Joost Schuijff’s Leopard 3 started the day with a four point lead in the eight boat Rolex IMA Maxi 1 World Championship fleet, and did a fine job covering to win by 3 minutes 8 seconds under IRC corrected time.
While V had started the week strongly, Leopard 3’s victory was decisive, winning five races from seven to end the week 7 points ahead of V and a further two in front of the defending World Champion Galateia. Leopard 3’s afterguard includes Chris Nicholson, double Olympic gold medallist Matt Wearn and navigator Will Best.
Today the smaller in Maxi 1 enjoyed the conditions with Alessandro Del Bono’s 82ft Capricorno finishing second ahead of Pier Luigi Loro Piana’s 80ft My Song.
In the Rolex IMA Maxi Grand Prix World Championship, the result was more clear-cut. Peter Dubens’ North Star III won the final race – all told a fine result for Dubens’ 76 footer, despite this being her first regatta: she won every race save for Friday’s windward-leewards.
The multihull class returned strongly this year after a hiatus in 2025 with six boats including the event’s first ever trimaran – Marcos Sirota’s 63ft Sophia.
During the week they enjoyed some of the closest racing and theirs was the only class which concluded with a tie-break. Adrian Keller’s 84ft Allegra won the final race, beating Sophia by just 29 seconds, moving her up to equal overall points with Irvine Laidlaw’s 80ft Highland Fling XVIII, the winner on countback.
Following on from his Land Rover Sardinia Cup victory, James Neville aboard his Botin 65 Artemis Bleu won Maxi 3. Luciano Gandini’s Mylius 80 FD Twin Soul B led earlier in the week until suffering a DNF due to rudder problems on Thursday.
The story in Maxi 4 was similar with Vincenzo Addessi’s Mylius 18E35, Fra Diavolo on a winning streak early on until the big breeze kicked in and Luigi Sala’s Vismara 62 Yoru began dominating. The final race was won by former IMA President Benoît de Froidmont’s Wally 60 Wallyño, but Yoru’s result was enough to see her win overall by a point from Fra Diavolo.
Last but not least, the winning streak continued for Riccardo De Michele’s Vallicelli 78 H2O which won Maxi 5 – an eighth class win for the team, a Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup record.
The Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup was the fifth event of the International Maxi Association’s 2026 Mediterranean Maxi Inshore Challenge, which concludes at Les Voiles de Saint-Tropez over 28 September to 3 October. At present with one event to go, V leads Leopard 3 in this by a solid 292 points to 238.
James Boyd / IMA
Final Division Leaders:
- Leopard 3 in the Maxi 1 class
- Northstar III in the Maxi Grand Prix class
- Artemis Blue in the Maxi 3 class
- YURO for the Maxi 4s
- H2O in Maxi 5
- Highland Fling XVIII in the Multihull group.
Full results available here