IMA Maxi European Championship 2026: coastal racing and tight standings on day three in Sorrento
The IMA Maxi European Championship 2026 continued today in the Gulf of Naples, organized by the Circolo del Remo e della Vela Italia in synergy with the International Maxi Association (IMA), in collaboration with the Yacht Club Italiano of Genoa and the Reale Yacht Club Canottieri Savoia, with the support of Rolex and Loro Piana.
For the third day of inshore racing in Sorrento, the Race Committee led by Stuart Childerley once again opted for a coastal race, setting a course through the Gulf of Naples that brought the fleet from the starting area off Marina Piccola in Sorrento all the way to the foot of Mount Vesuvius, between Naples and Castellammare, before returning to Sorrento for the finish line.
Once again, conditions proved better than forecast. Between Sorrento and Punta Campanella, the West/South-West breeze remained fairly stable at around 10 knots, while in the inner part of the Gulf, towards Vesuvius, it dropped to around 6-7 knots. On the final leg back towards Sorrento, the fleet found the same pressure again, setting up an exciting finish.
Claiming today’s victory on the approximately 30-nautical-mile course in the Maxi Grand Prix division was Jethou of Sir Peter Ogden, with New Zealand sailing legend Brad Butterworth calling tactics, ahead of Jolt of Peter Harrison and Bella Mente of Hap Fauth with Terry Hutchinson on tactics.
“Today we raced the coastal course, with light breeze but still enough wind to allow for a great day of racing,” said Brad Butterworth, tactician of Jethou. “We got off to a very good start already on the first beat, managing to position ourselves ahead of the other boats in our class and gradually extend along the course. The racecourse in the Gulf of Naples is truly outstanding, probably one of my favourites anywhere. We also managed to avoid the wind hole around Capri, which today could have been decisive. Overall it was a fantastic day: an incredible venue, top-level racing and many very strong sailors on the water. We are very happy with our performance. Tomorrow, we would probably prefer not to race…” Butterworth joked, “but in the end the racecourse will decide: whoever performs best on the final day will deserve the victory.”
With the discard now coming into play, although it cannot be applied to the offshore Regata dei Tre Golfi, the provisional overall standings have changed only slightly. Ahead of tomorrow’s final day, Jethou leads overall, followed by Northstar of Peter Dubens, member of the CRV Italia, while Bella Mente sits in third position.
In the Maxi 1 division, the fastest yacht across the finish line was V of Karel Komarek, with Ken Read and Olympic gold medalist Sime Fantela onboard. Second place went to the other Wallycento Galateia of David Leuschen and Chris Flowers, member of the CRV Italia, while the Italian Capricorno of Alessandro Del Bono completed today’s podium. The same trio also occupies the top three positions in the provisional overall standings. Only two points separate first from fifth overall.
“It was a great day for Team V, although a very demanding one,” said tactician Sime Fantela after racing. “At first glance it may have looked like a straightforward race, with favourable conditions on the left side of the course, but everyone was extremely competitive at the start. Everybody wanted to go left and secure the pin end, and that was really the key theme of the day. We managed an excellent start, fourth from the pin, but Tilakkhana II, which was just ahead of us, was over early. That immediately left us with a free lane to go left, where there was more pressure and a favourable shift. After only 100-200 metres we were already leading the fleet. From that moment on, our focus was mainly on controlling the boats behind us and defending our position without losing speed. We were also quite prepared for the later legs of the course: I had reviewed my notes from last year and we had raced a very similar course in the bay under almost identical conditions. That helped us predict very well what to expect. In the final part, however, we added a bit of suspense to the day,” he continued. “At the leeward mark, with a solid lead, we were unable to drop the gennaker properly. We effectively missed the mark and sailed straight on, losing valuable metres. When we finally decided to manually take the sail down, we probably lost one or two minutes to our rivals. Fortunately, we managed to recover the sail onboard while still keeping our advantage over Galateia. In the end we extended again and secured the victory, although it was extremely close racing. It was a beautiful race and now we look forward confidently to tomorrow. We are in a good position overall, but with one or two races still to sail, everything remains wide open. The points gaps are minimal, so we will stay focused and keep fighting until the very end.”
In Maxi 3, competing on a 22-nautical-mile course, the best performer of the day was Cippa Lippa X of Guido Paolo Gamucci, ahead of Manticore of Franz Baruffaldi and Sensei of Jean Sebastien Decaux. In the overall standings, Cippa Lippa X and Manticore lead the fleet, followed by the Belgian Kallima of Paul Berger.
“Today we raced quite a long coastal course,” said Guido Paolo Gamucci, owner of Cippa Lippa X. “The conditions were made even more challenging by the light breeze. The course included only marks, without going around the islands, but it was still very interesting because the bigger boats had a longer course and eventually caught up with us while we were still racing. Later they shared the final part of the course with us and, fortunately for us, the course was shortened, otherwise we would probably still be out there since the wind completely died. The boat performed well. We had some difficulties with the disturbed air from the bigger yachts, but overall we managed quite well.”
Fra Diavolo of Vincenzo Addessi was the top performer of the day in the Maxi 4 and 5 groups, ahead of Why Not of Lasse Petterson and H2O of Riccardo De Michele. Fra Diavolo also maintains a solid lead in the provisional overall standings, ahead of H2O and Yoru of Luigi Sala in third.
Tomorrow marks the final day of racing in Sorrento for the 2026 IMA Maxi European Championship. The Race Committee will decide in the morning, based on weather conditions, whether to schedule a windward-leeward race or another coastal course.
The regatta is supported by leading partners including Rolex and Loro Piana, alongside North Sails, Wally Yachts, Deloitte, Ferrarelle, Ottogas, Garmin, Banca Patrimoni Sella & C., Caffè Borbone and Azimut Investimenti.
