superyacht regatta

• The Superyacht Cup 2024

19.06.24 - 22.06.24

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St Barths' Bucket. Photo: Jeff Brown | Breed Media

Inside the world of the superyacht regatta

Camaraderie, competition and adrenalin-fuelled celebrations as the world’s superyachts go head to head.

Sailing yachts are impressive enough floating majestically on their own, but witnessing ten or twenty of these colossal machines powering through the water at once is a real spectacle. No wonder the superyacht community loves a regatta. And there are plenty to choose from – all in spectacular locations.

The Superyacht Cup , which took place in Palma earlier this month, is the longest-running regatta in Europe. Famed for its laidback vibe, the yacht races take place over three days, with owners and crew letting off steam at the end of every day in the regatta village. “The first chilled beer or glass of wine ashore after a good race is most people’s highlight on a hot Palma afternoon!” says Kate Branagh, event director.

Superyacht Cup in Palma. Photo: Claire Matches

Thankfully, regattas aren’t just for just die-hard racing enthusiasts and in recent years, proactive efforts have been made to loosen the reigns and make room for more casual competitions. The Superyacht Racing Association recently added a new class – the Corinthian Spirit Class – aimed at newcomers who might be more about the fun than the furious competition.

With its sheltered position in the Bay of Palma – the Superyacht Cup couldn’t be better placed to cater to this type of owner. “We know yacht owners who love the regatta scene, but aren’t all about the racing,” says Branagh. “Providing them with an alternative that doesn’t require excessive race preparation, while still enabling them to participate and compete has already been very well received.”

The Superyacht Regatta in Porto Cervo. Photo: Carlo Borlenghi

Sailor Angus Johnstone has taken part in countless regattas over the years, racing for both new and experienced owners. “I’ve raced on yachts with 40-plus people on board, including crew, family and guests,” he says. “Some of them just sit back and enjoy the ride and some get hands on.”

Whichever it is, he loves the sense of teamwork a regatta brings. “I have been fortunate enough to sail with one boat over the past four years,” he says. “It has had the same race crew every time, bringing with it real camaraderie. The owner sees us as his sports team, and we’ve had enough time on the boat to make faultless manoeuvres time and time again.”

St Barths' Bucket. Photo: Ed Gudenas

His favourite regatta is the Bucket Regatta , a much-loved race on St Barths with a 30-plus year history. It tends to attract a lot of yachts, as well as visiting motor yachts who come along to spectate. Competition is fierce – but that’s only half the story. “The social side is important too, not only between the race crew but with the owner as well,” says Johnstone. The famed Yacht Hop sees lively parties taking place on yachts lined up side-by-side in the harbour. Crew, owners, guests – everyone takes their shoes off, jumps on board and lets their hair down. If you can’t win the race, as they say, you can still win the party.

Of course, the island, with its low-key luxury and beautiful beaches is a great place to hang out long after the regatta is over, which is all part of the appeal. And the same could be said for most regatta locations. Take Porto Cervo with its Superyacht Regatta , the Greek island of Spetses with its Classic Yacht Regatta , or the New Zealand Millennium Cup , which takes place in the sub-tropical paradise of the Bay of Islands.

Millennium Cup in New Zealand. Photo: Jeff Brown | Breed Media

“There’s a pod of dolphins in the Bay of Islands and they can be counted on to join the fleet at the start line or during racing every year,” says Isla McKechnie, who runs the event’s PR. “It’s a moment that sticks in the mind of every visitor to the Millennium Cup, even though it’s a frequent sight for locals.”

It’s just one of many memories for McKechnie, who has long been involved with the regatta. “I remember one year, a yacht called  Bliss  charging towards the finish with Australian rockers ACDC blaring from the speakers, courtesy of her owner’s taste in music. The boat had the Waitangi Treaty Grounds [where modern New Zealand is considered to have been foundered] visible behind her on one side, and a sheer bush-covered cliff face on the other. It was the perfect combination of all the fun and magic of the regatta in this very special part of the world.”

Regattas – it seems – are much more than a race. These events are about making memories, making friends and having fun. If you win first prize, well… that’s just the icing on the cake.

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Rose declared winner of the Superyacht Cup Palma

• June 26, 2023

Three days of inspiring racing at Superyacht Cup Palma 2023 has come to a close with the 24m Farr-designed Rose becoming the first Wally Yacht to win Europe's longest-running superyacht regatta.

The St. Regis Race Day finale delivered another instalment of the excellent race conditions that the Bay of Palma is famed for, with 10 to 12 knots of wind and bright sunshine, which saw Rose declared the winner of the Superyacht Cup Palma 2023.

