Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup day 2- Glamour day for the Mini Maxis

by James Boyd on 6 Sep 2017 Tricky conditions and dual breezes made life difficult on day two of the Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup in Porto Cervo. This annual event for the world’s largest racing yachts is organised jointly by the Yacht Club Costa Smeralda, this year celebrating its 50th anniversary, and the International Maxi Association, the body sanctioned by World Sailing to represent the Maxi classes.

Today the seven fleets were split, the Maxi 72s and Wallys sailing windward-leewards. After a short delay both were sent off up the course into a light north northeasterly. In the Maxi 72s, Dieter Schön’s Momo reached the top mark first ahead of Bella Mente, but half way down the run, the wind turned through 180°. The race committee swiftly abandoned both races. With the wind failing to materialise subsequently, racing was cancelled for the day for both classes.

Fortunately the news was much better for the Super Maxi, Maxi and Mini Maxi classes. They were sent off on a 25.5 mile anti-clockwise lap of La Maddalena, with the ubiquitous final run down ‘Bomb Alley’. The large boats finished off Porto Cervo, while the three Mini Maxi classes had their course shortened at Isola delle Bisce, the southern end of Bomb Alley. North of La Maddalena crews were experiencing as much as 18-19 knots of wind. “We weren’t expecting to see more than 12 knots,” admitted Nat Ives, tactician on Sir Peter Odgen’s Jethou – today’s big winner, claiming Mini Maxi Racing under IRC corrected time by 16 minutes from Peter Dubens’ Spectre.

On board the all-black Jethou for this event is an all-star cast of former Land Rover BAR crew including Paul ‘CJ’ Campbell-James, Matt Cornwell and Nick Hutton. “It would appear that cat sailors are not bad on monohulls,” quipped Ogden. “As CJ said ‘it is nice to have something to do on board!’”

Ogden is a great fan of the Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup, having come here for years. “Porto Cervo is great. I like the coastal racing, the scenery, the unpredictability of the wind. Today we could have had no wind. And we can all use the YCCS clubhouse - it is a very nice atmosphere.”

Of today’s result, Ogden was delighted: “We had a very good day, against all the odds. We had a fantastic sail up on the outside [of Caprera and La Maddalena], but the last bit was messy.”

The same southeasterly breeze causing the Maxi 72 and Wally abandonments, extended north towards Bomb Alley. While the course for the Mini Maxi classes was shortened before this, the larger classes had to struggle through it. This caused some disgruntlement especially in the Super Maxi class where the new 32.5m Malcolm McKeon-designed Ribelle claimed the Super Maxi class mainly by avoiding a hole which Nilaya and WinWin were stuck in ahead of her.

As WinWin’s tactician Campbell Field described it: “We had a beautiful race until the northwesterly collided with the southeasterly sea breeze which turned the race inside out.”

Like Jethou in the Mini Maxi Racing class, the fastest boats also won under IRC corrected time in the Maxi class. Here George David’s Rambler 88 sped around the course followed by Sir Irvine Laidlaw’s Highland Fling XI, but with a massive gap under IRC of almost 16 minutes between Rambler 88 and Canadian Will Apold’s Southern Wind 96, Sorceress.

In the Rambler 88 afterguard alongside Brad Butterworth is his nemesis from the 2003 and 2007 America’s Cups, Dean Barker, surprisingly sailing his first Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup. Of today’s racing, Barker said: “It was beautiful. The coastal races here are stunning and the breeze way better than expected until the final stretch to the finish, but we managed to wiggle our way through the transition.”

The most competitive class remains Mini Maxi Racer Cruiser 1 where today’s winner was Benoît de Froidmont’s Wally 60 Wallyño, by just 34 seconds on corrected time to Roberto Lacorte’s Vismara 62 SuperNikka. Just over two minutes separate the top five.

“We managed it well,” said de Froidmont. “There was more wind and it was very competitive racing between us, SuperNikka and the three Swans. The Swans are extremely competitive in this type of breeze.”

Second-placed Roberto Lacorte, owner of SuperNikka added: “We sailed a good race without mistakes, especially upwind for the first part. It was very easy to race at high speed but we know that Wallyño and the Swan 601s perform well in those conditions. We like reaching.”

Winner in Mini Maxi Racing Cruiser 2 was the Vallicelli 80, H20, of perennial Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup competitor and IMA member Riccardo De Michele. Their victory was tightest across all of the class’, by just 11 seconds from Giuseppe Puttini’s Swan 65 Shirlaf.

“We sailed a very good race and the conditions were perfect for our boat,” said De Michele. “We like more wind and flat water. Despite the range between the boats, the competition is very good, the level is very high and you have to do everything perfectly.”

Racing continues tomorrow with a first start at 1130, when more wind is forecast. Following the Wally and Maxi 72 abandonment, the race committee will make up the schedule for these classes on Thursday, the scheduled layday.

The International Maxi Association will be hosting its annual dinner at the Yacht Club Costa Smeralda on Wednesday, 6th September, with its Annual General Meeting on Thursday 7th September in the afternoon.

