Seven weeks before the start of the third edition of the IMA Maxi European Championship, as many as 31 yachts have confirmed their participation in the event organized by the Circolo del Remo e della Vela Italia (CRVI) in collaboration with the International Maxi Association (IMA).
The Championship will take place in the Gulf of Naples, from May 17 to 23, with the support of Loro Piana and Rolex as Official Time Keeper. This will be the third consecutive year that the IMA holds its Maxi European Championship with the CRVI, which has become a significant event in the Maxi sailing calendar, the entry list so far matches last year's, when Peter Dubens' Maxi 72 North Star clinched the European title. This year's event will include both offshore and inshore races, offering a complete challenge to the competitors. It will start on Friday, May 17 with the 69th Regata dei Tre Golfi. This 150-mile offshore race will start, and this year will also end, in the bay of Santa Lucia in Naples, where the CRVI headquarters is located under the Castel dell'Ovo. Participants in the European Championship will then move to Sorrento from May 20 to 23 for the inshore races, which will include windward-leeward and coastal courses. As usual, the races will be run with an IRC certificate and competitors will be required to have 'approved' certificates for increased accuracy.
The big novelty for 2024 is the participation of a highly competitive fleet of 100-footers. Once again, Arca SGR, the 100-footer by Furio Benussi will be the reference boat. His team from Trieste will try to make up for the problems encountered last year in the Regata dei Tre Golfi, when they were forced to retire due to issues with the canting keel. This year there will also be three former Wallycentos - V by Karel Komarek, Magic Carpet 3 by Sir Lindsay Owen-Jones and Galateia, sailed by co-owner Chris Flowers - in addition to the Wally 93 Bullitt by Andrea Recordati. All three Wallycentos have undergone significant work during the winter, with the addition of water ballast tanks at the stern, allowing them to remove lead from the bulbs, improving downwind performance. But Galateia's tactician, Kelvin Harrap, is cautious about the changes: "The boat has performed well over the past few years, but it's necessary to evolve and keep up with what the other boats are doing. We don't know how it will translate in terms of rating or how it will perform in the water. We're crossing our fingers that it works." Other changes to Galateia include extending the mainsheet track and adding an ultra-fast internal drop system for the bow sails. "So the gennaker will go through the owner's cabin! But we hope this system brings a decisive improvement to the boat, as it happens with the TP52s." Regarding their first-time participation in the IMA Maxi European Championship, Harrap said he's looking forward to it. "I know there might also be little wind, but we'll have Murray [Jones] and Jordi [Calafat] to help us. We suggested to Chris [Flowers] to go to Sorrento and he was thrilled to discover a new place."
Event supporter Pier Luigi Loro Piana will return with his ever-improved ClubSwan 80 My Song, which won the Maxi 1 class last year. Competing against them in the water will be four former Maxi 72s. In the maxi fleet, these boats are the most optimized and sail at the highest level. For 2024, the reigning IMA Maxi European Champion, North Star by Peter Dubens, returns to defend its title after narrowly beating Proteus by George Sakellaris last year. Dubens' team will also aim to win the Regata dei Tre Golfi for the third consecutive year. "I think it suits our boat," explains North Star's tactician, Nick Rogers, a double Olympic silver medalist. "The 72s are always super-strong in any IRC fleet. The races [at the Europeans] are a bit more windward-leeward oriented and often there are stretches of the offshore races and many of the coastal races that are in light winds. Conditions that suit our boat." They expect to get back into the game after breaking the bowsprit at last year's Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup. Jethou, the 77-footer by Sir Peter Ogden returns for the third year after winning the Regata dei Tre Golfi last year in real time, also setting a new record. Jethou and North Star will be joined by Jolt by Peter Harrison (formerly Cannonball), while the principal team of American Magic, Hap Fauth, will participate for the first time with his Bella Mente in the race. Most of the competitors are nevertheless 60-foot yachts. Among these stands out the Wally 60 by Benoît de Froidmont, president of the IMA, Wallyño. Last year they won for the second time the Mediterranean Maxi Inshore Challenge of the IMA, helped by a second-place class finish at the IMA Maxi Europeans, behind the Vallicelli 78 by Riccardo de Michele, who will also participate this year. Other class winners from 2023 were the 48-year-old Swan 65 ketch Shirlaf by Giuseppe Puttini, which has an excellent track record here, having won the Volcano Race in 2015 and the last Rolex Capri Sailing Week in 2021. Once again, the Regata dei Tre Golfi is part of the Mediterranean Maxi Offshore Challenge IMA 2023-24, while the inshore races count for the Mediterranean Maxi Inshore Challenge of the IMA.