Big Boat Bonanza - Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup

Sardinia, Italy - After a week of sailing in yachts that range from "Mini-Maxi" to what truly earn the title "Super-Maxi," the winds have died, the results are in, and on the podium there have been a few surprises. The Yacht Club Costa Smeralda hosted some big names and big yachts in this 19th Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup, and the varied sailing conditions were a perfect test of the boats' and crews' abilities and performance.  With 40 boats, four classes, and some of the most spectacular coastline in the Mediterranean, if not the entire world, this race was a jaw-dropper in regard to both the racing action and the scenery.

In the Racing Class, though all eyes were on Alfa Romeo and its star-studded crew to continue its winning streak here in Sardinia,  George David and crew on Rambler never let up.  A bullet in the last race run (the fifth race was abandoned for lack of wind) was the tie-breaker that put Rambler on top in the final standings, and Alfa Romeo in second by a hair's breadth. 

Said David about the fact that Rambler is the old Alfa: "its very nice to have a new Alfa against a former Alfa. It adds a little extra to the rivalry that is already good, clean, friendly competition. Neville's a great owner and a nice person, and I enjoy racing against him. It's nice to be a generation different too. They have a canting keel and we're just water ballasted. They tack faster, but we have some tricks up our sleeves in how we do our tacking and we've done a fair amount of optimizing over the past months. I'd say we are about level on corrected, both uphill and downhill, and the boats are both well sailed.”

In the Wally Class, Lindsay Owen-Jones took the cup by a scant one-point lead, saying “It was very, very close this year. We've had four or five boats within one and half minutes almost every day and seconds separating the first two. The key thing has been never to have a really negative result."  He summed up the entire event in saying that "this is the regatta we all want to win. Let's be simple about it, every year we think 'we like Saint-Tropez,' but the one we all want to win is the Rolex because it's the most prestigious, it's existed for so long, it is a fantastic place, there's always wind up through the channels, and it is the most incredible natural harbour and area to race."

FINAL STANDINGS - 2008 Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup

Racing Class
1. RAMBLER George David USA, 2-1-2-1-6.0
2. ALFA ROMEO Neville Crichton NZL, 1-2-1-2-6.0

Cruising Class
1. RANGER, RSV Ltd USA, 1-1-1-1-4.0
2. HETAIROS, Rockport Limited GER, 4-4-4-3-15.0
3. VELSHEDA, Tarbat Inv Ltd GBR, 3-2-12(DNF)-2-19.0

Mini Maxi Class
1. NUMBERS, Meyers/Bertarelli USA, 1-1-(2)-1-1-4.0
2. ROSEBUD/TEAM DYT, Roger Sturgeon USA, 3-3-1-2-(5)-9.0
3. MONEYPENNY, Jim Swartz USA, 2-(5)-3-3-2-10.0

Wally Class
1. MAGIC CARPET 2, Lindsay Owen-Jones GBR, 1-4-4-2-11.0
2. HIGHLAND FLING X, Irvine Laidlaw GBR, 2-6-3-1-12.0
3. OPEN SEASON, Thomas Bscher GER, 6-1-2-4-13.0

- YC exclusively for YachtPals.com

Read more about Yacht Racing:

• Racing (sailboats)
• Sailing Italy
• Rolex Yacht Races
• Sailing Sardinia

Sailing Video:  Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup