The 36th Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup wraps up today in Porto Cervo. All but one of the event's six class titles are still up for grabs, some tighter than others. Only two of the six, Maxi 1 and Maxi Grand Prix, are actual IMA World Championships, and every result this week has counted toward them, the series is scored under the Low Point System with no discards. There's nothing any of the teams can throw out before the points are tallied at the end of today.
The Multihull fleet is the tightest of the lot. Highland Fling XVIII leads on 6 points, but Allegra is just 2 points back after finishing runner-up in all four races so far. One slip today and the lead changes hands.
The Rolex IMA Maxi 1 World Championship has nearly as much drama. Leopard 3 leads on 12 points after winning both of Friday's windward-leeward races, V sits 4 points back on 16, and defending champion Galateia, with New Zealanders Murray Jones and Kelvin Harrap in the afterguard, is third on 17. All three can still win it. Galateia has been in touch all week without ever actually leading the series, and today's the last chance to change that.
H2O's perfect run in Maxi 5 has finally been broken. Lunz am Meer beat the class leader by just 23 seconds on corrected time on Friday, ending H2O's three-race winning streak and trimming the overall lead to 4 points.
In Maxi 3, James Neville's Artemis Bleu, with New Zealander Dean Barker calling tactics, leads by 3 points over Manticore. They won their last two races but only need a solid finish rather than a win to close it out.
Maxi 4 is similarly poised, Yoru leads Fra Diavolo by 3 points, after two wins and two second placings, heading into the decider.
The one title already settled is the Rolex IMA Maxi Grand Prix World Championship, wrapped up by Peter Dubens' Northstar III with a race to spare after four wins from four starts (followed by a fifth and a fourth.) Defending champion Django 7X heads into today's final race in fifth, with the minor podium places all still mathematically live, while Kiwi tacticians Brad Butterworth and Hamish Pepper, aboard Jethou and Proteus respectively, are both already out of title contention.
Racing gets under way from noon local time, with the fleet's remaining champions crowned this evening in Piazza Azzurra.
