Giorgio Armani Superyacht Regatta 2025, Moat and Gelliceaux claim Silver Jubilee Cup

31 May 2025 - Porto Cervo, Italy - The 2025 edition of the Giorgio Armani Superyacht Regatta and the Southern Wind RendezVous concluded today with another outstanding day of racing. The event is organised by the Yacht Club Costa Smeralda with the support of title sponsor Giorgio Armani.

The Swan 115 Moat, owned by YCCS member Juan Ball, was the winner in the Superyacht class, and the SW 108 Gelliceaux was the winner in the Corinthian Spirit class. As is traditional for this class, no classification was styled for the Southern Wind RendezVous; however, the Willy Persico Trophy went to Agapi Mas as the yacht that best embodied the spirit of the Southern Wind founder. The results were scored using the ORC Superyacht rating. 

The starting sequence for the Southern Wind RendezVous began on schedule at 11.30 a.m., followed from noon by the Superyacht and Corinthian Spirit classes in the Giorgio Armani Superyacht Regatta. A northerly breeze veering to the east, blowing at 6-7 knots with gusts of up to 10, accompanied the fleet on today's course. A first upwind leg took competitors to an offset mark, then on to leave the island of Monaci to port, a reach to the Tre Monti shoal was followed by another upwind leg through the Bisce pass and back to Porto Cervo, covering a total distance of just over 14 miles.

In the Superyacht class, the Swan 115 Moat took the win for the day and secured overall victory, repeating her success from 2024 with a clean sweep of first-place finishes. The Vitters 107 Anomaly and the Southern Wind RP/Nauta 100 Morgana followed in second and third respectively, both in today’s race and overall.

Juan Ball, owner of Moat, commented: “Everything went perfectly for us, and of course, we’re delighted to have won again. The boat was well prepared and the crew were precise in manoeuvres. As always, Porto Cervo proved to be the ideal place to race, and with the organisation of the YCCS and support from Giorgio Armani, it’s the perfect combination.”

In a decidedly competitive Corinthian Spirit class, the day's winner was the SW 94 Magic Blue, owned by YCCS member Tonino Cacace, which beat the SW 108 Gelliceaux by 2 minutes 50 seconds on corrected time. Third place today went to Grande Orazio, owned by YCCS member Massimiliano Florio. Gelliceaux secured overall victory ahead of Magic Blue and Grande Orazio, who finished on equal points and with one win each. Magic Blue edged into second place on the podium thanks to her second-place finish on day two.

“This is a truly wonderful event,” commented the owner of Gelliceaux. “The sailing area is the best in the Mediterranean. We had quite challenging conditions, great on the first day and then very light winds on the following days. This was our first event, and we are still coming together as a team, but we’re progressing. A few hiccups in the final race made the overall victory even more rewarding, albeit by a smaller margin than we might have hoped for."

Opening the prize-giving ceremony, YCCS Commodore Andrea Recordati declared: "I would like to thank all the owners and our title sponsor Giorgio Armani for their support for this event, which is growing year after year. Thanks also to Southern Wind for choosing to hold the 19th edition of the RendezVous as part of the Giorgio Armani Superyacht Regatta. Once again, our race course around the islands of the La Maddalena archipelago offered a wide variety of wind conditions, with a fantastic first day and a final day that was undoubtedly a memorable one for everyone taking part. See you at the next edition!”

The next event for the YCCS will be The Nations League – Swan One Design Worlds, from 17 to 21 June.