Kiwi super maxi, ‘Alfa Romeo’ has extended her lead over her Aussie challenger Wild Oats after skipper Neville Crichton took his super maxi to a double win, collecting line honours and the handicap win on the second day of the super yacht World Cup, the Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup.

‘Alfa Romeo’ and Bob Oatley’s ‘Wild Oats’ have set the pace in Sardinia, with both yachts challenging for the title of the fastest super maxi in the world. On day one of the week-long challenge, Wild Oats took line honours, but the handicap win went to Crichton, along with the opening lead in the race series.

On day two Alfa Romeo was able to claim the coveted double victory - line honours with a 9 minutes-plus margin over Wild Oats, and a win on handicap. Hasso Plattner's Morning Glory from Germany finished second on corrected time, followed by another German entry, Claus Peter Offen's Y3K with America's Cup sailor and former match race world champion Karol Jablonski on board. Bob Oatley's Wild Oats XI, second on real time, came in fourth on handicap. "We got off the line pretty well,” commented Crichton. "We were fortunate to beat Wild Oats up the beat and from there on we just extended the lead.”

Approximately half way through the course, where the channel narrows and curves, the yachts encountered a large windless patch. Alfa Romeo was first to hit this no-go zone, but was able to find an easy escape route, dropping the chute and sailing away under jib. According to Crichton, his crew had foreseen this tricky situation and came up with a preventive plan: "We put a guy up the rig early on inside the islands, from the time we went around the first gybe at Barettinelli, and so we could see where the wind was and where it wasn't. We knew we were going to be headed and it was only a matter of when. We knew exactly when it would happen, we planned to do what we did and it went as planned."

As for his immediate competitors, Crichton wondered if they actually saw the wind shift until they hit it. Bob Oatley's Wild Oats XI appeared to be trying to cut some corners and sail up to the shores of La Maddalena. In doing so, the boat was caught on the wrong side of a shift that left her stranded, completely stalled. At this point Oats was only a minute and half behind Alfa and probably still in the hunt.
 

But as the Australian crew waited for the wind to fill in, they watched Crichton and crew sail away, almost over the horizon and into an untouchable lead. Even worse, looking back up the channel, the Oat's crew must have momentarily feared the daunting prospect of being caught by their other chasing rivals. Eventually, she was able to escape, sail out of the hole and head towards the Gulf of Pevero.

Hasso Plattner's Morning Glory from Germany was third on real time. American Olympic Star gold medallist, round the world and America's Cup veteran Steve Erickson, sailing on Morning Glory, felt the Race Committee chose wisely today's race course. "The race was extremely light, I don't think it got over 8 knots - which is still ok, because these yachts make their own wind. At one time, in 8 knots of wind, our boat was doing 13.5 knots which for me is still surprisingly fast. These yachts cover some miles, as long as you're not going straight upwind or downwind. I think the Race Committee did a nice job by calling the round the islands course, people enjoy it, it's pretty and it's still a race."

Regarding the tactical challenges faced along the way, Erickson commented: "There was one little place at the bottom of La Maddalena where there was a light spot and where the lead boats had a little difficulty passing through. Some people were able to jump on the opportunity of what they saw ahead. We lost a little to the boat behind us but we gained a little on the boat ahead of us. The leading boat went the longest way around, while the second placed boat, Wild Oats, probably tried to cut the corner and lost a lot."

The Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup, organized by the Yacht Club Costa Smeralda in conjunction with the International Maxi Association (IMA), runs from September 3rd to September 9th.