Five New Zealand sailors hold afterguard or tactical roles across three classes at this week’s Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup, and the most interesting pairing among them is facing off directly. The 36th edition of the regatta runs from 6 to 12 September at Yacht Club Costa Smeralda, hosting the Rolex IMA Maxi 1 and Maxi Grand Prix World Championships for the second consecutive year. Of 43 provisional entries, 38 boats are rated and racing across six classes.
Brad Butterworth and Hamish Pepper will be looking at the same racecourse from opposing boats this week. Butterworth is calling tactics for Sir Peter Ogden aboard Jethou (TCC 1.655), while Pepper holds the same role on George and Christina Sakellaris’ Proteus (TCC 1.634), both in the seven-boat Maxi Grand Prix class. Proteus won its class here in 2024 and returns looking to repeat that result, while Jethou lines up against defending world champion Django 7X (TCC 1.620) and Hap Fauth’s four-time Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup class winner Bella Mente (TCC 1.640). Peter Dubens’ newly launched Northstar III makes her Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup debut carrying the highest rating in the class at a TCC of 1.684, with double Olympic medallist Nick Rogers calling tactics and a canting keel, an unusual solution within the current Maxi Grand Prix fleet. Peter Harrison’s Jolt (TCC 1.630), runner-up in this class in 2025, and Filip Balcaen’s Balthasar (TCC 1.626) complete a seven-boat field spread across a rating band of just 0.064 from top to bottom.
Murray Jones and Kelvin Harrap return in the afterguard of Galateia (TCC 1.799), which won the Maxi 1 world title in 2025 after class victories at this event in 2017 and 2023. Owned by David M Leuschen and Chris Flowers, Galateia is back to defend that title against an eight-boat Maxi 1 field that includes Karel Komarek’s V (TCC 1.803) and Sir Lindsay Owen-Jones’ newly launched Magic Carpet e, which carries the highest rating in the entire fleet at 1.863. Also entered are Joost Schuijff’s Leopard 3, runner-up in 2025, Pier Luigi Loro Piana’s My Song, and Alessandro Del Bono’s Capricorno, crewed in part by five-time Olympic medallist Torben Grael. Two boats in the class are helmed by their female owners, Pascale Decaux on Tilakkhana and Wendy Schmidt on Deep Blue.
Dean Barker is aboard James Neville’s Artemis Bleu (TCC 1.489) in Maxi 3. Barker and Neville have already won together in Porto Cervo this season, although aboard a different boat: Barker called tactics on Neville’s TP52 Ino Veritas when it won Sardinia Cup 1 in June, a result that helped the Royal Ocean Racing Club take the overall Range Rover Sardinia Cup team trophy. Neville and Barker now switch to Artemis Bleu in Maxi 3, up against Luciano Gandini’s Twin Soul B, with former America’s Cup skipper Francesco Bruni in the afterguard, along with Manticore, Astra I, Aegir, Scorpione Hormar and Pelotari.Project in a seven-boat class.
Racing continues through to Saturday 12 September, with the final prize giving scheduled for 17.30 that evening.
