No wind stops play on opening day of the Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup 2025
by James Boyd / International Maxi Association 9 Sep 06:59 NZST
7-13 September 2025
Maxi 1 edges across the line in a practice start today © IMA
Manoeuvres rehearsed, sails reshaped and weather forecasts downloaded - for teams on the opening day of the Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup there was disappointment off Porto Cervo as the wind failed to materialise adequately for racing to commence.
As ever this pinnacle event of the maxi sailing calendar is organised by the Yacht Club Costa Smeralda in conjunction with the International Maxi Association (IMA) and is the last but one event of the IMA's 2025 Mediterranean Maxi Inshore Challenge.
Initially the start of racing had been pushed back by an hour to 1300 in the hope that the wind would fill in. But when the 43 competitors ventured out of Porto Cervo Marina the wind was in the process of fading. The Rolex IMA Maxi Grand Prix World Championship had been due to set sail with two windward-leewards while the Rolex IMA Maxi 1 World Championship yachts, spanning the trio of Wallycentos and defending champion Leopard 3 down to Pier Luigi Loro Piana's Clubswan 80 My Song and the remaining classes - Maxi 2, 3, 4 and the Super Maxi - were due to be sent off on a coastal course. Sadly none of this was to come to pass.
"There were competing breezes," explained Simon Fisher, navigator on the 100ft Galateia. "There was southerly gradient this morning and not much gradient to the west, but the models all had that little change to the northwest. So the clouds came in, we had that change to the north and it kind of killed the breeze off in the race area."
Steve Hayles, navigator on Jim Swartz's Vesper in the Maxi Grand Prix class (ex-Maxi 72), and a past World Championship winner here, added: "We were surprised when we got out there that there was 8-10 knots and it was actually dropping towards start time, but maybe coming in later. Basically it was just overcast with lots of humidity..."
In his native France Fabien Delahaye skippered the Class40 Legallais, but is here navigating Jean-Pierre Barjon's Botin 65 Spirit of Lorina, currently second in the 2015 IMA Mediterranean Maxi Inshore Challenge. He commented: "There were two different winds - the north wind in La Maddalena and the southeast synoptic wind and we were in the area where the wind was in conflict. At the beginning we had the southeasterly and then finally the northwesterly and then nothing in our area."
During the next 24 hours Porto Cervo is going to be doused in rain. "For tomorrow there's a transition between the southeast wind to the west wind with a low pressure passing over us," continues Delahaye, who is racing at the Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup for the first time.
"There will be thunderstorms and westerlies until the end of the week and it's going to be strong on Wednesday and Thursday. Maybe in the morning tomorrow it will be easier than the afternoon, when there will be some clouds and no sea breeze and nothing to help us to race."
Simon Fisher believes tomorrow may be more positive. "It should be more northwesterly. There's still southerly gradient, but the westerly component will be a bit stronger and rain will be coming..."
Steve Hayles: "Tonight there will be large thunderstorms and tomorrow morning will be wet, and just really humid."
Tomorrow the plan is once again for the Maxi Grand Prix class to race windward-leewards and everyone else a coastal course. PRO Stuart Childerley says that as there was no racing today, racing will take place on Thursday, the scheduled layday.
The forecast for mid-week and on is for strong winds to return. Hopefully not too strong.