Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup Day 1: Blistering double bullet start for North Star III
by International Maxi Association 8 Sep 05:57 UTC
6-12 September 2026
A light but solid easterly over northwest Sardinia eased the fleets gently into competition at the Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup, organised by the Yacht Club Costa Smeralda in conjunction with the International Maxi Association.
Eyes this week are on the two classes racing world championships.
As PRO Stuart Childerley sent everyone else northwest in the direction of the magnificent La Maddalena archipelago, the former Maxi 72s competing in the Rolex IMA Maxi Grand Prix World Championship raced two windward-leewards. In these the wind never reached double fingers and was often closer to 6 knots.
One of a few outstanding winners today was Peter Dubens' new North Star III. On her first ever competitive outing, she comfortably won today's first race by 1:44 under IRC corrected time from Filip Balcaen's Rolex Middle Sea Race winner Balthasar, which had done well playing the shifts up the middle of the first upwind. In race two Dubens' team finished 1:25 ahead of Hap Fauth's Bella Mente.
"To get from a brand-new boat to ready to race has been good, but it is a long week ahead," mused North Star III tactician Nick Rogers. "Today the course was not easy - it was a bit shifty in the gradient breeze."
North Star III is 76ft long and highest rated in the Maxi Grand Prix class permitting her to get ahead into clean air. She also hosts much technical innovation such as a keel that has a limited angle of cant, removing any need to carry water ballast and enabling faster manoeuvres. "We're pleased with the boat and the team. It's been a joy. In less than seven knots, we don't really know, but above that, it seems really strong, and we've never sailed it over 20 knots. Every single thing has been looked at, really from top to bottom," continued Rogers. Conditions are forecast to build as the week progresses which may stretch North Star III, but today she made the strongest of starts.
Some protests this evening, one involving 'hard contact', resulted in the defending World Champion, Django 7x, disqualified from race one.
In the Rolex IMA Maxi 1 World Championship, racing started in 7 knots. Alessandro Del Bono's Capricorno did well heading up the right side of the first beat on her own and their 82-footer was only rolled coming into the first windward mark by Karel Komárek's 100 footer V.
"It was a good start and we went to the right and found a little nice shift there, which helped," commented Capricorno tactician Torben Grael. "Then the boat, in this light wind, is quite good downwind, so we could keep up with the bigger boats to a degree." Around La Maddalena the wind had peaked at 12 knots.
All of the high end maxis are in a constant state of evolution and on Capricorno they have spent the summer lowering her IRC rating, by reducing water ballast, among other measures.
Karel Komárek's V led around the rest of the course, but it was close, finishing on the water just 50 seconds ahead of her arch-rival David M Leuschen and Chris Flowers' Galateia with Joost Schuijff's Leopard 3 a further 78 seconds behind.
"We dipped Capricorno up the first beat and then we managed to just get ahead of them around the top mark. They sailed a great race," commented V's Paul Willcox. "The guys are sailing really well. It feels like we can do the things we need to do on the boat to be competitive." Over the summer V has gained in sail area and has been put on a strict weight-saving regime.
While Maxi 1 sailed a 31 mile course, the Multihulls and Maxi 3 sailed a shorter 25.5 mile course around La Maddalena while for Maxi 4 and 5 it was just 17.5 miles.
In Maxi 3 there was a battle of the America's Cup helmsmen with Dean Barker calling the shots on James Neville's Botin 65 Artemis Bleu and Francesco Bruni tactician on Luciano Gandini's Mylius 80FD Twin Soul B. On the water Twin Soul B finished second behind Silvia De' Longhi and Franz Wilhelm Baruffaldi Preis' 62ft Manticore.
Preliminary corrected time results showed Twin Soul B beating Artemis Bleu by 6 minutes 15 seconds, in turn just 2 seconds ahead of Astra 1, the Wally 94 of Marcos Tomas Vivian de La Pedrosa. However, as Bruni commented: "It was a very close race, but unfortunately we fouled at the first top mark, so we had a penalty and we acknowledged the mistake." As a result Twin Soul B was demoted to third with Artemis Bleu now first.
Aside from this: "It was a good race and we are happy with how we sailed the course," Bruni continued. "The boat was always fast. The owner was really happy with our start and with our performance. We did very well around the leeward side of La Maddalena, when we were with the kite, but on a tight angle and switched to the jib. We gained quite a lot there." In 'Bomb Alley' between La Maddalena archipelago and the mainland in many places there is deep water right into the shore but on Manticore they struck the bottom with a glancing blow, although not severe enough to put them out of the race.
Vincenzo Addessi's Mylius 18E35 Fra Diavolo got off to a strong start in Maxi 3, beating Luigi Sala's Vismara 62 Yoru by 2:45 under IRC corrected time. However in the two remaining classes there were run-away leaders. In Maxi 5 Riccardo De Michele's Vallicelli 78 H2O beat another long term Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup competitor Riccardo Genghini's second-placed Swan 651 Lunz Am Meer by 10 minutes 7 seconds on corrected time.
H2O navigator for the last 15 years Roberto Saletti explained: "We raced very well. We got a good start and then since we are the largest boat in our class, we were able to get ahead immediately into clean wind, so we could decide our course and do whatever we wanted.
"We are very used to this venue and so we know very well where the dangers are and can approach the passages in an aggressive way."
In the six-strong multihull class, the favourites, Adrian Keller's 84ft Allegra and Lord Irvine Laidlaw's VPLP Custom 80 Highland Fling XVIII, saw the former beat the latter by just two minutes under ORCmh. However the star performer was Marcos Sirota's Irens 63 trimaran Sophia, winner of this year's IMA Caribbean Maxi Multihull Series, which beat Allegra by 20 minutes 23 seconds.
Like Capricorno before them, Sophia had done well taking the right side of the first beat to lead Highland Fling 18 and Zachary Plasvic's Gaea around the top mark and, after a long struggle, was eventually rolled by Highland Fling 18.
"It was a fantastic day - a great race and a great win," commented Sirota. "This is my first time here and it's just absolutely stunning. It's a total pleasure to sail there, even with the many tacks! We had a nice duel with Allegra on the last downwind with multiple gybes, which was a lot of fun and we were head-to-head with Highland Fling also, which was very enjoyable."
The tomorrow the forecast is for light winds immediately off Porto Cervo and to the south, but with more breeze to the north. As a result, all classes will sail coastal courses with a first warning signal at 1200.
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