Porto Cervo's sparkling waters are once again playing host to the grandest stage in maxi yacht racing. The Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup 2025 has opened at the Yacht Club Costa Smeralda on Sardinia's Costa Smeralda, with competition running until 13 September. Organised by the YCCS in partnership with the International Maxi Association and long-standing sponsor Rolex, this year's edition carries particular weight: it marks the regatta's 35th running and four full decades of Rolex's involvement in maxi yacht racing.
The partnership between Rolex and YCCS actually predates the Cup itself, stretching back to the Rolex Swan Cup in 1984, which celebrated its own 40th anniversary just last year. The Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup first ran in 1980, became biennial from 1985 when Rolex attached its name to the club's big-boat programme, then turned annual from 1999 onward, steadily cementing its reputation as the pre-eminent competition for large offshore yachts. In 2025, that reputation is backed by a fleet of 47 yachts, all exceeding 60 feet, making it the most expansive and competitive gathering on the Mediterranean circuit this season.
The fleet spans five divisions: Maxi 1, Maxi Grand Prix, Maxi 3, Maxi 4, and Supermaxi. Two of those carry world title status, with the Rolex IMA Maxi 1 World Championship and the Rolex IMA Maxi Grand Prix World Championship both up for grabs across the week's racing.
The Maxi 1 division, comprising nine yachts generally ranging from 80 to 100 feet, is where many eyes will be drawn first. The newest and most talked-about entry is Magic Carpet E, a 100-footer launched in 2024 and owned by YCCS member Sir Lindsay Owen-Jones. Designed by Guillaume Verdier and fitted with Hermès-designed interiors, she introduces several technological innovations that have generated considerable anticipation. Three Wallycentos, Galateia, Tilakkhana, and V, represent the sharpest end of modern racing machine development. Tilakkhana, previously known as Magic Carpet Cubed and now campaigned by Pascale Decaux, carries a notable mixed crew that includes Dee Caffari, Annemieke Bes, Marie Riou, Emily Nagel, Sophie de Turcheim, Rebecca Gmuer Hornell, and Lena Le Meillour alongside the owner. Completing the top of the class, Leopard 3, Joost Schuijff's Farr 100, arrives as defending World Champion with a formidable afterguard: round-the-world race skipper Chris Nicholson and double Olympic Laser/ILCA gold medallist Matt Wearn among the crew. Further strong contenders include Pier Luigi Loro Piana's ClubSwan 80 My Song, Alessandro Del Bono's JV82 Capricorno, Wendy Schmidt's Botin 85 Deep Blue, and Andrea Recordati's Wally 93 Bullitt.
The most talked-about Maxi 1 rivalry centres on two Wallycentos. In 2024, V had the measure of Galateia, but the latter has undergone significant development over the winter, adding water ballast and making weight savings. North Sails president and tactician Ken Read is in no doubt about where the balance now sits: "Right now Galateia is the boat to beat in this class." Whether V can respond will be one of the defining storylines of the week.
The Grand Prix class brings together eight pure racing machines, many of them once campaigned in the now-retired Maxi72 division, and for the first time since 2018 they will contest their own World Championship. The highest-rated yacht in the entire 47-boat fleet is Jolt, sailed by Peter Harrison. Alongside her, Django 7X, the new wallyrocket 71 of Giovanni Lombardi Stronati, launched as recently as June and fitted with twin rudders and water ballast, arrived having already taken the lead in the Rolex IMA Maxi Grand Prix World Championship after three races. George and Christina Sakellaris' Vrolijk-designed Proteus is the current leader of the IMA Mediterranean Maxi Inshore Challenge and will be a serious threat throughout. Jethou, the 77-foot entry of Sir Peter Ogden, is the longest yacht in the class. With Olympic champions, circumnavigation veterans, and America's Cup tacticians spread across the fleet, this Grand Prix gathering is widely regarded as the strongest assembled since the peak years of the Maxi72 class.
