Maxi yacht Rolex Cup

Regatta News

Posted: 30  Jul. 2010

Porto Cervo - ideal breeze and location - Carlo Borlenghi, Rolex pic

Sardinia: With an active racing season well underway, a fleet of top maxi yachts has committed to being in Porto Cervo to compete at the 2010 Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup - a favourite gathering place for the top sailors who will meet off Sardinia’s spectacular Costa Smeralda from 5 – 11 September.

This year marks the 21st edition of this annual autumn gathering and, as usual, the international fleet will comprise a mix of the latest launches and those well known on the racing circuit and it will feature some of the most impressive sailing yachts in the world.

All yachts must be over 18.29-metres (60-feet) in length to enter the Maxi yacht Rolex Cup. This year it forms the final act in the 2010 Rolex IMA Championship series and also includes the inaugural World Championship for the Mini Maxi fleet.

The list of returnees is strong, with a good showing of the gargantuan super maxis, including the 45-metre Saudade (MLT) and Salperton (CAY), and Hasso Plattner’s 44-metre Visione (GER), as well as the stunning classic-looking 42-metre J-Class, Ranger.

Back to defend their 2009 Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup division titles are Neville Crichton’s Shockwave (ex-Alfa Romeo 3) (NZL), Niklas Zennstrom’s Rán (GBR), Michael Cotton’s Whisper (IRL), and Claus-Peter Offen’s Y3K (GER).

Crichton, who has previously found success with a string of larger maxis, is a strong contender for the Mini Maxi Rolex World Championship. He will be helming the Reichel/Pugh-designed 21.8-metre Shockwave, with Stu Ballantyne and Ian Moore in the afterguard.

“We think that this will be a very close event with any of five boats able to win. I would pick, though, Rán as our biggest challenger,” Crichton said. He would know, having raced again his adversary in the 2009 Rolex Sydney Hobart.

“Our crew is largely unchanged from the Giraglia Rolex Cup, and our result there shows what we can achieve (1st IRC overall; 1st Mini Maxi Racing). This event is one that I always look forward to because the racing conditions in Porto Cervo are, quite simply, some of the best and most challenging in the world.”

The Mini Maxi Rolex Worlds are open to all maxi boats between 18.29-metres (60-feet) and 24.08-metres (79-feet) in length, but for the World Championship Trophy itself there is a strict owner/driver requirement.

Zennstrom’s Rán has been on an impressive roll over the past year with a division win in the 2009 Rolex Sydney Hobart Race, overall win at the 2010 Onion Patch Series and a class win in the 2010 Newport Bermuda Race.

Zennstrom, who will be at the helm, is looking forward to some very close racing in his class: “This is the one regatta where the Mini Maxi fleet comes together and the one everyone is well prepared for and wants to win,” he said.

“All boats have become more competitive this year, so anyone can win. Porto Cervo is one of the best sailing venues in Europe so it should be a very exciting week.”

Along the way, Rán and her crew have been trading wins with another aspirant for the world title, Hap Fauth’s Bella Mente (USA), which has enjoyed a skilful season with class wins at Key West Race Week, New York Yacht Club Annual Regatta; 2nd in class in the Newport Bermuda Race, and an Overall Team win in the Onion Patch Series.

The top boats in the Mini Maxi fleet are constantly being tweaked to find that extra bit of speed. Bella Mente is no exception. She underwent modifications in 2009, changing the hull shape and reducing displacement, dramatically transforming the potential of the 21-metre sloop.

The process of refinement is ongoing and, last winter, Bella Mente’s chain plates were moved and the spreaders enlarged.

Fauth acknowledges this attention to detail is part of what it takes to stay ahead. “It’s an impressive international fleet. Shockwave, Alegre (GBR), Rán, and Bella Mente are very closely matched speed- and rating-wise,” he maintained.

“We have a rivalry with all of them -- there are a lot of very competitive, extraordinary, highly skilled sailors involved. It’s always a privilege to sail with this fleet.”

Another American yacht racing in the Mini Maxis is Titan XV, the 22.90-metre (75-foot) Reichel/Pugh design launched last year by Tom Hill.

Bill Koch, winner of the 1992 America’s Cup, has chartered Titan XV for this regatta. He is no stranger to the Maxi class, but it has been 20 years since his Matador 2 broke onto the scene winning all races she entered, including the Maxi Worlds in 1990 (a series contested in Newport, Miami, and the US Virgin Islands.) and 1991 (Saint-Tropez and Porto Cervo).

Koch will be helming Titan XV with New Zealander Gavin Brady calling tactics and some of Koch’s America’s Cup teammates as crew.

Until recently, Koch had been competing on the 12-Metre class circuit with KZ7/Kiwi Magic, but eventually tired of the racing. At the time he was thinking: “Maybe I’ll just get out of sailing and spend my time on my ranch with my kids, but each time I get on the water I find I love it.”

“When Peter (Grubb, project manager for Koch), suggested I might try one of the mini maxis, because they’re fun and they go fast, I said ‘I’ll give it a try and charter a boat. And if I really like it, I’ll buy one.’ It’ll be fun and to have my crew back from the America’s Cup and maxis keeps the friendships going.”

Each year the Mini Maxi category continues to gain in numbers and level of competition. Once again this type of maxi will comprise half of the 44-boat fleet currently entered, but not all are stripped out racing machines.

A newcomer is Alessandro Rombelli’s 21-metre Judel Vroljk-designed Baltic 65, launched this year. Stig (ITA) was conceived with both racing and cruising in mind. It has a full interior and a telescopic lifting keel that cleverly does not influence or limit the cabin arrangements.

Rombelli is more usually seen racing something smaller, in the Melges 20 circuit. For this event, he will be sailing with Lorenzo Bressani as tactician. “We put a lot of effort in the thinking and designing of Stig and it will be a pleasure to see it participating among some very fast and beautiful boats."

The Mini Maxi Rolex World Championship will include eight windward/leeward races and one coastal race of no more than 150 nautical miles. Four races are required to award the World Championship title.

The Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup 2010, organised by the Yacht Club Costa Smeralda, takes place from 5 to 11 September. Racing commences on Monday, 6 September and concludes on Saturday, 11 September.

Further information and entry list: www.yccs.it

National Maritime Festival 2010

Australian Wooden Boat Festival 2011
11th - 14th February 2011

view all events