Two New Zealanders steered their crews to silverware at the 36th Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup, which crowned its champions in Porto Cervo on 12 September after a week that swung from feather-light opening days to a Mistral gusting past 28 knots.
Organised by the Yacht Club Costa Smeralda alongside the International Maxi Association and title sponsor Rolex, the regatta tested boats and crews across coastal courses in the La Maddalena archipelago and windward-leeward racing off Porto Cervo for the Maxi 1 and Maxi Grand Prix fleets.
The headline result belongs to Leopard 3, Joost Schuijff's Farr 100, with Kiwi Chris Nicholson calling tactics. After an uncharacteristic third in the opening race, the crew found their rhythm and won five of seven races, including the final four straight. That consistency delivered the Rolex IMA Maxi 1 World Championship title on 13 points, well clear of YCCS member Karel Komarek's WallyCento V on 20 and outgoing champion Galateia, owned by David Leuschen and Chris Flowers, on 22.
It's Leopard 3's second world title, having also won the inaugural edition held in Porto Cervo in 2024.
"It's the culmination of a great deal of hard work with an extraordinary boat and team," said team manager Gerard Mitchell. "We love racing in Porto Cervo, it is without doubt one of our favourite venues. We'll be back next year with a revamped Leopard, aiming to repeat our success."
New Zealand's Dean Barker also featured prominently, calling tactics aboard James Neville's British Botin 65 Artemis Bleu to victory in the Maxi 3 class. The boat closed with three straight wins, edging out Silvia De' Longhi and Franz Wilhelm Baruffaldi Preis's Manticore by just 17 seconds on corrected time in the decider, with the Wally 94 Astra I third. Neville credited the varied conditions and the Sardinian venue itself, calling the welcome from the YCCS "warm" and the course "truly special."
Elsewhere, Northstar III, owned by YCCS member Peter Dubens with two-time Olympic medallist Nick Rogers on tactics, claimed the Rolex IMA Maxi Grand Prix title with a race to spare. Yoru, Luigi Sala's Vismara 62, took out the Maxi 4 class after a tense scrap with Vincenzo Addessi's Fra Diavolo, and H2O, Riccardo De Michele's Vallicelli 78 with Lorenzo Bodini on tactics, dominated the Maxi 5s with four wins from five starts.
In the Multihulls, raced under ORC rating, Lord Irvine Laidlaw's Highland Fling XVIII took the overall win on countback from Adrian Keller's Allegra after the pair finished level on points, with Marcos Sirota's trimaran Sophia third.
Commodore Andrea Recordati reflected on a week that "put boats and crews to the test," while paying tribute to photographer Carlo Borlenghi, who passed away recently and whose images helped build the international reputation of YCCS regattas.
Attention now turns to the 23rd Rolex Swan Cup, running 13 to 19 September, marking 60 years of Nautor Swan with a record fleet of almost 170 yachts from the Finnish shipyard.
