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Displaying items by tag: Leopard 3

Mike Slade's Leopard 3 won the prestigious Maxi Racing Class at the 27th edition of the Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup in Porto Cervo, Italy today.

After a fascinating duel between Mike Slade's British Maxi Leopard 3 and Round Ireland monohull record holder George David's American Maxi Rambler 88, the winner of the biggest prize in Maxi Racing, hung on the very last race. During the 30-mile decider, the two high-performance yachts were locked in an intense battle, never more than a few boat length apart. At the finish line, Mike Slade's Farr 100 Leopard 3 was just seconds ahead of George David's Rambler 88, to claim one of the biggest prizes in the sport.

“Early this year, Leopard had a major refit, including adding more sail power, that combined with winning every start at the regatta was the key to our success. Huge thanks to the the crew and Skipper, Chris Sherlock, for all the long hours put in to turn Leopard into a world beater. I am on cloud nine, winning at the Maxis is a wonderful achievement.” commented Mike Slade.

Mike Slade's Leopard 3 will be back in action at Les Voiles de St Tropez from the 24th September, before competing in the 3000-mile RORC Transatlantic Race in November, with a full Caribbean season to follow.

Published in Offshore

About Match Racing

A match race is a race between two competitors, going head-to-head.

In yacht racing, it is differentiated from a fleet race, which almost always involves three or more competitors competing against each other, and team racing where teams consisting of 2, 3 or 4 boats compete together in a team race, with their results being combined.

A match race consists of two identical boats racing against each other. With effective boat handling and clever use of wind and currents, a trailing boat can escape the grasp of the leader and pass. The leader uses blocking techniques to hold the other boat back. This one-on-one duel is a game of strategy and tactics.

About the World Match Racing Tour

Founded in 2000, the World Match Racing Tour (WMRT) promotes the sport of match racing around the world and is the longest running global professional series in the sport of sailing. The WMRT is awarded ‘Special Event’ status by the sport’s world governing body – World Sailing – and the winner of the WMRT each year is crowned World Sailing Match Racing World Champion. Previous champions include Sir Ben Ainslie (GBR), Taylor Canfield (USA), Peter Gilmour (AUS), Magnus Holmberg (SWE), Peter Holmberg (ISV), Adam Minoprio (NZL), Torvar Mirsky (AUS), Bertrand Pace (FRA), Jesper Radich (DEN), Phil Robertson (NZL) and Ian Williams (GBR). Since 2000, the World Match Racing Tour and its events have awarded over USD23million in prize money to sailors which has helped to contribute to the career pathway of many of today’s professional sailors