With two wins in Class B already on account, Rose began the final day in pole position and was able to claim a third race victory — but only by five seconds on corrected time in front of the well sailed Swan 100 Onyx, who finished second in class.

Speaking at the celebratory Prize-Giving on the terrace of the Real Club Náutico de Palma Rose’s tactician Jesper Radich said: “This year was amazing for us — at times it was difficult but by the end we had super conditions. It was windy, it was sunny, it was shifty, so not a straightforward course and you really had to make decisions on every leg.

“So really challenging and we came out on the winning side. Today we only won by five seconds, and it doesn’t get any closer than that after two hours of racing. I’ve done a lot of match racing and that was what it was like out there, a lot of fun.”

Photo: Sailing Energy

Meanwhile in a similarly closely contested Class A the venerable and elegant J Class classic Velsheda claimed victory with two race wins, finishing a point ahead of her J Class rival Svea, who posted a 2-2-2 scoreline. Both were clear of the modern 33m Ribelle — who won day 2 — and her Malcolm McKeon-designed Vitters Yard stablemate Pattoo.

“We have just come out of a major refit, so it was great to be here, one hundred percent,” said skipper Barney Henshaw-Depledge.

“We had a good first day and then the second was more painful as we were OCS, but today I guess we got lucky. We have had ups and downs in Palma but it’s great and the conditions are so good. It’s been great.”

Announcing that Superyacht Cup Palma 2024 will be held between June 19 to 22 next year, and reflecting on this year’s 27th annual celebration of sail, SYC Event Director Kate Branagh said: “We have had a fabulous few days with fantastic racing and great weather, and everyone has enjoyed it. It’s been terrific to again welcome boats back to Palma and we are looking forward to seeing them again next year.”

Branagh also repeated her gratitude for the support of long-running partners such as Preferred Hotel Partner St. Regis Hotels & Resorts, Destination Partner New Zealand, and Official Timepiece Jaquet Droz.

Other SYC Partners and Friends also include Silver Partners Pantaenius, Astilleros de Mallorca, Hill Robinson, RSB Rigging, RigPro, Southern Spars, North Sails, Marinepool, and Friends Baltic Yachts, Marina Port Vell and Hoek Design.

You can see all results at the Superyacht Cup Palma website .

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12 yachts racing at the 2022 Superyacht Cup Palma

The Superyacht Cup gets underway this week in Palma, marking a significant occasion as Europe's longest-running superyacht regatta and one of the first racing events of the Mediterranean season. The four-day regatta runs from June 29 to July 2 and will see a fleet of high-performance sailing yachts put through their paces around the shores of Mallorca.  Leading the charge out on the water are the quartet of  J Class yachts - Topaz , Ranger , Velsheda and Svea - who will be joined by bluewater cruisers, modern classics and high-performance carbon flyers. Take a look at this year's lineup...  

Length : 46m Builder: Vitters

Named after the Hindu deity representing the Lord of Good Fortune , Ganesha   was commissioned by an experienced yachtsman as the successor to his 38.9-metre Fitzroy sailing yacht by the same name. This time Dutch shipyard Vitters , with the help of Dubois Naval Architects , was chosen to bring the owner's vision to life. The sloop was delivered in 2013. Ganesha 's lines were inspired by the beam-to-length ratio and the low freeboard of the J Class yachts and she flies a bright orange spinnaker with the depiction of the Hindu god. She finished second in her class at last year's Superyacht Cup and will be returning to fight for first.

Length : 43.6m Builder : Vitters

Svea is the largest and newest member of the J Class fleet, hitting the water for the first time in 2017. The original lines for this Super J were designed by Tore Holm in 1937 but the yacht was never built. Hoek Design Naval Architects were called on to revive the 75-year-old drawings and bring her into the 21st Century with an aluminium hull and 53.75 metre carbon fibre main mast. She will be racing under new ownership after changing hands in April 2022 . 

Length : 43m Builder : Vitters

Another Vitters-built competitor racing at this year's Superyacht Cup Palma is La Belle , an aluminium sloop designed by Dubois Naval Architects Design . She was delivered in 2002 to an owner looking for a bluewater cruiser and has completed two circumnavigations in her lifetime. During her time in Auckland in 2019, she was extensively refitted with work including the installation of a new rig. This will be La Belle 's first time racing at the Superyacht Cup.

Length : 42.7m Builder : Holland Jachtbouw

Topaz is based on an unbuilt 1938 design by Frank C Paine, the son of the three-time America’s Cup winner General Charles J Paine. The modern aluminium incarnation measures 42.62 metres and was launched by Dutch yard Holland Jachtbouw  in 2015. Hoek Design Naval Architects, who styled Topaz inside and out, describe her as “a good all-round performer”. She was the longest J by waterline length at the time of her launch but was later dethroned by Svea .