Full Results:

Super Maxi
Pos	Sail nr.	Class	Yacht	Owner	Type	Designer	1	2	Points
1	RIBELLE	SMAXI	RIBELLE	SALVATORE TRIFIRO'	SLOOP	MCKEON	2	1	3
2	GBR112L	SMAXI	NILAYA	FICAYA LTD	BALTIC 112 R/P	PUGH/NAUTA	1	3	4
3	SUI3066	SMAXI	INOUI	MARCO VOGELE	BRIAND 108	BRIAND	4	2	6
4	WINWIN	SMAXI	WINWIN	SCORPION LIMITED	SUPERYACHT	JAVIER JAUDENES	3	4	7
5	ITA1746	SMAXI	VIRIELLA	VITTORIO MORETTI	FRERS 118'	FRERS	5	5	10

 

 

 

Maxi
Pos	Sail nr.	Class	Yacht	Owner	Type	Designer	1	2	Points
1	MON888	MAXI	HIGHLAND FLING 11 R	IRVINE LAIDLAW	RP 82 CUSTOM	FRERS	1	2	3
2	USA25555	MAXI	RAMBLER 88 R	GEORGE DAVID	CANTING KEEL	JUAN K	3	1	4
3	GBR9059R	MAXI	NEFERTITI	JUAN BALL	SWAN 90	FRERS	2	4	6
4	CAN54321	MAXI	SORCERESS	WILL APOLD	SOUTHERNWIND 96	FARR	4	3	7
5	ITA15333	MAXI	WIZARD	SEVI FRUSCELLA	VALLICELLI 80	VALLICELLI	5	5	10
6	ITA44683	MAXI	DIABLESSE	DIABLESSE YACHT LTD	SLOOP 92	FRANCIS	7     DNF	7     DNC	14

 

 

 

 

Mini Maxi R
Pos	Sail nr.	Class	Yacht	Owner	Type	Designer	1	2	Points
1	GBR74R	MINI MAXI R	JETHOU	SIR PETER OGDEN	MINI MAXI	VROLIJK	1	1	2
2	GBR60X	MINI MAXI R	SPECTRE	PETER DUBENS	PD 60	FRERS	3	2	5
3	USA60010	MINI MAXI R	LUCKY	BRYON EHRHART	RP 63	REICHEL PUGH	2	3	5
4	USA7744	MINI MAXI R	ADELASIA DI TORRES	RENATO AZARA	PROTOTYPE	DAVIDSON	4	4	8

 

 

 

 

Mini Maxi RC 1
Pos	Sail nr.	Class	Yacht	Owner	Type	Designer	1	2	Points
1	W80	MINI MAXI RC1	WALLYNO	DE FROIDMONT	WALLY 60	FARR	3	1	4
2	ITA77773	MINI MAXI RC1	SUPERNIKKA	ROBERTO LACORTE	VISMARA 62 RC	VISMARA / MILLS	2	2	4
3	FRA60101	MINI MAXI RC1	AROBAS	GERARD LOGEL	SWAN 601	FRERS	1	5	6
4	MON777	MINI MAXI RC1	WOHPE	ROBERTO LAURO	SWAN 601	FRERS	5	3	8
5	FRA1895	MINI MAXI RC1	LORINA 1895	JEAN PIERRE BARJON	SWAN 601	FRERS	4	4	8
6	ITA17230	MINI MAXI RC1	OSCAR 3	ALDO PARISOTTO	MYLIUS 65	SIMEONE	7	6	13
7	ITA16923	MINI MAXI RC1	DURLINDANA 3	GIANCARLO GIANNI	FARR 60	FARR	6	7.5	13.5
8	ITA77007	MINI MAXI RC1	YORU	LUIGI SALA	VISMARA MILLS 62	VISMARA/MILLS	8	9	17
9	ITA204	MINI MAXI RC1	ATALANTA II	CARLO ALESSANDRO PURI NEGRI	FARR 70	FARR / FELCI	10     DNC	7.5	17.5

 

 

 

 

Mini Maxi RC 2
Pos	Sail nr.	Class	Yacht	Owner	Type	Designer	1	2	Points
1	ITA15668	MINI MAXI RC2	H2O	RICCARDO DE MICHELE	VALLICELLI 80	VALLICELLI	2	1	3
2	ITA13973	MINI MAXI RC2	SHIRLAF	GIUSEPPE PUTTINI	SWAN 65	SPARKMAN & STEVENS	1	2	3
3	AUT2895	MINI MAXI RC2	LUNZ AM MEER	DR. MARIETTA GRAFIN STRASOLDO	SWAN 651	FRERS	3	3	6
4	ESP9518	MINI MAXI RC2	PELOTARI.PROJECT	ANDRES VARELAS ENTRECANALES	X 65	JEPPESEN	4	4	8
5	SUI7618	MINI MAXI RC2	TAMINA	CARL GERRIT DEILMANN	CNB 76	BRIAND	5	5	10
6	MLT720	MINI MAXI RC2	FARR II KIND	PINTO LTD	FARR 72	FARR	6	7     DNF	13