorno. "Tony [Rey - tactician] did a great job finding us a hole in the start." Although 30 years old with an unfashionably slender hull, Nice remains highly competitive, especially upwind. She made her time on the upwind and then hung on downwind around the back of La Maddalena. "The wind got lighter at just the right time for us."
Former Commodore of the Royal Ocean Racing Club, James Neville, enjoyed his first race on board his Botin 65 Artemis Bleu with her all-star afterguard including America's Cup helm Dean Barker on tactics. They arrived 56 seconds astern of their lower-rated sistership Spirit of Lorina finishing fourth from 13 boats on corrected. "It was full on, busy - we used all the sails we took which is great," said Neville. We had a lot of changeable conditions out there, but it was a beautiful day. It was my first time racing in Bomb Alley and we had a great beat through there with four of us match racing each other. It dropped off towards the end, but we expected that."
The long yachts were favoured also in Maxi 4 where Riccardo De Michele's serial class-winning Vallicelli 78 H20 was first home ahead of Luigi Sala's Vismara 62 Yoru and Silvia de Longhi and Franz Wilhelm Baruffaldi Preis' Mylius 60 Manticore.
"It was a windy day, with flat water, so good conditions for our boat," commented H20 tactician Lorenzo Bodini. "The wind today was constant, with some small holes, Our strategy was to reduce the number of tacks, because with our boat it's really heavy, so it's difficult to get moving again. Luckily we got in front quickly and we managed our manoeuvres well."
Among the four Super Maxis, Marco Vogele's Briand 108 Inoui retired with a destroyed mainsail. It was Juan Ball's Swan 115 Moat that won by more than 18 minutes over Marcos Vivian's Wally 94 Inti. Tactician Gonzalo Araujo commented: "It was a typical race here, around Isla Magdalena, which we know very well. The difficult thing was having two fleets ahead of us, so we needed to find a way between the boats. But it wasn't that difficult and everything went well on board. It was not really windy - we saw a storm cell on the other side of the island and were expecting more wind, but it didn't arrive."
Off to the southeast, the course was set up for the eight Maxi Grand Prix yachts. Despite its various names and rule changes this class remains as hotly competitive as ever. In the first race in winds peaking at 21 knots (more than most were expecting), it was Admiral's Cup winner Peter Harrison's Jolt team that beat Jim Swartz's Vesper by 59 seconds with Giovanni Lombardi Stronati's wally rocket 71 Django 7X another 3 seconds astern in third.
Jolt alone in this class has a trim tab on her keel, and as a result carries a 29 point rating penalty. But after the start it certainly helps Jolt get ahead and into clean air. Tactician Michele Ivaldi commented on it: "It's helping for sure a lot and most of the time it makes your race easier. It's a very powerful tool to have." However the higher rating and being ahead makes it harder for Jolt to affect those chasing her. "It will be a tricky week especially in the coastal races with a lot of corners and manoeuvres."
With the wind slowly dropped from 15 knots at the start to 11 at the finish, Hap Fauth's Bella Mente won the second race... by just three seconds from Jolt.
"It was a good start to the regatta for us," commented tactician Terry Hutchinson. "I think both races we sailed and started very well - so that helped. Our target today was 7 points or less. We achieved the goal."
Overnight a front is supposed to pass through bringing rain with it. After the front, the northwesterly Mistral is set to resume.
See part 3 of our video dockside tour here.
Follow the live tracking here.
More information on the Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup here.
Full results available here.
For more on the International Maxi Association visit www.internationalmaxiassociation.com or see the 2025 IMA Yearbook.