Length : 41m Builder : Danish Yachts

Ranger was the first J Class sailing yacht to be built since the 1930s heyday of the original fleet. She is a replica of the 1937 America's Cup winner by the same name, built with a steel hull and delivered in 2004 by Danish Yachts. She has had several refits since her launch to make her more competitive. Work included swapping out her rod rigging for modern composite EC6 and the addition of a carbon boom. 

Length : 39.5m Builder : Camper & Nicholsons

Velsheda has competed many times at the Superyacht Cup Palma and even took overall win in 2018. After losing out on the win to Ranger in the St Barths Bucket by a single point, all eyes will be on the J Class battle at this year's regatta. Built in 1933 for the owner of Woolworths, Velsheda is one of the few Js still racing on her original bottom. She was the second J Class designed by Charles Nicholson and is the only original to be sailing that was not built specifically for the Amercia's Cup.

Length : 37.45m Builder : Pendennis

The 37 metre Oyster sailing yacht Archelon will be making her Superyacht Cup debut this year. The Oyster 1225 was built to a design by   Humphreys Yacht Design Ltd and completed in 2020. For easy sail handling, she is fitted with a Southern Spars in-boom furling system, hydraulic furling inner forestay, and a mainsail arranged to take a third reef along with a dedicated storm trysail track on the mast. In 14 knots of true wind she climbs upwind at ease at 11 knots and almost matches the wind speed on a reach. Meanwhile, in stronger breezes of 20 to 25 knots she will sit happily at 14 to 15 knots. Twin rudders were chosen for performance and efficiency.

Length : 33m Builder : Baltic Yachts

Following a two-year hiatus, Win Win is back in Palma and hoping to live up to both her name and her regatta record, after winning both her class and the overall title at the Superyacht Cup in 2019. This racer-cruiser leans ever-so-slightly towards the racing side with a carbon-fibre construction, lifting keel and a retractable propulsion system (RPS) to minimise drag and maximise speed. She has been designed to take a square-topped racing main and has a bolt-on bowsprit that allows her to fly powerful kites. In 12 to 13 knots, she sits comfortably at 11.2 knots close-hauled. She was designed by Javier Jaudenes and finished in carbon grey and a racing green stripe.

Length : 33m Builder : Vitters

The Vitters-built Missy is returning to the Superyacht Cup under a new name, Pattoo after a change in ownership earlier this year. She was developed in collaboration with Malcolm McKeon Yacht Design and is the first project from the studio. The owner's brief was for a carbon-fibre performance cruiser and resulted in her slim 7.5 metre beam, generous sail plan and lifting keel that extends from 3.75 metres to five metres. She has a carbon-fibre mast is from Southern Spars (with ECsix carbon rigging) and carries a sail wardrobe from North Sails.

Kiboko Tres

Length : 32m Builder : Southern Wind

Kiboko Tres is the third Southern Wind built for an experienced yachtsman after upgrading from his SW94. The brief was for a sailing yacht built for regattas, but also for family cruising. Kiboko was the second hull in the SW105 mini-series and is optimised for performance with a larger sailplan than its sisterships, three tonnes more lead in the fixed keel and twin rudders.

Length : 27m Builder : Concordia

Classic wooden sailing yacht Savannah was designed by celebrated Newport designer David Pedrick and takes inspiration from some of the finest classic yachts on the water such as Halloween by Fife and J Class Endeavour by Charles E. Nicholson . The brief was to “build the most beautiful classic yacht conceivable” and her build team did just that. Her classic styling is deceptive, though, as it conceals her integrated modern systems and engineers. 

Length : 24m Builder : Wally

Rose was delivered as Tango G in 2006 and is the work of Wally , Farr Yacht Design , Luca Bassani and Lazzarini Pickering Architetti . She is a three-cabin Wally80 design with a flush deck, carbon rig and 3DL self-tacking jib for simple handling. Her four winches are mounted aft of the cockpit which keeps the sailing and social areas of the boat separate when cruising. 

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The Superyacht Cup Palma

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By Editorial Team

First established in 1996, the Superyacht Cup Palma is the longest running superyacht regatta in Europe and the Mediterranean.

Organised by race officers and the team at Real Club Nautico de Palma, the annual Superyacht Cup Palma is held over five days in Mallorca . It provides a combination of competitive sailing and social events, where participants can relax and enjoy the casual on-dock atmosphere.

