Announcement

**Photoboy** · 09-06-2018, 12:08 PM

The Battles Continue In Porto Cervo

MOMO and H20 unbeaten after day four of Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup
International Maxi Association press release from Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup - Issued 6 September 2018

Two thirds of the way through the 2018 Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup and Rolex Maxi 72 World Championship, some stand-out boats are revealing themselves. Dieter Schön’s MOMO is so far unbeaten and looking highly likely to defend her title in the Rolex Maxi 72 World Championship. In Mini Maxi Group 2, the class of smallest boats competing here in Porto Cervo, Riccardo de Michele’s Vallicelli 80 H20 also holds a perfect scoreline after four races at this, the pinnacle event in the maxi yacht calendar, run by the Yacht Club Costa Smeralda in conjunction with the International Maxi Association, the official body that oversees and promotes maxi yacht racing globally.

Today it was the turn of the two Mini Maxi classes to sail two windward-leewards on a southeasterly-orientated course laid due east of Porto Cervo. The remainder sailed a coastal course this time to the south of Porto Cervo around the islands of Soffi, Mortorio and Mortoriotto, a short race compared to previous days, to ensure the boats would be tied up back in Porto Cervo before the arrival of a squall, due late afternoon.

In both Mini Maxi classes, there were double winners. In addition to H20, Roberto Lacorte’s powerful looking Mark Mills-designed Vismara 62 SuperNikka claimed both races under IRC in the bigger Mini Maxi class and now holds a commanding lead ahead of the Swan 601 Lorina 1895.

“It was a real pleasure to race with my guys today because there were two technical windward-leewards and we learned a lot about how SuperNikka is faster in all conditions - the first race was in 9-12 knots, the second in 12-15 and different sea states - the waves higher in the second race, making it harder to steer.” Lacorte was especially pleased with how SuperNikka performed upwind.

Benoit de Froidmont, who at this evening’s AGM was appointed the new President of the International Maxi Association, finished third in today’s opening race aboard his Wally 60 Wallyño. “The first race was very good - we had a very good start and we did our best, but it is difficult to beat SuperNikka, which is a completely different boat. We are happy – we have been sailing very well and the crew is extremely efficient,” said de Froidmont.

Behind MOMO, today it was the turn of Dario Ferrari’s Cannonball to claim second place ahead of Peter Harrison’s Sorcha. Overall the Italian boat holds second in the Maxi 72 Worlds ahead of George Sakellaris’ Proteus.

“For us it is tough to try and have a good result against a boat which is a little faster than you and which is taking you over layline to make your life more difficult…” bemoaned Cannonball’s tactician Vasco Vascotto. “But this is part of the game and we are waiting for them to make some mistakes.”

All images© ROLEX / Studio Borlenghi

Further down the field Sir Peter Ogden’s Jethou got off to a good start today and was third around the top mark. “We got overtaken by Cannonball because they dared to go closer to rocks than us,” Ogden recounted. “Then in the last part Proteus rolled us, then we rolled them and then we did something like 30 tacks and we held them off. I thought we’d come up with some new tactics the other day which was: Less tacks and less sail changes. But they took absolutely NO notice! It was a really enjoyable day out, a really good regatta, good fun – I love it.”

In the Wally class newbie sailor Chinese Canadian Terry Hui aboard his Wally 77 Lyra, made it three bullets in a row, having won both of yesterday’s windward-leeward races. Hui, competing in his first ever regatta here, now holds a commanding lead among the Wallys with Sir Lindsay Owen-Jones’ Magic Carpet Cubed second and first of the trio of powerful Wallycentos, where today Lebanese American Charif Souki's Tango beat David M. Leuschen's Galateia.

Helming Tango is veteran French America’s Cup and offshore skipper Marc Pajot. “We had a good day. The first beat is very important and, with our three boats fighting very close to each other, we decided to go right and Magic Carpet was left and finally was the only boat ahead of us.

“Today the small boats were incredible,” Pajot continued. “As there are only two boats [the Wally 77s] they don’t do too many tacks.” The other Wally 77, J One of Jean-Charles Decaux finished third today.

