35th Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup at Yacht Club Costa Smeralda - Day 2
by Yacht Club Costa Smeralda 10 Sep 06:22 NZST
7-13 September 2025
Magic Carpet E leads the Rolex IMA Maxi 1 World Championship © Rolex / Carlo Borlenghi
The second day of the Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup delivered excellent racing conditions for the fleet assembled in Porto Cervo, with north-westerly winds averaging 16 knots.
The 18 knots of the early stages went on to ease slightly, reaching around 10-12 knots towards the end of racing for some of the classes. The Race Committee's decision to bring the start forward to 11 a.m. therefore proved to be entirely justified.
Two windward-leeward races were completed for the fleet of eight boats competing in the Rolex IMA Maxi Grand Prix World Championship. Peter Harrison's Jolt came out on top with a first and second place finish to secure an early overall lead. Bella Mente sits in second place overall, two points behind, with Django 7X in third, just one point further back.
For all other classes, including the Maxi 1 yachts battling for their class World Championship, the Race Committee set a coastal course of approximately 30 miles, which took the fleet clockwise around the La Maddalena archipelago before returning to Porto Cervo.
In the Rolex IMA Maxi 1 World Championship, the provisional leader is the newly-launched Magic Carpet E, which completed the course in just over two hours at an average speed of almost 14 knots, with peaks of nearly 30 knots. In second place is Bullitt, the Wally 93 owned by YCCS Commodore Andrea Recordati, with third place going to the WallyCento V.
In the Maxi 3 class, the RP79 Nice leads, ahead of the Botin 65 Spirit of Lorina and the Southern Wind 82 Grande Orazio. The Vallicelli 78 H2O is the frontrunner in the Maxi 4 class, ahead of Yoru and Manticore.
The Supermaxi class is headed by the Swan 115 Moat, followed by the Wally 94 Inti and the Frers 118' Viriella.
Racing will continue tomorrow at 12 noon CEST, with a Mistral wind of around 15-20 knots forecast to arrive.
The Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup, now in its 35th edition, is organised by the Yacht Club Costa Smeralda with the support of the International Maxi Association and title sponsor Rolex.
This year marks the 40th anniversary of Rolex's partnership with the regatta, which began in 1985.
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