Taking place annually in June, the regatta always benefits from warm, early-summer conditions and reliable sea breezes. The Bay of Palma, in fact, offers some of the most idyllic racing conditions in the Mediterranean.

Over the years, the Superyacht Cup Palma has attracted more than 200 of the world's most prestigious sailing yachts , and the local government has long recognised the value it brings to the Balearic Islands . Promoting the facilities, infrastructure, beauty and diversity of the region, officials are keen to help develop the Spanish archipelago into one of the best charter destinations in the world.

Racing usually falls into two categories: superyachts and the J-Class. The main superyacht racing takes place over three days and yachts are usually divided into four classes. In 2018, a more relaxed Corinthian class was introduced to help attract first-timers and owners new to the regatta scene.

The fixture presents an ideal opportunity to undertake a regatta charter. Or, you may prefer to watch from the sidelines on a luxury charter yacht before exploring the island for the remainder of your vacation.

All the competing yachts gather at the Superyacht Cup Regatta Village at Muelle Viejo when not racing, while crews and owners head to cocktail parties, happy hours, barbecues, and other social events.

If you're interested in taking part in The Superyacht Cup Palma, or if you would like to add it into your itinerary, please contact your preferred  yacht charter broker .

Alternatively, view the entire fleet of superyachts available for Spain yacht charters . 

The Bay of Palma, in fact, offers some of the most idyllic racing conditions in the Mediterranean

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Superyacht Cup Palma rings the changes as plan takes shape for June’s 25th anniversary regatta

Top-level yacht racing is set to go ahead at Superyacht Cup Palma (SYC) 2021 with a new-look event adapted to local pandemic restrictions.

Organisers have put the focus firmly on the racing in the Bay of Palma from 23-26 June, with the shoreside venue relocating to Superyacht Cup’s long-standing race management collaborator Real Club Nautico De Palma (RCNP).

With an encouraging level of interest from owners and skippers, organisers are optimistic the 25 th anniversary of Europe’s longest-running superyacht regatta will attract a competitive range of entries.

Adding to the appeal, 2021 will see the debut of the Superyacht Cup Performance Class. Featuring a competitive fleet start and racing on a separate course, the new Performance Class will join the long-standing original Superyacht Class and the non-spinnaker Corinthian Superyacht Class, which itself proved immediately popular when introduced in 2017.

“We know there is a yearning for competitive sailing after what has of course been a challenging time for everyone,” said SYC Event Director Kate Branagh.

“By keeping the focus out on the water, we know we can meet all local pandemic restrictions, keep owners, skippers, crews and our partners safe, and deliver exciting superyacht racing on what will be our 25 th anniversary at the home of Mediterranean superyacht sailing.”

Branagh also welcomed the “incredible” support for the 2021 regatta from SYC’s partners, friends, suppliers and collaborators, not least the RCNP, which is also making a few berths available for visiting competitors on a first come, first served basis.

The president of the Real Club Náutico de Palma, Emerico Fuster, is delighted with the agreement reached with the Superyacht Cup: “We have been collaborating with the Superyacht Cup Palma for years, contributing our organisational experience at sea, and we are proud to expand this support to offer our facilities and hospitality to the yacht owners and crews participating in the event. The partnership that we are launching this year benefits both our club, which has increased the calendar of its prestigious events, and the SYC, which joins its name with that of a world-renowned entity.”

The range of racing options has attracted early interest across the diverse superyacht world, with the 46m Dubois designed Ganesha looking set for a return in the Superyacht Class, while the lightweight 30m WallyCento Magic Carpet3 is a possible contender in the Performance Class.

Also eyeing a return is the 40m modern classic ketch Huckleberry, whose Superyacht Cup Palma debut in 2019 was rewarded when they received the inaugural North Sails Trophy, the Boat of the Day award dedicated to the memory of North Sails founder Lowell North which will be awarded annually.

“We had a great time at our first ever Superyacht Cup Palma and we have been eagerly awaiting the opportunity to repeat the experience,” said Huckleberry captain Carlos Potier.

“This year the event will of course be a bit different, but the sailing weather is reliable and the racing out in Palma Bay is always outstanding, so we are counting the days to the start.”

In addition, entries from the J Class fleet are seen as a distinct possibility, with owners, captains and crews perhaps inspired by the venerable Velsheda’s narrow but fully deserved overall SYC Palma victory in 2018, when they held off a determined challenge from the superketch Mari-Cha III. Should three or more J Class yachts compete they will be given their own racing class, further adding to the Superyacht Cup’s broad offer.

To register your interest or request an Entry Form for the 2021 Superyacht Cup Palma please contact [email protected]

The Notice of Race is now available at: https://www.thesuperyachtcup.com/en/sailing-documents