All set in Porto Cervo for Range Rover Sardinia Cup
by Yacht Club Costa Smeralda 1 Jun 13:16 PDT
31 May - 7 June 2026
Everything is ready in Porto Cervo for the grand return of the Range Rover Sardinia Cup. After a 14-year hiatus, one of the regattas that shaped the history of the Yacht Club Costa Smeralda returns with a new club-team format, featuring two boats per team - mirroring the structure of the revamped Admiral's Cup, with which the Sardinia Cup has historically alternated in even-numbered years.
The event is organised by the YCCS and supported by institutional partner Range Rover, which shares the Sardinia Cup's values of performance, innovation and exclusivity.
Racing will take place under the IRC handicap system, with the fleet divided into Sardinia Cup Class 1 and Sardinia Cup Class 2 (SC1 & SC2) according to rating and size parameters. The nationality of the yacht club represented will also determine the nationality of the team.
For this eagerly awaited return, 10 teams have assembled in Porto Cervo, comprising a total of 20 highly competitive boats fielding crews of top professionals, each including a female sailor and a young sailor under 25. Just some of the renowned names taking part include: Silvio Arrivabene, Nic Asher, Dean Barker, Gabriele Benussi, Alberto Bolzan, Lorenzo Bodini, Lorenzo "Rufo" Bressani, Afonso Domingos, Cameron Dunn, Alberto Fantini, Ross Halcrow, Steve Hayles, Michele Ivaldi, Aksel Magdhal, Ian Moore, Diego Negri, Guillermo Parada, Jesper Radich, Michele Regolo, Hugo Rocha, Chicca Salvà, Adrian Stead, Juan Vila, Vasco Vascotto, Enrico Zennaro and Cecilia Zorzi.
As for the teams, noteworthy international entries include the Royal Ocean Racing Club, competing with two teams, the Yacht Club de France, Bayerischer Yacht Club and the Turkish Offshore Racing Sports Club. Italy will be represented by the Circolo del Remo e della Vela Italia, Yacht Club Repubblica Marinara di Pisa, Yacht Club Rimini, Vela Club Portocivitanova and, of course, the Yacht Club Costa Smeralda.
The Circolo del Remo e della Vela Italia was the first to enter, with Giovanni di Vincenzo's Ker 46 Lisa R and Franco Niggeler's Mat 12.20 Kuka, helmed by Sandro Montefusco with Simone Ferrarese calling tactics.
The UK's Royal Ocean Racing Club will be represented by James Neville's TP52 Ino Veritas, with tactician Dean Barker, paired with Per Roman's GP42 Garm. Their second team will consist of Peter Harrison's IRC 52 Jolt 3 - holder of the Admiral's Cup for the Yacht Club de Monaco - and Niklas Zennström's Carkeek 41 RAN, the reigning IRC European champion, with Adrian Stead on tactics.
The Yacht Club Repubblica Marinara di Pisa will take to the water with Roberto Lacorte's wallyrocket51 Rocket Nikka, with tactician "Rufo" Bressani, and the Fast40+ Nola, a Carkeek C40 MKIII owned by Estonian owners Taavet Hinrikus and Margus Uudam.
The Yacht Club de France will field a team consisting of Spirit of Lorina 2, a Botin 52 owned by Jean Pierre Barjon, a French owner and regular competitor in Porto Cervo, and the ClubSwan 42 Raving Swan, owned by Jérôme Stubler.
The Yacht Club Rimini has entered with the TP52 Blue, with Portuguese tactician Afonso Domingos, alongside WB IX, Gianclaudio Bassetti's new XR 41, with Lorenzo Bodini on tactics.
Germany's Bayerischer Yacht Club brings Carl-Peter Fortes' TP52 Red Bandit, winner of the Rolex Middle Sea Race in 2024 and the Rolex Giraglia in 2023 and notable for its strong contingent of young crew members. Their team-mate will be Sascha Schröder's 43-foot Neomind, with Italian Stefano Cherin as tactician.
The team from the Vela Club Portocivitanova, in the Marche region, will consist of Marco Serafini's TP52 Xio and Renzo Grottesi's ClubSwan 42 BeWild, with tactician Michele Regolo.
The Turkish Offshore Racing Sports Club rounds out the international entries with Philippe Frantz's Botin 44 Albator 3 and Vedat Tezman's HH42 Chacal.
Finally, organising club the YCCS will be represented by member Giovanni Lombardi Stronati, the owner of both boats flying its burgee. Django WR, the wallyrocket 51 previously seen racing in the Admiral's Cup, will be helmed by the owner himself, assisted by Guillermo Parada and Vasco Vascotto in the afterguard. Django JP, a Fast40+, will be steered by Alberto Bolzan with Michele Ivaldi on tactics. The same team finished third at the Admiral's Cup last year, but here at the Range Rover Sardinia Cup will be competing in Class 2, with a boat geared more towards pure performance than rating strategy.
"Flying the colours of the Yacht Club Costa Smeralda at the Sardinia Cup is both a great honour and a great responsibility for me," explained Lombardi Stronati. "We're here to have fun, because ultimately that's one of the best things about sailing, but we'll do so with a competitive approach and the utmost determination. The standard of the fleet is very high, and our rivals include my friend Peter Harrison, winner of last year's Admiral's Cup, where we finished third, so on paper he's certainly one of the favourites. However, we're coming in well prepared and will strive to do our best. We have a team that's constantly improving, and we're confident that by continuing to work with this level of dedication, the results will follow sooner or later."
Following today's official practice race, which saw an ideal breeze, this evening brings the skippers' briefing and welcome cocktail on the YCCS terrace. Tomorrow, 2 June, a coastal race is on the cards, with the start scheduled for 11 a.m. CEST. A race of approximately 150-nautical miles is then scheduled across Wednesday 3 and Thursday 4 June, with the course to be confirmed based on weather forecasts. Windward-leeward or coastal races will follow through Sunday 7 June in the waters of Porto Cervo and the La Maddalena Archipelago.
On Friday 5 June, a gala dinner for owners and their guests, by invitation only, will be held at the YCCS restaurant.
YCCS Commodore Andrea Recordati commented: "The return of the Sardinia Cup, thanks to the support of our institutional partner Range Rover, perfectly embodies the history of our Club. We look to the future with an awareness of our past, of what we have built over almost 60 years of international yachting. On behalf of the YCCS, I would like to thank the eight yacht clubs competing alongside our own team for this historic and coveted trophy. Fair winds to all, and in particular to our standard-bearer, Team Django, led by our member Giovanni Lombardi Stronati."
Brisk, but not excessively strong Mistral winds are forecast for the first part of the week, easing and shifting to the north-east for the second half of the Range Rover Sardinia Cup.