In the Maxi class, George David’s Rambler 88 always romps around the course over the horizon from the opposition, but has yet to win a race at the Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup this year. Today Massimiliano Florio's Southern Wind 82, Grande Orazio finished first under IRC corrected time ahead of the former My Song, now Argentinean Miguel Galuccio's Vera, on which Volvo Ocean Race legend Bouwe Bekking is calling the shots. “We have a good Italian team - they are very passionate and with Bouwe’s knowledge and way of organising things, we are coming along. It is fantastic venue and a fantastic race,” said Galuccio.

Again in the Supermaxi class the podium was exclusively J Class. Unfortunately at the start a race management error caused Topaz to be called over early when it was in fact Velsheda. Post-racing Topaz was awarded a time compensation for this, that causing them to take the joint race win with Svea, leaving Velsheda third.

“We weren’t over the line - Velsheda came smoking on in and was the one that was,” explained Topaz’s helmsman Peter Holmberg. “Otherwise it was a good race. Our team is doing a great job pushing the boat as hard as we can. Manoeuvre-wise all the boats did a couple of gybe-sets today so that was a real challenge for the crew work, and we saw some great work out here. We can run out of hydraulic power in those manoeuvres so it is very hard to do it right – like an orchestra.”

This evening crews are all licking their lips with large black clouds brewing to the west and the prospect of sailing in Mistral conditions tomorrow in 15-20 knots or as much as 25 knots according to which forecast you believe. The Maxi 72s will return to racing windward-leewards as the rest will sail coastal courses.

Report by James Boyd / International Maxi Association

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The winners of the fourth day are Momo, Lyra, Svea, Grande Orazio, Supernikka and H2O

Porto Cervo, 6 August 2018. Fourth day of racing at the Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup & Rolex Maxi 72 World Championship, an event organized by the Yacht Club Costa Smeralda with the support of the International Maxi Association and the Title sponsor Rolex. The fleet has carried out a 22.1-mile coastal regatta with wind from the south-east to stretch up to 12/14 knots with a route that has led it to dubbed the islets of Soffi and Mortoriotto and then return to Porto Cervo to the lasco. after shooting a buoy offshore. The Mini Maxi fleet has played two stick trials that saw the reconfirmation of Supernikka in Group 1 and H2O in Group 2. With the exception of Super Maxi, where the classification is very short,

Among the Maxi 72 continues the dominance of Momo, today author of the fourth victory over four trials. However, the German boat had to fight to the last with the English Sorcha, managing to pass only in sight of the finish line thanks to a call from the tactician Marcus Wieser who anticipated the jibe at the right time. Second place for Cannonball who recovered during the test passing Sorcha, third at the finish line, with a similar choice to Momo. Vasco Vascotto, tactician on Cannonball, analyzed the situation: "We are in a somewhat awkward position, we have to fight Momo and defend ourselves from the other opponents, Momo is fighting only against us today. but we know that we will have to improve for the future. Our direct opponent presented himself more prepared in terms of speed and we are learning the lesson. As in all things, when someone teaches you something, if you're clever you learn it otherwise you blame someone else for your mistakes. "

Total domination, with a hat-trick, for the Wally 80 Lyra clearly in command of the Wally Class with a total of only 5 points, less than half of its pursuer in second place, Magic Carpet Cubed author today a perfect race, but not enough to scratch the dominance of Lyra.

In the Super Maxi class, the day's victory went to the J-Class Svea with the former Luna Rossa skipper Francesco De Angelis and Ken Read in the cockpit, third in the general classification behind the J-Class Topaz and Velsheda, all enclosed in space of 4 points. The International Jury granted Topaz a repair for an OCS that was incorrect, so the boat was awarded the first position it would have obtained if it did not have to return from the starting line.