Maxi 3 is the numerically largest division, with 14 yachts. Returning champion Oscar 3, a Mylius 65, is back with former America's Cup helmsman Paolo Cian calling tactics. Regular competitors Spirit of Lorina, a Botin 65, and Grande Orazio, a Southern Wind 82, are expected to mount strong challenges. A new face in the class is Artemis Bleu, a sistership to Spirit of Lorina and formerly Max Klink's Caro, now owned by former RORC Commodore James Neville. Classified as a racer-cruiser, Artemis Bleu nevertheless carries an A-list professional programme, with former Emirates Team New Zealand skipper Dean Barker, along with Rodney Ardern and Juan Vila, among those on board. The class is rounded out by a trio of Baltic 68 Café Racers, Open Season, Ganesha, and Scorpione Hormar, and a varied selection of high-performance racer-cruisers.
Nine yachts make up Maxi 4, the lower-rated division but one with its own competitive edge. Defending champion H2O, a silver Vallicelli 78 owned by YCCS member Riccardo De Michele, enters as favourite to repeat. She faces challenges from Yoru, Manticore, @robas, and Durlindana IV, as well as newcomers including the CN76 Beautiful Day.
The Supermaxi division fields four of the event's most imposing vessels, competing under Offshore Racing Congress Superyacht rules. The ORCsy system uses a modified version of the ORC's Velocity Prediction Program to calculate each yacht's predicted speed and derive time allowances based on her individual characteristics, allowing these very different superyachts to race on fair terms. Heading the division is Vittorio Moretti's 118-foot Viriella, the largest yacht in the entire event, with Mauro Pelaschier at the helm and Maddalena Spanu, a Young Azzurra athlete and WingFoil Racing champion, joining the crew for several days. She is challenged by Moat (Swan 115), Inoui (Briand 108), and Inti (Wally 94). Moretti's loyalty to this regatta is itself a storyline worth following: Viriella has graced nearly every edition of the Cup, and her continued presence speaks to the continuity at the heart of the event.
Racing got under way on Monday, 8 September, in light and variable conditions. The programme provides the two World Championship classes, Maxi 1 and Grand Prix, with three days of combined windward-leeward and coastal racing, while Maxi 3, Maxi 4, and Supermaxi race coastal circuits through the La Maddalena Archipelago across five separate days. Courses range from 30 to 40 miles, threading through Sardinia's channels, capes, and island passages. Results in all classes except Supermaxi are calculated under the IRC rating system.
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The Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup sits as the penultimate event of the IMA's annual Mediterranean Maxi Inshore Challenge, which means the week's racing will reshape the wider circuit standings. Heading into Porto Cervo, Proteus leads that series, with Spirit of Lorina second and Galateia third. There is plenty of movement still possible before the circuit concludes.
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Ashore, Porto Cervo takes on its familiar September character as both a racing venue and a social gathering point. The Rolex Gala Dinner on 11 September and the Crew Party in Piazza Azzurra on 12 September are established fixtures for owners and sailors. Live tracking is available for those following from a distance, and the Yacht Club Costa Smeralda is publishing images and updates from the race course on its Instagram channel throughout the week.
Weather forecasts point to a mixed week, with the Mistral expected to build toward the middle of the regatta. If that materialises, the Grand Prix and Maxi 1 fleets in particular can expect fast, demanding racing that will test boat speed and crew quality in equal measure.
For New Zealand followers keeping an eye on proceedings from across the world, the entry list offers plenty of familiar names to track. Dean Barker is racing aboard Artemis Bleu, while Stu Bannatyne, who has competed in eight Volvo Ocean Races and won four of them, is also among the professionals in the fleet. With 47 yachts, two World Championship titles to be decided, and four decades of Rolex sponsorship marking the occasion, the Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup 2025 shapes up as one of the more memorable chapters in the regatta's 35-year history.
