Busy times for the team at the International Maxi Association supporting all the events that now include Maxi starts, like the Rolex Capri Sailing Week, the 151 Miglia and the Rolex Giraglia 2018 inshore races at Saint Tropez, as well of course as the classic offshore to Genoa…
Each of these events has its management structure and it is not as if the IMA aims to be part of that – the IMA just tries to help the event organisers to reach out to Maxi owners as well as to be available to Maxi owners and their representatives as a link to individual event organisations. Technical support, like helping with the text of NoRs and Sailing Instructions, is given and often appreciated as Maxi sailing is complex, no two boats are the same and the range of diversity is huge, which is reflected in the rules of the IMA and its associated classes as well as in the variety of rating systems and class rule peculiarities that we see in Maxi racing.
It is no wonder Maxi sailing is a bit of a rule-maze with boats varying in size from 18.29m hull length… to no upper limit. Some are pure racers, some pure cruising yachts, and many are aiming somewhere in between these two. In the IMA rule these are respectfully referred to as Racer Cruisers but this surely includes yachts that would more aptly be described as Cruiser Racer… or even Cruiser.
In practice we see boats up to 200ft joining events, yachts by their sheer size complex in almost every aspect of running and sailing them, let alone racing them. As maxi racing only fills part of the day the social side is never far away. From an ice bucket with some bottles of bubbly to a glitzy party with a seated dinner for 1,000 people, live entertainment, light shows, large-screen videos and fireworks, it has all got to be planned and organised. Read on.
