Leopard 3 and Northstar III Crowned Champions at the 36th Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup

By Sailing Times Newsroom·14 September 2026·2 min read

The 36th Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup came to a close in Porto Cervo on September 12, with Joost Schuijff’s Farr 100 Leopard 3 claiming the Rolex IMA Maxi 1 World Championship and Peter Dubens’ Northstar III taking the Rolex IMA Maxi Grand Prix World Championship. The week, organised by the Yacht Club Costa Smeralda with the International Maxi Association and title sponsor Rolex, ran through everything from light opening-day winds to a Mistral gusting past 28 knots.

Leopard 3, with Chris Nicholson calling tactics, won five of seven races including the final four in a row to finish on 13 points, ahead of Karel Komarek’s WallyCento V and outgoing champion Galateia. It is Leopard 3’s second Maxi 1 title, after winning the class’s inaugural edition in 2024.

Northstar III had the Maxi Grand Prix title wrapped up a race early, opening with four straight wins and finishing on 14 points ahead of Filip Balcaen’s Balthasar. It was the boat’s debut at the regatta.

Class honours elsewhere went to James Neville’s Artemis Bleu in Maxi 3, Luigi Sala’s Yoru in Maxi 4 by a single point over Fra Diavolo, Riccardo De Michele’s H2O in Maxi 5, and Lord Irvine Laidlaw’s Highland Fling XVIII in the Multihull class, which won the title on countback after finishing level on points with Adrian Keller’s Allegra.

YCCS Commodore Andrea Recordati called it a week that “once again showcased the unique characteristics of our race course.” The club’s Secretary General, Giorgio Benussi, also paid tribute to photographer Carlo Borlenghi, whose images have long documented YCCS regattas, following his recent death.

The Yacht Club Costa Smeralda moves straight into its next event, the 23rd Rolex Swan Cup, running September 13-19 with racing starting September 16 — a fleet of nearly 170 Nautor Swan yachts marking the yard’s 60th anniversary.