With today's first place, the Southern Wind 82 Grande Horace is confirmed at the helm of the Maxi class in front of Vera and Rambler 88. Lorenzo Bortolotti, tactician on Grande Orazio: "Today we had to confirm our position and we did it, we started quite aggressive , trying to get the right side of the field, more favorable, the race was pretty easy, the boat was very good, we have a run-in crew that did not miss a single maneuver, when the crew 'turns' and the boat walks, even for the tactic it becomes easier, but there are still two races and the games are open, we respect our opponents a lot, in particular Vera - ex My Song - a boat with a great crew with a valuable crew driven by sailors caliber of Bouwe Bekking and Michele Regolo.It's the beauty of this event! "

Among the Mini Maxi 1, SuperNikka's leadership is not in question, while behind him Lorina 1895 rises to second place at the expense of Wallyño, third. In Division 2 H2O is always to rule with four first on four trials in front of Shirlaf, second, and Lunz Am Meer third.

As scheduled the regattas will resume tomorrow at 11.30 with Mistral forecasts with gusts at 20 knots. For the Maxi 72 Class, stick tests are scheduled while the other classes will be engaged in a coastal race. The crews will meet as usual in piazza Azzurra for the daily weather briefing by Quantum Sails at 9.00 am.

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Winners of the third day of the race in their respective classes are Momo, Velsheda, Lyra, Vera, Oscar 3 and H2O

Porto Cervo, 5 September 2018. The third day of the Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup & Rolex Maxi 72 World Championship saw a light wind from the eastern quadrants that allowed the Wally Class to carry out two offshore tests in Porto Cervo, while the remaining ones five classes completed a 34-mile coastal regatta, reduced to 31 for the Mini Maxi, which brought the yachts to circumnavigate the islands of Caprera and La Maddalena.

The event is organized by the Yacht Club Costa Smeralda with the support of the International Maxi Association and the Title sponsor Rolex.

At 11:30 am, with a wind of about 8 knots and flat sea, the regatta committee started the starting procedure for the Maxi 72 class, the fastest boats, which were followed by the other categories in which the fleet is divided of over 40 yachts. For everyone, the first upwind side was fundamental until the disengagement buoy, characterized by oscillations and wind holes. If initially it seemed favorable to the right-hand start, it was then a wind blow to the left, associated with a drop on the 6 knots, to favor the boats that had chosen to edge on that side. In all the classes, those who knew how to turn the disengagement in a favorable position then benefited from a day's victory.

In the field of stick trials, where today the Wally Class raced, the starting procedure was postponed at 11.50 am waiting for the wind to stabilize from 85 degrees with a light intensity, 6 knots, enough to conclude the two tests scheduled by the program with a double Lyra that is clearly leading to the provisional general standings ahead of two Wallycento, Magic Carpet Cubed and Tango, now the author of a good second place in Race 3. This test has also seen two different boats, Magic Carpet Cubed and J One, arrive fourth with the exact same time offset: for this reason the ranking has credited them with 4.5 points each. Curiously, J One was the first of three Magic Carpets launched by Sir Lindsay Owen-Jones.

Among the Maxi 72 continues the dominance of the German yacht Momo, which is successfully defending the title of champion conquered last year, author of three first on three tests. Second position today for the American Proteus whose tactician, the Italian Tommaso Chieffi, perfectly understood the wind blowing on the left during the first bowline. Third place for Sorcha. Michele Ivaldi, navigator on board of Momo, summed up the good result: "Even today we have made the right choices that have rewarded us: from the choice of the sails to be loaded to the number of people on board, two members remained on the ground not to burden with light wind and I think it was good to do so.After a good start, the best was Cannonball,

Among the Super Maxi wins Velsheda leading the provisional standings on equal points with Topaz, another J-Class, today second. Peter Holmberg, helmsman of Topaz, commented: "We sailed well and we left no stone unturned, but we had a problem with the mainsail haul 5 minutes before the start, so we started in recovery and when Velsheda is in front we do not succeed to pass it unless they make a mistake.We made a change of staple and managed to earn something, but it was not enough.In the next few days more wind is expected, so we can test our boat with a more important breeze. ".

In the Maxi class, victory of the day for Vera - ex My Song - of the Argentinian Miguel Galluccio assisted in the cockpit by the veteran skipper of the VOR, Bouwe Bekking and the laserist Michele Regolo. In the general classification he holds the command of the Southern Wind 82 Grande Orazio of the partner YCCS Massimiliano Florio.

