Ben Ainslie helmed the 98ft super maxi, Alfa Romeo (owned and skippered by New Zealander Neville Crichton), to a second place in Saturday’s race of the Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup confirming the team’s overall series victory in Racing Division of the Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup. They beat the German yacht Morning Glory, owned and helmed by Hasso Plattner by 5 points. Wild Oats (owned by Robert Oatley) finished third overall.

Elsewhere, Sir Lindsay Owen Jones helmed his yacht Magic Carpet Squared to victory in the Wally division. A win in the final race was enough to secure victory in a series that has eluded Owen Jones in previous years following incidents with rocks and a mast breakage last year. Owen Jones sailed with Emma Westmacott and Miranda Merron, two of Britain’s group of experienced female offshore sailors.

The Italian Farr 70 Atalanta II confirmed its reputation as one of the toughest competitors to beat in the Mini Maxi division, claiming the overall title with a 6-point lead over Ernesto Gismondi’s Edimetra. Owned by Carlo Puri Negri, Atalanta II took line honours and won on handicap in the last race of the series.

The final outcome of the series within the Cruising division was also decided on this last day of racing, with Filippo Faruffini’s Roma from Italy eventually claiming the overall victory over the magnificent J-Class Velsheda. Gunter Herz’s Allsmoke finished third.

The beautiful blue-hulled Hetairos won the series among the Spirit of Tradition fleet, ahead of Dutch entry Annagine. One of the pre-series favourites Adela, the world famous schooner owned by American gas and media tycoon, George Lindemann, this time found its match on the water, ending the championship in third. The largest yacht of the fleet by some 15-metres, with a LOA of just over 55-metres, Adela is a regular competitor at this event and usually dwarfs the other yachts at the event.

Overall Results
Racing
1. ALFA ROMEO Neville Crichton NZL, 1/1/1/2/1/(2)/6.0
2. MORNING GLORY Hasso Platner GER, 3/2/2/3/(3)/1/11.0
3. WILD OATS XI Robert I. Oatley AUS, 2/(4)/3/1/2/3/11.0

VOR
1. ABN AMRO ONE ABN Amro Brand NED, 1/1/1/1/1/(1)/5.0
2. AMER SPORT TOO Giovanni Marangon EUR, 2/2/2/2/2/(2)/10.0

Cruising
1. ROMA Filippo Faruffini ITA, 2/1/1/(3)/2/6.0
2. VELSHEDA Tarbat Investments GBR, 1/2/(4)/1/3/7.0
3. ALLSMOKE Gunter Herz GER, 3/3/3/2/(4)/11.0

Spirit of Tradition
1. HETAIROS Rockport Ltd CAY IS, 1/2/1/(3)/1/5.0
2. ANNAGINE C. E. Van Asbeck NED, 2/1/3/2/(5(RET))/8.0
3. ADELA George Lindemann USA, 3/3/2/(4)/2/10.0

Mini Maxi
1. ATALANTA II Carlo Puri Negri ITA, (4)/3/1/3/1/8.0
2. EDIMETRA Ernesto Gismondi ITA, 3/6/(6)/1/4/14.0
3. OPS 5 Massimo Violati ITA 2/5/5/4/(5)/16.0

Wally
1. MAGIC CARPET SQUARED Lindsay Owen Jones GBR, 2/1/(4)/1/2/1/7.0
2. DARK SHADOW Antexis Ltd MON, (5)/3/1/4.50/1/4/13.50
3. TANGO Carlo Sama MON, 3/2/2/2/5/(7)/14.0