Maxi
12 Seasons
The term maxi originated with the International Offshore Rule (IOR) rating system, which in the 1970s and 1980s measured offshore racing yachts and applied a single-number rating to each boat. This number was approximately equal to the sailing waterline length in feet, plus or minus speed enhancing or reducing factors in the design. A yacht with a rating of 40 feet (12 m) was generally about 47 to 52 feet (14 to 16 m) in length overall. The IOR had upper and lower rating limits of 16 feet (4.9 m) and 70 feet (21 m), so a yacht designed and built to exceed the maximum limit of 70 feet (21 m) rating was known as a maxi.
For the 2009 Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race, the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia increased the IRC rating upper limit for length of hull from 98 ft to 100 ft, and most 98 ft yachts have been lengthened to this size. In order to achieve higher speeds, Maxi yachts were early adopters of modern materials and technologies such as carbonfiber, thermoformed sails, rotating wingmasts, water ballasts and canting keels. Previous smaller Maxi yachts are still raced with corrected time class victories in mind whilst the 72 ft “mini-maxi” yachts now have a class of their own.
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03:44Episode 1RORC Caribbean 600 Race 2025
Episode 1
The Royal Ocean Racing Club announced that Volvo 70 Tschüss 2 (USA), owned by Christian Zugel and co-skippered by Johnny Mordaunt, as the overall winner of the 2025 RORC Caribbean 600. Tschüss 2 completed the race in an elapsed time of 01 Day 21 Hrs 31 Mins and 15 Secs. While nearly half of the b...
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Gitana Team - A date with history - Episode 1
Episode 2
In a new first in the history of offshore racing, a solo round the world race reserved for ULTIMs set sail from Brest: the Arkea Ultim Challenge! A radical departure from the norm and the most demanding, full-on, solo sailing adventure imaginable. Six pioneers took to the start, five of them at t...
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Gitana Team - Duelling down the Atlantic Ocean - Episode 2
Episode 3
Second episode of Season 3 retraces the first quarter of the Arkea Ultim Challenge. During these first days of racing, Charles Caudrelier could have seen his dreams of a solo round the world come to an abrupt halt due to material damage. However, using the utmost discretion so as not to alert his...
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Gitana Team - Part of a chain reaction - Episode 3
Episode 4
This third episode explores behind the scenes of the work of Erwan Israël, Benjamin Schwartz and Julien Villion; a trio who are as integral to daily performance as they are to the end result. Throughout Charles’ fifty days out on the racetrack, these experts in weather analysis work out of a hous...
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Gitana Team - Guardian angels - Episode 4
Episode 5
It's a team effort both on and off the water. Whilst the solo sailor plays their part at sea, back on shore the members of the shore crew, who are in constant contact with the sailor, keep a careful look out, ready to intervene at any moment, albeit remotely, to help them resolve an issue or hop ...
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Gitana Team - Trailblazers Forever! - Episode 5
Episode 6
We relive the story of the final few miles leading to Brest and the precious moments of this victorious arrival after such an epic voyage around the world, punctuated by an emotional Charles Caudrelier surrounded by his nearest and dearest, combined with the beaming smiles of the members of Gitan...
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Antigua Sailing Week 2025 - English Harbour Rum Race Day 1
Episode 7
The opening day of the main Antigua Sailing Week series served up glorious sailing conditions for nine classes racing in 12-16 knot tradewinds. A 40-mile course to Barbuda gave the biggest boats including, Pyewacket 70, the VO65s I Love Poland and Sisi, plus Adrian Lee’s HH66 catamaran Lee Overla...
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01:51Episode 8Peters & May Round Antigua Race 2025
Episode 8
Two very different yachts proved to be almost perfectly matched with challenging and memorable edition of this classic 50-mile course. Sailing with an all-star crew, Roy Disney’s turbocharged Volvo 70 Pyewacket took a narrow early lead along Antigua’s south-eastern coast. Nevertheless, it was not...
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04:21Episode 9Antigua Sailing Week 2025 Highlights
Episode 9
After a week of intensely close racing, Steve Rigby’s chartered J/122 El Ocaso, triumphed in CSA Racing Class 3, and claimed Antigua Sailing Week’s most coveted prize, the Lord Nelson Trophy. This recognises the CSA Racing 2, 3 or 4 class winner with the fastest overall corrected times calculated...
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Gitana Team - G18 NDA Conception - Episode 1
Episode 10
In December 2023, Ariane de Rothschild officially announced the start of construction for a new oceanic maxi-trimaran designed to venture ever further along the path towards offshore flight initiated by her predecessor, Gitana 17, the 1st large multihull conceived and tweaked to fulfil this brief...