Among the Mini Maxi 1 is still at the top of the Supernikka ranking, today second, ahead of Wallyño, but the day's victory is of Oscar 3 of Aldo Parissotto, tactic the new world champion J / 24 Andrea Casale: "With this victory of day we climb from fifth to third, sailing here in Porto Cervo is always special, the wind is channeled between the islands and opens up many opportunities to be exploited tactically found only here.The first buoy of disengagement was decisive then the rest was a fight to get closer to the fastest opponents in real time by exploiting our potential on the lasers in condimeteo today with the medium-light wind, ideal for our hull ".

In the Mini Maxi 2 division, the dominance of H2O by Riccardo De Michele continues, still first in front of the Swan 65 Shirlaf of Giuseppe Puttini, who is also today the author of an excellent second place. Lorenzo Bodini, tactician on H2O: "The first day there were our conditions and we won with a narrow margin, today with less air was more difficult but we managed to limit the number of maneuvers. final stage of the regatta has expanded the gap with our pursuers and we managed to conquer another first place.Today we will have the stick races, we have studied how to perform the major maneuvers required by this type of path, in this class the boats are from cruise and not equipped like those more oriented to the regatta ".

https://www.yccs.it/regate-2018/maxi...nship-255.html

Results

**Panama Red** · 09-06-2018, 02:42 PM

I thought there were 6-7 of those J Class boats actively sailing.

Why only a couple or 3 showing up at these events?

**Bitchin Bow Dude** · 09-06-2018, 03:08 PM

There are 6 others that still could sail, no idea the whats or why fores.

Endeavour, Hanuman, Lionheart, Rainbow, Ranger and Shamrock.

Maybe the owners just like to watch them get washed and waxed and have afternoon tea aboard?

**Panama Red** · 09-06-2018, 03:48 PM

On closer exam, I see just Svea, Velsheda and Topaz have been engaging all year.

And that Ranger's owner passed away earlier this year.

**Photoboy** · 09-07-2018, 02:19 PM

Early winners decided at Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup

International Maxi Association press release from Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup - Issued 7 September 2018
While a Mistral had been forecast for the penultimate day of the 2018 Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup and Rolex Maxi 72 World Championship, the westerly wind edged only into the early 20s making for an exciting rather than terrifying day out on the water for the 41 competitors.

With a day to go, some winners have already been decided at this, the pinnacle event in the maxi yacht calendar, run by the Yacht Club Costa Smeralda in conjunction with the International Maxi Association, the official body that oversees and promotes maxi yacht racing globally. This was the case in the two Mini Maxi classes where, under IRC, Roberto Lacorte and his Vismara 62 SuperNikka claimed Group 1 and Riccardo De Michele's Vallicelli 80 H20 again won today to maintain her perfect score line in Group 2. Remarkably the Wally 77 Lyra has won the Wally class, despite her owner-driver, Chinese Canadian Terry Hui, sailing not just his first regatta with the boat he only acquired in July, but his first regatta ever.

Today's most significant victory with a day to spare came in the Rolex Maxi 72 World Championship from defending champions, Dieter Schön and MOMO.

While all the other classes sailed coastal courses up around the La Maddalena archipelago, the Maxi 72s were back racing two windward-leewards today in 14-18 knots and a choppy sea.

MOMO would have finished the event with a perfect scoreline had it not been for making what tactician Michele Ivaldi described as their worst start of the series in today's second race. Dario Ferrari's Cannonball reached the top mark in first place and was followed by George Sakellaris' Proteus, which had attempted to shoot the mark but came to a standstill. This held up MOMO, drawn into a similar state as she tried to keep clear. Cannonball was left to claim her first race win of the Championship.

Pics © Studio Martinez/Maxi Rolex Cup

Super Nikka Pics © Lanfrancotti-Taccola

Pics © Carlo Borlenghi/Maxi Rolex Cup

Nonetheless MOMO had done enough to secure her second consecutive World Championship title. "We are very pleased - the whole team is happy. Overall we've had a very good season," said Dieter Schön. "Winning the last race was not necessary. If you want to win overall sometimes it is good to stay a little conservative. The boat is performing well, but the boat is also sailed very well. If both come together, you get good results."

