The wind whistles loudly through the shrouds: the regatta season on the Costa Smeralda
From the Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup to the Rolex Swan Cup: Olympic champions, the stars of long-distance ocean crossings and the biggest names in corporate yachting are set to compete in Sardinia.
Contemplative or competitive: there are two contrasting yet complementary ways of experiencing the sea. The first reflects the concept of the blue mind developed by biologist Wallace J. Nichols. If our brains are ‘genetically predisposed to react positively to water, being near it can calm us and help us connect, whilst boosting our capacity for innovation and intuition’. Gazing at the horizon, following the steady movement of the waves, and taking a cruise in the spirit of slowness and pleasure are the closest way to fulfil the need to recharge whilst on holiday. But contemplation and action are inseparable: there is an equally strong urge to view the sea as an opportunity to surpass oneself, a dynamic metaphor for change that offers everything one needs: challenge, adventure, performance, freedom, sport. And a long tradition of heroes and athletes, from Odysseus to Éric Tabarly, and beyond. Two different approaches and the same conviction, recounted a thousand times and in a thousand variations by explorers and writers of every era. We’ll choose one: ‘I’ve always believed that there are only two true masters: one is the sea, and the other is the boat.’
‘And the sky – you’re forgetting the sky. Yes, of course, the sky, and the winds, and the clouds.’ With José Saramago, we’re ready to set sail. To begin with, by unfurling the sails. The mistral whistling through the shrouds and the lenticular clouds thinning like cuttlefish bones above the green-blue depths are the sign that the regatta season is about to begin: in Italia, the major international competitions – those straddling the worlds of the jet set and competitive sport – take place in September, on the world’s most famous racing ground, the Costa Smeralda. Porto Cervo’s Piazzetta buzzes with energy and sailors in uniform checking tonnage certificates and weather forecasts. The Yacht Club Costa Smeralda boasts a fast-paced sporting calendar – 13 regattas in 5 months, including the Rolex TP52 World Championship – and rounds off the season with two major events, organised back-to-back in partnership with the luxury watchmaker that has been supporting it for over 40 years: the Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup, from 6 to 12 September, and the Rolex Swan Cup, from 13 to 19 September. Thirteen days of pure sailing, with over forty boats expected for the first regatta, a figure set to reach a record 150 in the next one, dedicated to the ‘swans of the sea’.
The race course winds its way through the La Maddalena archipelago, a route that is as technical as it is thrilling and which, given the large number of participants, demands great experience and the utmost concentration from the crews, who must navigate their way between islands, islets and rocks that act as natural buoys. On the water, the sport’s most famous names compete: Olympians, America’s Cup champions and stars of major ocean races. By the pool at the Yacht Club Costa Smeralda — founded by Prince Karim Aga Khan IV, in whose memory a perpetual trophy will be awarded at the Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup from this year onwards — the classic yachting crowd is expected: entrepreneurs, financiers, industrialists, top executives and aristocrats. All are yacht owners, and often at the helm of large vessels, ready for a showdown at sea, but also to forge fruitful relationships on shore. It begins with discussions about right of way round the mark and ends with the signing of contracts and the forging of alliances, away from the formality of meeting rooms and offices.
The Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup, now in its 36th edition, is organised in collaboration with the International Maxi Association and is reserved for yachts of at least 60 feet, equivalent to 18.3 metres. Competing on the water are Super and Mini Maxis, Wallys and multihulls. This year, the spotlight is on Karel Komárek, owner of the WallyCento V: the Czech entrepreneur, head of the international investment group KKCG, is in fact involved in two high-profile areas. On the one hand, the complex financial situation surrounding the management of the Ferretti Group; on the other, he heads, alongside Chris Welch, the American Racing Challenger Team, the new US challenger for the 38th America’s Cup in Naples in 2027. Alongside him is a fleet of international regulars, including Adrian Keller, of the Diethelm Keller dynasty, with Allegra; Peter Harrison, CEO of Richard Mille EMEA, who, with his Jolt yachts, won the 2025 Admiral’s Cup for the Yacht Club de Monaco alongside Pierre Casiraghi; and Sir Lindsay Owen-Jones, who transformed L’Oréal into a cosmetics giant, aboard his innovative 100-foot Magic Carpet. The Italian fleet is no less impressive: we’ll see the 80-foot ‘Capricorno’ owned by Alessandro Del Bono, CEO of the pharmaceutical group Mediolanum Farmaceutici; ‘My Song’ owned by Pier Luigi Loro Piana; ‘Viriella’ owned by Vittorio Moretti, owner of Cantina Bellavista; and ‘Django 7X’ owned by Giovanni Lombardi Stronati. It is precisely the latter who is the leading figure on the Italia front, competing in both the Rolex Maxi and the Rolex Swan Cup. FIV 2026 Owner of the Year and fresh from a third-place finish overall in the Admiral’s Cup, Lombardi Stronati is an Italian-British corporate lawyer, university lecturer and former president of Siena Calcio. A well-rounded owner, he possesses a fleet of yachts ranging from racing Wallys to a Swan maxi, including one-designs and a fabulous J-Class, a replica of a historic America’s Cup yacht from the 1930s. Women’s sailing is well represented by Pascale Decaux, owner of the WallyCento Tilakkhana, with a crew led by ocean sailor Dee Caffari; by the American owner and philanthropist Wendy Schmidt aboard Deep Blue; and by the Italian Silvia De’ Longhi, who races the 62-foot Manticore.
Held every two years, the Rolex Swan Cup brings together all the yachts built by the Finnish shipyard Nautor Swan in Pietarsaari, in the far north of Finland, which is celebrating its 60th anniversary. Now part of the Sanlorenzo Group, the Swans have been regarded as the ultimate sailing yachts since 1966, when Olin J. Stephens II designed the legendary Tarantella (which is competing today) in fibreglass. Since then, they have been the undisputed stars of international sailing, making their mark on every circuit, including the first round-the-world sailing race in 1974 with Sayula II. From classic lines to carbon fibre, from cruiser-racers to one-designs, right through to contemporary superyachts – such as the two brand-new 128-foot entries – Swans have been at the forefront of the evolution of yacht design, whilst retaining their strong identity. It is this continuity that Massimo Perotti, who took over from Leonardo Ferragamo in 2024, is called upon to preserve: honouring the shipyard’s legacy whilst, at the same time, driving it towards new challenges, from hybrid propulsion to megayachts. To celebrate the anniversary, around 150 boats are expected to take part, forming an impressive fleet divided into several classes: ClubSwan Spirit, which brings together all the latest models; ClubSwan Racing, reserved for One Design yachts; and ClubSwan Legacy, comprising yachts built from the shipyard’s foundation through to the 1990s. These include the S&S Swan Association, founded in 2000 by Matteo Salamon to protect the legacy of the legendary yachts designed by the New York-based studio of the same name; the Swan Classic by Frers, which are also united in an association chaired by Lodovica Genghini; and those designed by Ron Holland.
