The Yacht Club Costa Smeralda’s sporting calendar enters the second half of the season with two consecutive weeks devoted to large sailing yachts. From 6 to 12 September, Porto Cervo will host the 36th Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup, followed from 13 to 19 September by the 23rd Rolex Swan Cup.

For more than four decades, the Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup has brought together some of the most competitive yachts on the international racing circuit. The provisional entry list for the 2026 edition is approaching 40 yachts over 60 feet, with entries still open, and once again includes the leading contenders for the two world championship titles at stake: the Rolex IMA Maxi 1 World Championship and the Rolex IMA Maxi Grand Prix World Championship. Defending the titles they won in 2025 will be the WallyCento Galateia, owned by David Leuschen and Chris Flowers, in Maxi 1, and YCCS member Giovanni Lombardi Stronati’s wallyrocket71 Django 7X, the reigning Maxi Grand Prix world champion. Galateia will face familiar rivals including Leopard 3, V, Magic Carpet E, Tilakkhana, My Song, Capricorno and Deep Blue, while Django 7X will once again line up against Jolt, Bella Mente, Proteus, Jethou and Balthasar. The Maxi Grand Prix division will also see the debut of Northstar III, the recently launched JV76 owned by YCCS member Peter Dubens. The multihull fleet will be particularly significant, with six entries: Allegra, Coco de Mer, Gaea, Highland Fling 18, Layla and Sophia, the first trimaran ever to compete in the Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup. The programme will alternate the traditional coastal races through the islands and channels of the La Maddalena Archipelago with windward-leeward racing for the Maxi 1 and Maxi Grand Prix classes in the waters off Porto Cervo, testing yachts and crews across a wide variety of courses, conditions and tactical situations.

The following week will be devoted to the Rolex Swan Cup, which this year coincides with the 60th anniversary of the Finnish shipyard’s foundation. The event has already attracted 167 entries, close to the maximum fleet size of 170 yachts. The line-up will provide a journey through the entire history of Nautor Swan, from Tarantella, the Swan 36-001 recently restored in Pietarsaari and the yacht with which the shipyard began production in 1966, to the two Swan 128s Be Cool and Raijin and the new Swan 80 Elvi. The fleet will reflect the three different strands of the Nautor Swan world: ClubSwan Racing will include the ClubSwan 50, ClubSwan 43, ClubSwan 42, ClubSwan 36, ClubSwan 28 and Swan 45 one-design classes; ClubSwan Legacy will bring together the historic yachts designed by Sparkman & Stephens, Ron Holland and German Frers; while ClubSwan Spirit will be dedicated to the modern models, including a division for owners who wish to race while retaining a more cruising-oriented configuration. Providing a link between the two events will be Giuseppe Puttini’s Swan 65 Shirlaf. Launched in 1976 and celebrating her 50th anniversary this year, she is entered in both the Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup and the Rolex Swan Cup.

Following the Rolex Swan Cup, the Yacht Club Costa Smeralda’s racing season will continue into early October with the J/70 Cup and Italian Championship, scheduled from 2 to 4 October. The final event on the YCCS 2026 racing calendar will extend sailing activity in Porto Cervo beyond the peak tourist period, helping to lengthen the season and generate further benefits for the local area.