Maxi
Above: the America’s Cup that never was as Cannonball does what she has to do at the start of the final race of this year’s Maxi worlds to lock out Jim Schwartz’s Vesper and secure the title. Post the 2007 event an America’s Cup in Maxi72-type yachts was one of the more serious options floated before all hell then broke loose in the courts. The new Bella Mente could only finish 3rd in Porto Cervo, but watch out in 12-months or so – Cannonball was nothing special (except to look at) when she appeared in 2017, such big boats take time. Juan K’s light 88-footer Rambler (top right) continues to amass silver but fell short in Sardinia behind Irvine Laidlaw’s Reichel/Pugh 82 Highland Fling. A expensive line of carbon fibre and talent (right) as Cannonball leads in... again
The biggest and the best
Just back from the biggest and best Maxi event in the world, the Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup, with many thoughts about how it could be made even better. This was already a special year, it being the 40th anniversary
of the International Maxi Association and the 30th edition of the Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup, held as usual in the idyllic waters of northeast Sardinia under the aegis of our longterm partners the Yacht Club Costa Smeralda and Rolex. We had a record entry of just over 50 Maxis to contend with and a very wide variety of beautiful yachts to try to organise into classes where the priority was their getting enjoyable boat-on-boat competition. As I described in my last article, we have been working on better
systems to correlate Maxi performance not by length or rating alone. This way class splits can be defined objectively avoiding undefinable subjective (aka contentious) factors such as ‘cruising potential’. So far our formula has been working reasonably well within the Mini Maxis (60-80ft LH); but more work needs to be done to devise a fairer system for the larger Maxis themselves. With only three Supermaxis entered this year, we had to combine
their start with the Maxi Racer Cruiser start and race both groups in IRC. At the superyacht level, however, ORCsy is working well and our aim for next year is to get the required minimum of four supery- achts to come to Porto Cervo for a dedicated ORCsy class start. We are frequently in a dilemma with class division, unable to
please everyone, confusing to those in the know and probably com- pletely impenetrable to everybody on the outside. In the early days the fleet was much more equivalent and it was easy to have one class and one world champion. The current spread in terms of both size and performance across the Maxi fleet makes it almost impos- sible to define an overall winner. For example, in Porto Cervo we had numerous 60-footers, the
minimum size required by International Maxi Association definitions to be a ‘Maxi’. At this size alone the yachts ranged from the high- performance DSS-equippedWild Joe to classic heavy cruisers and modern racer-cruisers.
38 SEAHORSE There was a competitive spread from the Swan 601s to the slow-
est and most vintage of this group, the 40-year-old Swan 65 Six Jaguar. At the opposite end of the spectrum were the two largest and ‘oldest’ boats, the J Class Velsheda and Topaz, while the Wally class included the two match-racing WallyCentos. Then there were of course the pure grand prix racers, the Maxi72s,
and what could be the beginnings of a new trend of racing Maxis in the 70-90ft range, led, as ever, by Rambler 88but on this occasion with Highland Fling XI prevailing. Given this huge diversity of ages, types and performance we will
have to come up with some innovative ideas if we are ever once again to create one overall winner. But if they can find an overall winner in Cowes Week, where there are more classes with even greater disparity, then it is something for which we can still aim. For those watching from afar, for the media and for the sponsors, an overall winner would be most welcome. This year we had eight classes and originally we had intended
nine – had more modern classics entered. We still need class divi- sions to make the racing close and interesting and this year with many classes only being decided on the last day – and then having to use tie-breakers – we seem to have achieved our objective. At the IMA dinner, held as always at the Yacht Club Costa Smer-
alda, two of our newly-introduced vintage silver perpetual challenge trophies were awarded. Our Yacht of the Year for 2018 went to Carlo Puri Negri’s Atalanta II. The 2018/19 IMA Mediterranean Maxi Offshore Challenge was a very close call between George David’s much garlanded Rambler 88 and Miguel Galuccio’s Vera. The latter just made it on tie-break, some consolation after having had to abandon their winning position on day 4 of the Porto Cervo championships when their rudder broke. Our IMA Mediterranean Maxi Inshore Challenge still has one
more event to run and the trophy will be awarded at Les Voiles de Saint-Tropez in October. I am looking forward to that event where the maxis will have their own separate race area round the corner off Pampelonne, supported by the IMA.
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