Closure for 32nd Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup

The 2022 Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup was held September 4-10, with racing held for boats from 60 feet to 143 feet in length. While the wind was too strong on the final day, the teams had four previous days of windward/leeward racing and coastal courses along north-east Sardinia’s Maddalena Archipelago in Italy.

The 32nd edition attracted 46 teams which featured historic yachts, including original and replica J-Class whose designs date back to the 1930s, high-performance entries such as the Wallycentos, and stripped-back carbon racers built purely for power and speed.

Svea was crowned winner among the J Class yachts, followed by Ranger and Velsheda respectively. In the Supermaxi division,the Swan 115 Shamanna triumphed over the Spirit Yachts 111 Geist with the Swan 115 Moat 1 in third place.

In the Maxi division, the largest with 13 entries, Highland Fling XI took the win ahead of the Wallycento Galateia and the Wally 93 Bullitt.

“The boat is 13 years old this year and we’re delighted that we can still compete and compete well against all these other boats that are significantly younger,” noted Irvine Laidlaw, owner of the Highland Fling XI. “We’ll be back next year with a new 80-foot cat and we’re looking forward to that very much, it’s the best place in the world to go sailing and hopefully we’ll have the fastest catamaran in the world.”

In the Mini Maxi 1 group of pure racing yachts, Vesper claimed victory ahead of Proteus and Bella Mente. The scores were tight at the top of the Mini Maxi 2 class, where Capricorno got the better of the Mylius 80 Twin Soul B by just one point, with the Wally 78 Rose taking third place.

“I’m feeling a lot of emotions all at once, first of all because there are three generations of my family on board,” said Alessandro Del Bono, owner of Capricorno. “From my father Rinaldo to my son, secondly because our boat has a great history (she won the Admiral’s Cup in 1995) and will be 27 years old this year, then I’m proud of the crew who showed their ability despite having an average age well above the others, and finally for the beauty of racing in Sardinia.”

H2O earned a clear run of four consecutive wins to triumph with a clear margin in the Mini Maxi 3&4 category. She was followed by the Mylius 65 FD Oscar 3 and the Dehler 60 Blue Oyster.

The first ever Mini Maxi foiler FlyingNikka made her debut, but given her radically different design compared to traditional boats, she raced in her own class, the Mini Maxi 0, where she was the sole participant.

Details: https://www.yccs.it/en/regattas-2022/maxi_yacht_rolex_cup-329.html