Maxi Worlds, Melges 20, VOR news—Sailing news from the U.S. and beyond

by David Schmidt, Sail-World USA Editor on 2 Sep 2014 Each September, many of the world’s biggest, fastest and most photogenic maxi yachts gather in Porto Cervo at the Yacht Club Costa Smeralda for the annual Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup and Mini Maxi Rolex World Championship, which takes place this year from August 31-September 6. Given the level of Grand Prix prestige that surrounds this event-now in its 25th year-it’s little surprise that many owners like to use this international event to debut their latest racing steeds.

While the menu of hardware exotica feels almost bottomless at this storied event, many eyes this year will be on Niklas Zennström’s brand-new 'Rán 5', which is expected to be a serious player in the Mini Maxi Rolex World Championship, especially given Zennström’s winning record with his other maxis, also named 'Rán'. Still, the latest-generation 'Rán' boys will have to beat Hap Fauth’s American-flagged 'Belle Mente', which has also won the coveted Mini Maxi Rolex World Championship before, so stand by for a serious showdown in this hyper competitive fleet.

There’s no doubt that carbon fiber is the preferred building material for yachts racing at the Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup and Mini Maxi Rolex World Championship, but that certainly doesn’t mean that the big, beautiful 'sprit of tradition' J-Class yachts will be left out of the fun (especially given many of their modern appointments and underbody appendages). Look for great racing action between the five competing J-Class yachts, which this year include 'Lionheart,' 'Rainbow,' 'Ranger,' 'Shamrock V' and 'Velsheda.'

All told, some 40 yachts, hailing from 15 different countries, are expected to participate in this weeklong regatta. Be sure to check out the multi-media preview report from the Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup and Mini Maxi Rolex World Championship, inside this issue, and stay tuned to the website for more racecourse updates, as they become known.

Speaking of European waters, John Kilroy and his 'Samba Pa Ti' team (tactician Paul Goodison and crew Jeff Reynolds) took top honors at the Audi Melges 20 Worlds, which just wrapped up racing on Italy’s magnificent Riva del Garda. 'All we wanted to do for the start of the race today was to control 'Mascalzone [Latino]' as they were the only ones that could possibly win the event other than us,' said an elated Kilroy. 'So, we did a little match racing on the start. Things just went our way. Everything just went right for us. We’ve trained a lot and we have a great team.'

Interestingly, Kilroy credits the practice sessions he conducted in San Francisco against his son, Liam Kilroy, who is the helm of the Melges 20 'Wildman' team, which just finished in 13th place at the Audi Melges 20 Worlds. 'The training we did against and with 'Wildman' made me a much better small boat driver,' said Kilroy. 'We did a lot of match racing, practiced straight-line speed work and crew kinetics so, hats off to 'Wildman' as they really made us a better team.'

And in offshore-sailing news, the start of this year’s Volvo Ocean Race (VOR; October 4) is rapidly drawing close, quickening the pulse of offshore-racing geeks (myself proudly included in these ranks!) across the country who are getting seriously jazzed to see the event’s new One Design format, and to get a real-world look at the teams, their levels of preparation and their commitment to competition, once the starting gun officially fires.

Inside this issue, be sure to check out Part Three of Sail-World’s conversation with Knut Frostad, CEO of the VOR, to get his thoughts on the inclusion of 'Team Vestas Wind', the recently announced seventh team that will be racing in this year’s event, despite their precariously short preparation runway.

'‘As it happens now both the Chairman and CEO of Vestas were in the management of Ericsson when Ericsson was sponsoring boats in two races so they had a very good experience of the race and knew the value of it,' said Frostad. ‘That helped the timing lots because we didn’t have to explain the values of the race as much as we have to do when we have to sell it from scratch. That was a very important factor but also it worked with the strategy Vestas has now going forward and the timing was really perfect.' Get the full interview, inside this issue, as well as the lattest updates from Team Vestas Wind.

Also inside, get the latest news from Alex Thomson’s latest 'Hugo Boss' IMOCA 60 new-build project, the Ronstan Bridge to Bridge 2014, the PWA Alacati World Cup and the Extreme Sailing Series, which has just announced that the first-ever Turkish-flagged team will be participating in the series’ Act 6 Istanbul event (September 11-14).

And finally, kick-off your Labor Day in proper Grand Prix style with a scroll through the great image galleries from the Melges 20 Worlds, compliments of ace shooters Stefano Gattini and Max Ranchi. Enjoy!

May the four winds blow you safely home,