A crew with some of Ireland's top big boat talent has won the Maxi A World Championships in Porto Cervo, Italy.
Run by the Yacht Club Costa Smeralda in conjunction with the International Maxi Association, the final day's racing started but couldn’t finish due to a lack of wind.
A seven-strong Irish presence on the 100ft Galateia included double Volvo Race winner Justin Slattery of Cork and Nin O'Leary, Cork, Simon Johnson, Wicklow, Johnny Mordaunt, Dublin, Ed O'Connor, Limerick, Rory Harrap, Cork
Kelvin Harrap, Cork and Chris Walsh of Dublin.
In Maxi A (for the former <100ft ‘Maxi Racer’ class), David M Leuschen and Chris Flowers’ Galateia won by seven points from the 100ft Leopard 3, which rose to second, one point ahead of Andrea Recordati's 93ft Bullitt after a reappraisal of the scoring.
Galateia maintained a consistent series of podium finishes to win overall at the Maxi A Championships in Porto Cervo Photo: Rolex/Carlo Borlenghi
While Leopard 3 made the strongest start to the event, Andrea Recordati’s heavily refitted 93ft Bullitt won two races in lighter winds. Meanwhile, Galateia simply maintained a consistent series of podium finishes.
WallyCento Galateia won with a clear lead over Leopard 3 and Bullitt, which must be credited with an excellent comeback after retiring on the first race day. Yesterday, due to a calculation error, Bullitt was wrongly classified as having finished in second place. On his return to the dock, David Leuschen commented: "It has been an exceptional week. The key factors for our success have been our consistency, nothing but second- and third-place finishes, and our starts, probably the best we have ever had in a regatta. Winning the Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup is an extraordinary achievement; for us, it’s like the Holy Grail, so we feel very good."
The Maxi prizegiving at the Yacht Club Costa Smeralda in Porto Cervo, Italy
This week Leuschen and Flowers divided their time on the helm. Leuschen said this year their starting had been the best it has ever been. Flowers was acclimatising to the white 100 footer, having only become a co-owner last year. “This is my first time here,” he said. “I am delighted with our result. I’m very impressed with the competition. What a beautiful venue and what fantastic weather. I’m pleased with the result of course. For me, this is my biggest achievement in sailing. I’m thinking of retiring right now!”
