Please select your home edition
Edition
Sailingfast 2018 2 728x90

IMA Maxi European Championship at Circolo del Remo e della Vela Italia - Day 2

by James Boyd / International Maxi Association 21 May 22:47 BST 17-23 May 2024

After a windless zero race Monday, the IMA Maxi European Championship, supported by Rolex as Official Timepiece, enjoyed a brisk 15-19 knot westerly and lumpy seas for its second day.

With the event hosted out of Sorrento by the Circolo del Remo e della Vela Italia (CRVI) and supported by Loro Piana, two windward-leewards were raced out on the Gulf of Naples for the 20-strong fleet of 60-100 footers.

The westerly wind blowing through the gap in the Campanian Archipelago between Capri and Ischia allowed a significant, and occasionally chaotic sea state to develop. PRO Stuart Childerley set up the line today off Sorrento with 2.3 mile legs in the first windward-leeward, extended to 3.6 miles for the second.

Thanks to her supreme performance in the Regata dei Tre Golfi, the IMA Maxi Europeans' offshore race, Giuseppe Puttini's 48 year old Swan 65 ketch Shirlaf continues to lead the event overall. However while the former Maxi 72s suffered in the offshore, today they prevailed. As a result the venerable Shirlaf still leads, but by only one point.

Today's resounding champion was Hap Fauth's 74ft Bella Mente. The boss of the American Magic America's Cup challenge was on fire, scoring two bullets and now is breathing down Shirlaf's neck. But one point behind is Peter Dubens' North Star, defending IMA European Champion, with Sir Peter Ogden's Jethou fourth.

In both races Bella Mente started from the pin, which worked especially well in race one, said tactician Terry Hutchinson. "The Jethou guys sailed a good second race when we got tangled up with the 100 footers on the second beat and did three more tacks than them..." He praised Fauth and the team who haven't sailed together since winning the Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup last September. "It was very good racing - it must have been awesome to watch." But just one point behind is Peter Dubens' 72ft North Star, which posted two thirds today despite starting the first race with no hydraulic pressure.

Certainly the heavyweight bout was exciting to watch between the three 100 footers and the Wally 93 Bullitt as they thundered around the course. Here Chris Flowers' Galateia won the first race and Andrea Recordati's Bullitt the second, placing his Wally 93 into lead of this group. There was added drama when after the top mark rounding in the first race, the spinnaker halyard exploded on Karel Komárek's V, causing her kite to descend gracefully into the water. The monstrous acreage of sail took ages to retrieve forcing boats astern to take avoiding action and V eventually retired from the race with a broken aft stanchion. They fought back in the second race to finish second.

Of today's conditions Galateia's tactician Kelvin Harrap said: "It was pretty hard on the water because conditions were tough and with the water ballast it makes the boat harder to sail upwind in the waves." Of the racing, he added: "It was a game of inches again. In the second race Jordi [Calafat] and Murray [Jones] got us off the line well, set us up and we just crossed V. At the top mark, there were three 100 footers overlapped..." They remained overlapped at the leeward gate. "It's going to be a great season...! The racing is very exciting - with no room for any error."

While Class 4 top the results because of their Regata dei Tre Golfi performance, and Classes 2 and 1 propelled themselves up the leaderboard today, in Class 3 there is work to be done. However here there is the closest competition - within their class just one point separates first from fourth.

On top but tied with Guido Paolo Gamucci's canting keel Mylius 60 Cippa Lippa X, is Paul Berger's Swan 80 Kallima, which scored a 18-9 in the overall fleet today.

"It didn't start very well," admitted Romain Mouchel, Kallima's tactician. "In race one our jib came out so we were late and then we broke the tack, so we were playing catch up the whole way up. Then on the first bear away set we tore the A4, so we had to recover that and put up the A2. In race 2 we had much better start and went left in more pressure and more left shift."

More information on the IMA Maxi European Championship here.

Related Articles

First time wins for Yoru and Six Jaguar maxis
As Les Voiles de Saint-Tropez concludes Inadequate winds meant no racing on Friday for the maxis competing at Les Voiles de Saint-Tropez. However today there was more success for the concluding races laid on by the Société Nautique de Saint-Tropez. Posted on 5 Oct
New faces at the top at Les Voiles de Saint-Tropez
All change on the Bay of Pampelonne Following Wednesday's layday it was all change on the Bay of Pampelonne for the third day of maxi racing at Les Voiles de Saint-Tropez organised by the Société Nautique de Saint Tropez, with the competition between the 41 maxi yachts. Posted on 4 Oct
More perfect conditions & perfect Maxi scorelines
At Les Voiles de Saint-Tropez After two days of racing at Les Voiles de Saint-Tropez, the final event of the International Maxi Association's 2024 Mediterranean Maxi Inshore Challenge, the leaders remarkably hold perfect scorelines in all four classes. Posted on 1 Oct
Solid start for maxi favourites in Saint-Tropez
41-strong maxi fleet raced off the famous Plage de Pampelonne While early autumn conditions off the Cote d'Azur are usually varied, today Les Voiles de Saint-Tropez got under way for the 41-strong maxi fleet off the famous Plage de Pampelonne in sunshine and a moderate southwesterly, as forecast. Posted on 1 Oct
41 strong maxi fleet set
For Les Voiles de Saint-Tropez season concluder The International Maxi Association's annual inshore series will be finalised this week with Les Voiles de Saint-Tropez, the last of the five events in the 2024 IMA Mediterranean Maxi Inshore Challenge (MMIC). Posted on 29 Sep
Palermo-Montecarlo line honours for Black Jack
The windiest and most competitive Palermo-Montecarlo races concluded for the maxi yachts One of the windiest and most competitive Palermo-Montecarlo races concluded for the maxi yachts today with Remon Vos' 100ft Black Jack claiming line honours and setting a new race record. Posted on 22 Aug
Record under threat in the Palermo-Montecarlo?
While the race is typically a light wind affair, this year it may not be so The 19th Palermo-Montecarlo yacht race sets sail from Sicily's capital tomorrow, concluding the International Maxi Association's 2023-24 Mediterranean Maxi Offshore Challenge, which started with last autumn's Rolex Middle Sea Race. Posted on 19 Aug
New World Championship for Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup
September's event will feature the very first World Championship for 'Maxi 1' Taking place out of Porto Cervo over 8-14 September as part of the main event, the Rolex IMA Maxi 1 World Championship will be open to maxi yachts with an IRC TCC of 1.700-2.200 and up to 30.51m (100ft) in length. Posted on 1 Aug
Greek first timers claim Aegean 600 Maxi victory
In the process Aiolos also receives maximum points for this event in the IMA Maxi Offshore Challenge In a race as tough as the Aegean 600 you would not expect first timers to collect much silverware - however Greece's George Procopiou, aboard his newly acquired VO70 Aiolos, defied the odds to win the race's Maxi class. Posted on 11 Jul
Lucky claims Aegean 600 monohull line honours
As MODs match race to new record MOD70s may now be flying machines, well outside of their original one design configuration, but you would not have known that, given the multiple lead changes and tightness of their racing in this year's Aegean 600. Posted on 9 Jul