The 21 Maxis taking part in the Loro Piana Giraglia Offshore Race reached Genoa much earlier than planned. Before the start on Wednesday lunchtime, the crews had anticipated light winds and an arrival during the second night. Instead, the leaders beat their scheduled times by up to twelve hours – a third of the expected time. The race from Saint-Tropez to Genoa is the fifth leg of the International Maxi Association’s Mediterranean Maxi Offshore Challenge for the 2025–26 season. With “Galateia”, “V” and “Leopard 3” not on the starting line, a head-to-head battle unfolded between the 100-footers: Sir Lindsay Owen-Jones’ “Magic Carpet e” and Furio Benussi’s “ARCA SGR”. The two canting-keel yachts could not be more different: “Magic Carpet e”, a current Verdier design, versus “ARCA SGR”, which originally won the 2003 Rolex Sydney Hobart as “Skandia”.
Unexpected wind all the way to the Giraglia rock
Following a gust from the Gulf of Saint-Tropez, the wind shifted so much over the following hours that the leaders were forced to make two gybes towards the rock. Contrary to the forecast, a steady breeze held throughout the entire stretch to the Giraglia Rock. “Magic Carpet e” made the most of the conditions and pulled 3.8 miles clear of “ARCA SGR”. “We thought we’d come to a complete standstill on the way to the rock and also for a while at the rock itself,” commented Sir Lindsay Owen-Jones. Instead, “Magic Carpet e” completed one of its best passages round the rock with winds of 14 to 15 knots at the right angle. Navigator Marcel van Triest explained: “We rounded the Giraglia Rock shortly before midnight, a few hours earlier than expected. That made everything much better, as a lull was forecast for 0300. With these boats, an extra knot of wind can make you three knots faster.”
ARCA SGR strikes back in light winds
An hour after rounding the rock, the expected lull set in. “ARCA SGR”, with a beam of just 4.9 metres compared to “Magic Carpet e”’s 7.2 metres and weighing ten tonnes less, was systematically closing the gap. “It was like Pac-Man, slowly eating away at our lead,” described van Triest. At 0700 hours, the two were neck and neck; “ARCA SGR” pulled ahead and effectively covered us. The black “ARCA SGR” crossed the finish line at 13:04:56, after 25 hours, 4 minutes and 56 seconds. Furio Benussi described the race as follows: “Magic Carpet overtook us before the Giraglia because they arrived in 15-knot winds and their boat is two knots faster on a broad reach. But we’d expected that. Giraglia to Genoa was a 90-mile match race. As the wind dropped, we closed the gap metre by metre and overtook them after a jibing duel.”
Revenge for Benussi
For Benussi, the victory represents a small measure of revenge. “ARCA SGR” won the First Ship Home trophy on its maiden attempt in 2021, led for most of the race in 2022, but was pipped at the finish line by Owen-Jones’s previous boat, “Magic Carpet”. “We’re now level at one all,” said Benussi. On board, his brother Gabriele is sailing as tactician, having had a remarkable week: prior to this victory, he achieved a perfect series as tactician on Carlo Puri Negri’s “Atalanta II” at the Loro Piana Giraglia Inshore Races. The crew also included Rio Nacra 17 Olympic bronze medallist Thomas Zajac and the Slovenian three-time 470 Olympian Tomaž Čopi, who beat his former Olympic 470 training partner and rival Ian Walker, who was sailing on “Magic Carpet e”. Five young crew members from the Istituto Nautico in Trieste, ARCA SGR’s home port, completed the team.
“Magic Carpet e” crossed the finish line five minutes later
“Magic Carpet e” finished at 13:10:07, five minutes after “ARCA SGR”. “We spent a lot of time within 100 yards of each other. When the wind drops to very light conditions, they have the advantage,” said Owen-Jones, commenting on their relative performances. “If it’s more than seven or eight knots, we have the advantage.” “Magic Carpet e” was fitted with a longer bowsprit and boom over the winter, as well as a larger mainsail. Next to cross the finish line was Pier Luigi Loro Piana’s 80-foot “My Song”, after 27 hours, 17 minutes and 15 seconds. “We were expecting very light winds from early afternoon, but in the end we reached the Giraglia relatively quickly,” confirmed Loro Piana. “After rounding the rock, we had half an hour of good wind and then it suddenly died away. We spent the rest of the race searching for wind, particularly here at the finish – we had at least two hours with absolutely no wind at all, which was quite challenging.”
“My Song” with a smaller crew and Paul Cayard
“My Song” sailed with a reduced crew of 14 instead of the usual more than 20. Loro Piana continued: “I have a brilliant team who worked like mad, because when the wind is lighter, you change sails more often and try to find new solutions. Everyone was always committed, always fresh and strong.” Reigning Star World Champion Paul Cayard sailed on board as tactician. “I’m very happy to have had this experience with him, because he’s such a lovely person and a champion. I’ve learnt a lot from him,” said Loro Piana. For Cayard, this is his first Loro Piana Giraglia despite his long sailing career. He commented: “After the rock, there were areas with absolutely no wind and quite tough conditions. But we were happy on My Song. We had a good strategy and kept our rivals, Capricorno, in check. We had a seven-mile lead over Proteus before the final big lull. Unfortunately, they closed the gap from seven to five miles and beat us.”
“Proteus” wins the Giraglia in IRC 0
George Sakellaris’ 72-foot “Proteus” was the highest-placed of the larger Maxis in the IRC and finished fifth overall in the IRC 0 Maxi class. “It was a really enjoyable race,” commented navigator Will Oxley. “For five or six hours, we had a bit of a boost of over twelve knots. We didn’t expect it to last that long. But it got us round the rock and away at a really good pace. Then it turned out as forecast. We had zeros on the display. So we hoisted a staysail on the forestay – just something to catch the wind. But not for very long.” “Proteus” also sailed with a reduced crew of just twelve people, which allowed them to carry only one liferaft. “George is thrilled,” Oxley continued. “Only now his new crew number is twelve – it’s so peaceful on board! George loves offshore sailing – he does a lot of steering. It was beautiful with Venus and the moon.” The slower Maxis were still on their way to Genoa.
International Maxi Association