Ivaldi added: "It was not as easy as it looked. Cannonball is a very strong opponent and has been optimised quite a bit and they have good sailors. But we had good starts and good calls from the crew on the sails. It was a very good week for the team."

In the Supermaxi class, the J Class yacht Topaz has won under ORCsy corrected time. She claimed today's 34.5 mile clock-wise lap of the La Maddalena, that took the fleet northwest beyond the island of Spargi. Considering the extreme cost, weight and momentum of their steed, the Topaz afterguard made some brave calls, notably 'cutting the corner' at Spargi and keeping their jib hoisted, despite it developing an alarming split.

Helmsman Peter Holmberg praised Topaz' Spanish navigator Nacho Postigo. "He put us in corners today that either we had to be crazy or damn good to call it that close. But he did a great job and it worked out well." Holmberg added that a lot was down to looking at the forecast beforehand and predicting correctly that the wind would be more 15-20 knots than 20-25. This had enabled them to pick the correct upwind headsail. "Velsheda continues to be the benchmark, but I am really proud of how well our guys are sailing. We have great team work and a good chemistry, pulling off all the manoeuvres and playing the boat as hard as we can."

The Js own the podium in the Supermaxi class with Svea still able to claim second from Velsheda and having already won against Topaz under the J's own JCA rule.

The fresher conditions were to the liking of George David's Rambler 88, the fastest boat competing at the Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup, which today was victorious in the Maxi class, with International Maxi Association Secretary General Andrew McIrvine among her crew.

"Finally we had some opportunity to stretch our legs and we could do 22-23 knots," explained navigator Silvio Arrivabene of their run back around the seaward side of the La Maddalena islands "When we go upwind, everyone is always close to us and when we go VMG downwind it's the same, but today we had a stretch at a better angle." Arrivabene is one of many ex-Alinghi America's Cup-winning crew on board Rambler 88, including tactician Brad Butterworth, Simon Daubney, Peter van Niekerk, Jan Dekker, Rodney Ardern and Josh Belsky.

In the Wallycento battle within the Wally class, today it was the turn of Lebanese American Charif Souki's Tango to prevail, the crew today celebrating tactician Thierry Peponnet's birthday.

"The Wallycentos are very close to each other," said Souki. "One day it is somebody and the next day it is the next guy." However the dominant boat, currently second overall in the Wally class is Sir Lindsay Owen-Jones' Magic Carpet Cubed. "They did some work on the boat this summer and they are sailing it very well," observed Souki of his opponent, adding: "Tango is a great pleasure to drive. It is powerful. The last boat [a Wally 80 of the same name] was underpowered – this one isn't. We are getting used to it."

In the faster Group 1 Mini Maxi class Peter Dubens' Frers 60 Spectre finally won today after a slow start to the Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup. "We ran over the spinnaker on the first day and then we lost the tack on the jib," recounted Dubens. "Today we pointed a lot higher at the start and we were on the right side. Then we took out the Code Zero early so we were going 14-16 knots and then we took out the spinnaker and were doing 18-21 knots!" He added that they have enjoyed racing around the Costa Smeralda. "Sailing through the rocks, flat water and big winds - it is just stunning."

In the slower Group 2 Mini Maxi class Guiseppe Puttini's Swan 65 ketch Shirlaf is looking strong to take second place under IRC ahead of Marietta Strasoldo's Swan 651 Lunz Am Meer, which is sailed by Strasoldo's family and with former America's Cup helmsman Paolo Cian calling tactics. Lunz Am Meer's Riccardo Genghini admitted: "We are having some difficulty with the boat because the rudder is not working properly." As a result they will stand down from tomorrow's final race. As to the Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup overall he added: "The organisation is great and having two race committees this year made things work much smoother and the starts didn't take so long. We all felt it was an improvement."

Racing concludes tomorrow with further windward-leewards for the Maxi 72s and coastal courses for the other classes in winds forecast to be slightly lighter than today.

Report by James Boyd / International Maxi Association

Results

Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup

Announcement

Porto Perfection For Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup

Porto Perfection For Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup

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