Sometimes once just isn’t enough.
The Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup, which will be held through Saturday at the Yacht Club Costa Smeralda, in Porto Cervo, Sardinia, often draws maxi yacht owners and high-level sailors back year after year.
“You have the top of the top of the sailing circuit,” said Alessandro Del Bono, the owner of Capricorno, an 82-foot Judel/Vrolijk-designed sloop and a three-time regatta veteran, referring to the caliber of the sailors who compete.
Not only that, race veterans say that the world-class competition, fleet of high-tech yachts, stunning scenery, generally reliable conditions and tactically engaging racecourses set it apart.
Add in its hospitality, the regatta’s professional management and the chance to win an engraved Rolex, and the gravity that draws some owners to Porto Cervo each September becomes apparent. The services, the place, the ambience, “has no comparison,” Del Bono said of the yacht club.
Andrea Recordati, the owner of Bullitt, a Wally 93, and the club’s commodore, said that the regatta’s competition drew him back each year. He said the regatta had long attracted the latest and most innovative yachts.
“It’s an arms race,” he said, noting that this year will be his 12th time competing at the regatta. The “best sails, best crews and no quarter left — we just battle all the time.”
These battles unfurl on two different kinds of racecourses.
The windward-leeward courses are in open water off Porto Cervo and use movable buoys that are positioned — and at times repositioned — to test each team’s ability to sail upwind, or into the wind, and downwind, or with the wind.
By contrast, the longer coastal courses use the islands in the nearby Maddalena Archipelago as turning marks to create racecourses that test each team’s ability to sail fast at a variety of wind angles, and to change sails to match the prevailing conditions.
Both course types have their proponents. Del Bono said that he preferred the windward-leeward courses. “I would say there’s more adrenaline, it’s more competitive, it’s more technical,” he said.
However, while windward-leeward courses are often found at other regattas, the Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup’s coastal courses, which wend through the archipelago, are unique. On some, yachts must navigate the roughly 15-mile stretch of often-windy water — called Bomb Alley — that separates northeast Sardinia from the archipelago.
“One of the main attractions is the many possible options for different racecourses that can be selected each day,” said Edoardo Recchi, the secretary general and sports director for the yacht club, referring to dozens of courses that regatta officials can choose, depending on wind direction and velocity.
The scenery also adds to the regatta’s enticement.
“The beauty of the setting really has to be experienced: The colors of the water close to the islands change throughout the day and in different weather conditions,” Recchi said.
Andrew McIrvine, secretary general of the International Maxi Association, said the regatta’s location and conditions draw owners back.
“It is an absolutely beautiful place to sail,” he said, adding that the regatta generally delivers reliable wind. “You sail it in between the archipelago, in between the islands, and it’s challenging racing. It isn’t dull in any way.”
McIrvine also cited the regatta’s racecourse management, which he called excellent. “That’s an attraction for people who are spending a lot of money,” he said, noting that visiting Porto Cervo and preparing a maxi yacht and crew for this regatta were expensive.
Then there are the prizes.
Rolex has sponsored the regatta since 1985 and provides multiple engraved timepieces each year, which are awarded to the winners of some classes.
“It is very appealing, trust me,” Recordati said about winning a watch. “It is something that we all really strive” for, and “want to have on our wrist.”
Others focus on different hardware.
“I love watches,” said Del Bono, noting that he has won two Rolexes at this regatta. “But compared to the amount of money that you have to spend to be competitive, it’s not the goal to win the Rolex. It’s to win the cup.”
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