The most important race in the annual maxi calendar is organized by the Yacht Club Costa Smeralda with the International Maxi Association and Rolex, the main sponsor since 1985

The twenty-ninth edition of the Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup reaffirmed the unique character of an event whose origins date back to 1980, and which each year brings together the best copies of the exclusive maxi race... they won the teams that showed the highest level of accuracy in the execution: Topaz in class Supermaxi, Grande Orazio in Maxi, Momo in the Rolex Maxi 72 Worlds, Lyra in Wally, SuperNikka in Mini Maxi Group 1 and H2O in Mini Maxi Group 2.

The five competition days of the Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup 2018 tested the preparation, skill and determination of its participants, three constants in the nearly 40 years of the event's history. The race field of Porto Cervo and the Archipelago of La Maddalena, on the north-east coast of Sardinia, honoured its fame and provided the perfect ingredients for a new ration of large-calibre competition.

Reserved to ships above 30.5 meters (100 feet), the Supermaxi class was an exhibition of tradition and modernity. He gathered in the field of play the elegant and classic lines of three J-Class models (Topaz, Svea and Velsheda) in front of the power and sophistication of the colossals My Song and Viriella, examples of the most advanced design of the 21st century. The week of competition would favour the J-Class, especially the Topaz, whose worst result in the five disputed coastal races (22 to 35 miles long) were seconds.

The Maxi class also attracted opposite ends of the world of the sails. The 88 feet (27 meters) Rambler of George David was born with one goal: to navigate as quickly as possible, using the latest technological advances in material, equipment and design of candles. Used to counting on victories, this time he faced a group of double purpose ships, designed to navigate both in competition and cruise in an interesting combination of speed-oriented helmets with heavy interior designed for comfort.

Another team that exemplified the importance of precision in Porto Cervo was the German Momo, who arrived as the current Maxi 72 class world champion and sought to revalidate title. Something extremely difficult in a class of high performance, with equal ships and an intense competition program that included both barlovent- and coastal sleeves.