Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup

Northstar III extends lead in the Maxi Grand Prix World Championship; Maxi 1 title race too close to call

Porto Cervo, 8 September 2026. A light Mistral wind of up to 15 knots accompanied all the Maxi classes today on a coastal race that regaled participants and spectators with the stunning sight of the entire fleet’s colourful gennakers converging in the La Maddalena channel. The Race Committee set four courses of varying lengths based on the speed differentials across the six different classes taking part, all racing anti-clockwise around the islands of the La Maddalena archipelago. The fastest classes stretched out to round the islands of Santa Maria and Budelli, covering a total of 34.5 miles for the Maxi 1s, around 28 miles for the Maxi Grand Prix, and 24 miles for the Maxi 3s and Multihulls. The Maxi 4 and 5 classes took a shorter route, leaving La Maddalena to port and heading directly into the channel known as Bomb Alley, for a course of around 16 miles. The effect of the format was to bring all six classes through the La Maddalena channel simultaneously, creating a spectacular full-fleet show. The finish line, originally set for just after the Passo delle Bisce, was brought forward to the Gulf of Saline due to a shift in the wind.

Winners of the day in their respective classes were Leopard 3 in the Maxi 1 class, Northstar III in the Maxi Grand Prix, Twin Soul B in the Maxi 3 class, Fra Diavolo in the Maxi 4 class, H2O in the Maxi 5 class and Highland Fling XVIII in the Multihull class.

With light winds forecast for tomorrow, the Race Committee has opted to bring the scheduled rest day forward to Wednesday 9th September, given the forecast for ideal race conditions on Thursday 10th.

Among the Maxi 1s, Leopard 3 took the second coastal race by just 46 seconds ahead of the WallyCento V on corrected time. Galateia took third place, with yesterday’s race winner Capricorno in fourth. Today’s results leave Leopard 3 and V as joint leaders of the Rolex IMA Maxi 1 World Championship on 4 points apiece, with Capricorno just one point adrift.

In the Rolex IMA Maxi Grand Prix World Championship, Northstar III continued a thus-far flawless run, with victory in today’s coastal race bringing her tally to three bullets in three races. Jolt took second place, while reigning world champion Django 7x finished third. Northstar III heads the overall standings on just 3 points - building an already significant lead over Jolt and Bella Mente, both on 11 points.

In the Maxi 3 class, the winner of the day was Twin Soul B, finishing ahead of Astra I and Manticore to move to the top of the provisional standings on 3.60 points, ahead of Astra I on 5 and Artemis Bleu on 6.

Fra Diavolo sits firmly at the top of the Maxi 4 class thanks to a second consecutive victory, once again finishing ahead of Yoru and Wallyno. H2O has also posted back-to-back wins in the Maxi 5 class, today finishing ahead of Shirlaf and Lunz am Meer. H2O leads the overall classification on 2 points, with Shirlaf and Lunz am Meer level on 5.

A reshuffle at the top of the Multihull standings, where Highland Fling XVIII claimed today’s race just 36 seconds ahead of Allegra on corrected time, third place went to Day 1 winner the trimaran Sophia. After two races, all three boats now sit at the top of the overall classification on 4 points.

Racing will resume on Thursday 10 September at 12 noon CEST, followed in the evening by the Rolex Gala Dinner, by invitation only, on the terrace of the Yacht Club Costa Smeralda

Official documents, results, the event programme, entry list, photos and news are available in the dedicated section of the YCCS website.

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