ELEGANCE, INNOVATION AND ADRENALINE: THE GREAT SAILING WORLD RETURNS TO PORTO CERVO WITH THE GIANTS OF THE SEA FOR THE 35TH EDITION OF THE MOST ICONIC REGATTA IN THE MEDITERRANEAN

There's a specific moment every year when Porto Cervo transforms. The pace slows, the air smells of salt and the future, and the sea becomes the stage for a meticulous dance between man and nature. It's time for the Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup, and the 2025 edition—the thirty-fifth—promises to be a memorable one. From September 7 to 13, 2025, the emerald waters of Sardinia will once again welcome an elite fleet: approximately 50 maxi yachts among the most advanced, spectacular, and fastest ever built.
Organized by Yacht Club Costa Smeralda (YCCS) in collaboration with the International Maxi Association (IMA) and with the support of its historic partner Rolex, the regatta is considered the pinnacle of the Mediterranean sailing season. It's more than just a sporting challenge. It's a spectacle of precision and beauty, a meeting point between the finest minds in nautical design and some of the world's best sailors. Every tack, every
upwind, every glide in the Mistral wind tells a story of passion, research and controlled power.

THE 2025 EDITION: NEWS, RETURNS, AND ANTICIPATION The 2025 edition will be inaugurated with the traditional Welcome Cocktail on the YCCS terrace on Sunday 7 September, in a picture-postcard setting overlooking the port. The regattas will take place from Monday 8 to Saturday 13 September, spanning five days of competition between the islands of’La Maddalena Archipelago, with spectacular passages in the famous Bomb Alley, the canal that separates La Maddalena from Caprera.
But 2025 will also mark an important turning point for the YCCS, with the installation of the new Commodore, following the elections to be held at the August meeting. The Board of Directors has already entrusted Andrea Recordati, an entrepreneur and veteran sailor, with the responsibility for sporting representation of the Club. A figure who embodies the spirit of the Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup: international vision, deep roots, and a genuine love for sailing.

A 35-YEAR-LONG LEGEND Over three decades, the Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup has seen some of the most legendary yachts in recent history sail the Sardinian sea: Esense, the 143-foot Wally yacht with which Luca Bassani revolutionized the aesthetics and philosophy of contemporary sailing. Rambler 88, the ocean-going missile designed by Juan Kouyoumdjian, feared and respected for his aggressiveness and international record.
Highland Fling XI, several times champion in the emerald waters under the guidance of the charismatic Lord Irvine Laidlaw, icon of world sailing. Magic Carpet³, the yacht of Sir Lindsay Owen-Jones, regular and impeccable, constant presence in the circuit. Velsheda, J-Class from the 1930s came back to life to prove that elegance never goes out of style. Alongside these giants, famous faces such as Jim Clark, Niklas Zennström, Thomas Bscher and the same Andrea Recordati They fought with talent, vision and competitive spirit. A true aristocracy of international sailing, which meets every September at Porto Cervo like in a large nautical lounge.

PORTO CERVO: MORE THAN A DESTINATION, A LEGEND The Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup isn't just the grand finale of the Costa Smeralda summer. It's one of the rare occasions where sport meets legend. The Costa Smeralda isn't just the backdrop: it's an integral part of the narrative. Here, the sea is experienced with an inimitable style, combining precision and poetry, performance and discretion.
The regatta is part of a top-level sporting calendar that will also see the return of the Rolex Swan Cup in 2025, the Giorgio Armani Superyacht Regatta, the J24 and Etchells European Championships, and of course the America's Cup in Barcelona, an event that will focus the world's attention on high-level yachting.
In the tense silence before the cannon shot, between the sound of the wind caressing the sails and the reflection of the sun on the hulls, something unrepeatable takes shape.

The Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup is a story that is written every year with the wind, sculpted by the waves, and remembered as an experience that goes beyond sport.
This is where the legend was born. And it is here that, every September, it returns. More splendid than ever.