The record fleet of 37 yachts competing in this year’s Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup enjoyed a spectacular week of sailing, with extremely challenging conditions that tested the crews’ nerve, skill and speed to the utmost. With winds ranging from zero to over 25 knots, rain squalls, hailstone, at times almost nil visibility, thunder and lightning, the crews tackled a variety of race courses along the local coastline and through La Maddalena Archipelago, just to the north of Porto Cervo, with its narrow straits, rocky outcrops and shifting winds. The fleet was split in four divisions - Spirit of Tradition with 4 entries, Racing with 6 entries, W with 12 yachts and Cruising division with a total of 15 boats divided into two categories, A and B. All divisions except the Racing fleet sailed five races in total and were able to throw a discard at the end of the series.

With a brilliant and faultless last race performance, Germany’s Claus Peter Offen and Y3K won the Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup in the W division, with America’s Cup skipper Karol Jablonski at the helm. Although equal on points to Argentinian Alberto Roemmers’ Alexia, Y3K was able to secure the series on countback. In the last race, the two rivals showed off some real America’s Cup style match racing. “It was a dramatic boat to boat fight from the start line to the finish and we were never more than 50 metres apart, so it was a really close struggle, which we won by just a few metres at the end,” commented Claus Peter Offen. As for next year, Offen had no doubt, “We have sailed here before and we will definitely come back.”

In the Racing division, Great Britain’s entry Black Dragon won the series with a narrow 1 point margin over Roel Pieper’s Favonius with an impressive series of consistent results - two firsts and two seconds. Skandia, owned by Australian and accomplished offshore sailor, Grant Wharington, finished third overall unable to discard the OCS scored in Race Three. Skandia showed exceptional power and speed, particularly in the challenging conditions that have been a feature of this year’s Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup. It has been a busy season for Black Dragon and clearly the Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup has been a good event for a crew that is reaping some rewards for its efforts. Henk Van der Vaart, the Dutch skipper on Black Dragon, viewed the week as a whole as perfect, “we have sailed good races, finished the week well and kept everything together, which in itself is an achievement. Our crew work has been great, sailing with mostly the same guys that sailed in our last race, the Giraglia Rolex Cup, and this group is always improving.”

With four wins and one major hiccup, a disqualification, US Harry Macklowe’s Unfurled won overall in the Cruising A, with a 4 point lead over fellow American Arne Glimcher and his impressive, brand new yacht Ghost. Unfurled was able to throw out the DSQ that followed a pre-race collision in the fifth day of the series. Italian Vittorio Moretti’s Viriella finished third overall. America’s Cup veteran Mike Toppa, tactician on Unfurled, thoroughly enjoyed the week: “We had great sailing, with ever changing conditions. On the final day Porto Cervo showed its true colours - it was sunny, windy and we went up in the straits, one of the prettiest places on the planet to sail. I love sailing here, it’s one of the best venues in the world and of course I’ll be back next year, absolutely!”

Brand new Italian entry Roma, owned by Filippo Faruffini, won overall in the Cruising B, with a 2 point lead over Great Britain’s Allsmoke. Fabio Mangifesta’s Charis, who was forced to retire before the start of the race due to an incident with Unfurled on the fifth day of the series, finished third overall. Roma is a cruising boat camouflaged as a pure racer - the coffee grinders can be dismounted really easily and down below there are six cabins and five separate bathrooms, full air conditioning and all the comforts. During the week she showed impressive speed and consistency, taking line honours in class each day. Vittorio Mariani, project manager and design co-ordinator of the Farr design Roma, commented: “We are very happy because we won with a boat that was launched at the end of July. We haven’t had much time to set it up for this event and in this series we’ve had to tackle very challenging conditions. We suffered only minor damage, as is usual in a regatta of this level. I am really happy for our crew, they sailed really well.”

In the combined Cruising Division series rankings, it was British boat Allsmoke, that came out on top, with America’s Cup veteran sailors Ken Read and Lorenzo Bortolotti on board.

The Spirit of Tradition fleet saw the American 180-foot schooner Adela and the Italian 90-foot sloop Whitefin fight a close battle for the overall victory on handicap. In the end, it was American, gas and media tycoon, George Lindemann who secured the final victory with his Adela with a narrow 1 point lead over its Italian rival. Dutch entry Annagine finished third. Adela, with its massive set of sails and powerful pace, took line honours in each race of the series.

Unfortunately, most of the fleet suffered some degree of damage in the course of the week, as equipment - including masts, sails, mainsail tracks and jib clews - failed to cope with the additional loads created by the strong winds and heavy swell. It was Maximus, one of the pre-event favourites co-owned by the two New Zealand businessmen Charles St Clair Brown and Bill Buckley who recently took line honours in the 2005 Rolex Fastnet Race and were first on corrected time in the Grand Prix Division of the 2005 Rolex Transatlantic Challenge, who fared worst losing the rig on the second day of the series. Luckily no one was injured. The crew of Maximus was able to recover the mast from 42 metres of water outside the Porto Cervo harbour. Maximus is now heading back to New Zealand with the two mast sections on her deck and should reach home by the end of October. The reason why the rig broke is still unknown, and the crew and designers are continuing to review the circumstances and analyze the causes of the failure. “We are committed to repairing the boat in time for the Rolex Sydney Hobart,” commented Charles St Clair Brown and Bill Buckley, adding, “we are refining our configuration to avoid reoccurrence of this incident and have Maximus performing to her best, challenging the world of sailing once again.”

The second yacht to suffer major damage during the 2005 Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup was Great Britain’s Magic Carpet Squared, owned by Sir Lindsay Owen-Jones, CEO of L’Oreal, with British America’s Cup sailor Adrian Stead calling the tactics. The mast on Magic Carpet Squared snapped above the top spreader during the fourth and hardest race of the week when the North westerly winds, topping out at 25 knots, drove the fleet downwind at speed into a large southerly swell.

The rich social calendar of the Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup offered the competitors plenty of opportunities to unwind and relax at the end of each day. The programme included cocktails held in the stunning clubhouse setting of the Yacht Club Costa Smeralda, daily après sailing refreshments, the traditional Rolex Crew Party and IMA and YCCS dinners - the latter featuring a striking synchronized swimming performance in the club pool. The highlight of the week was the Rolex Gala Dinner held at the world renowned Cala di Volpe resort. Youssou N’Dour, the celebrated African musician, was the special guest at the gala evening and entertained the guests with his eclectic mix of traditional Senegalese music, hip hop, jazz and soul. The week ended with the final Rolex Prizegiving Ceremony, where the overall winners of the series were each awarded with a Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup and a Rolex Oyster Perpetual Submariner timepiece in steel and gold.

The Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup was organized by the Yacht Club Costa Smeralda in conjunction with the International Maxi Association (IMA), and ran from September 4th to September 10th. Eleven countries were represented: Argentina, Australia, British Virgin Islands, Great Britain, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway and United States.

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