Ireland’s Frank O’Leary and Shane Diviney remain unbeaten aboard North Star III at the Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup in Porto Cervo, where Peter Dubens’ JV76 has opened a commanding lead in the Rolex IMA Maxi Grand Prix World Championship.
North Star III won Thursday’s coastal race in a strengthening Sardinian Mistral to make it four victories from four races and move to just four points overall.
There was further Irish interest immediately behind, with Gratt Roberts aboard Django 7X, which finished second, just 51 seconds behind North Star III on corrected time. Balthasar took third.
North Star III now holds a 13-point advantage over Balthasar, Bella Mente and Proteus, which are tied on 17 points. Irish sailors Cian Guilfoyle, Oisin McClelland and Ian Moore are racing aboard Bella Mente.
Leopard 3 Wins to Close on Maxi 1 Lead
On the Prowl: Leopard 3 leads Galateia and V in breezy Maxi 1 racing at the 2026 Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup in Porto Cervo. Photo: Rolex/Studio Borlenghi" title="On the Prowl: Leopard 3 leads Galateia and V in breezy Maxi 1 racing at the 2026 Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup in Porto Cervo. Photo: Rolex/Studio Borlenghi
The Rolex IMA Maxi 1 World Championship remains much tighter, with the Irish-crewed Leopard 3 winning the second of Thursday’s two windward-leeward races.
With Will Byrne, Tom McWilliams and Mark Petticrew among the crew, Leopard 3 finished ahead of Galateia and My Song to move to within a single point of the championship lead.
V, with Ireland’s James O’Mahony aboard, won the opening race ahead of Magic Carpet E and Galateia.
After four races, V leads on nine points, Leopard 3 is second on 10 and defending world champion Galateia is third on 12.
Irish sailors are also strongly represented aboard Galateia, with Nin O’Leary, Justin Slattery, Simon Johnson, Kelvin Harrap and Rory Harrap among the crew, while Jeremy Elliott is aboard Magic Carpet E.
Mistral Tests Maxi Fleet
Thursday produced the strongest conditions of the Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup so far as Sardinia’s renowned Mistral swept across the racecourses.
The breeze was around 16 knots at the noon start before building to 22 knots, with gusts reaching 25 knots in some sections of the courses.
The Maxi 1 yachts sailed two windward-leeward races off Porto Cervo, while the Maxi Grand Prix, Maxi 3, Maxi 4, Maxi 5 and Multihull fleets tackled coastal courses tailored to their respective performance levels.
All six classes shared a windward mark positioned three miles from the starting line off the island of Caprera.
Elsewhere, Artemis Bleu won in Maxi 3, Yoru took Maxi 4, H2O continued its clean sweep in Maxi 5 and Highland Fling XVIII won the Multihull race.
Racing at the 36th Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup continues on Friday, September 11, with the start scheduled for noon and the Mistral forecast to strengthen during the afternoon.
