A maxi yacht usually refers to a racing yacht of at least in length.

Origin

The term ''maxi'' originated with the

International Offshore Rule The International Offshore Rule (IOR) was a measurement rule for racing sailboats. The IOR evolved from the Cruising Club of America (CCA) rule for racer/cruisers and the Royal Ocean Racing Club (RORC) rule. Rule context - past and present rating ...

(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 was generally about in length overall. The IOR had upper and lower rating limits of and , so a yacht designed and built to exceed the maximum limit of rating was known as a ''maxi''.

Competition

The IOR Maxis were generally long overall, and raced boat-for-boat without handicap, unlike the rest of the IOR fleet which raced with a time correction factor depending on the boat's rating. In the 1980s they were the most glamorous, exciting, expensive and high-visibility racing yachts in the world, with regular appearances at most of the great races such as the Fastnet,

Sydney-Hobart The Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race is an annual oceanic yacht racing event hosted by the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia, starting in Sydney, New South Wales, on Boxing Day and finishing in Hobart, Tasmania. The race distance is approximately ...

, Bermuda Race, and their own private series of regattas in the Mediterranean and Caribbean seas. The maxis were also prominent as

line honour Yacht racing is a sailing sport involving sailing yachts and larger sailboats, as distinguished from dinghy racing, which involves open boats. It is composed of multiple yachts, in direct competition, racing around a course marked by buoys or ...

contestants in the Whitbread Round the World Race from 1973 to 1993.

Modern maxis

Modern maxi yachts are usually custom-designed and built to the IRC rule but regardless of handicap in order to achieve

victories. In 2001 however two Reichel/Pugh boats were built to the "maxZ86"

class Class, Classes, or The Class may refer to: Common uses not otherwise categorized * Class (biology), a taxonomic rank * Class (knowledge representation), a collection of individuals or objects * Class (philosophy), an analytical concept used d ...

in order to match boat speed evenly, but the class did not generate further interest. For the 2009

Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race The Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race is an annual oceanic yacht racing event hosted by the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia, starting in Sydney, New South Wales, on Boxing Day and finishing in Hobart, Tasmania. The race distance is approximately ...

, the

Cruising Yacht Club of Australia The Cruising Yacht Club of Australia (CYCA) was established in 1944 and soon afterwards established a clubhouse in Darling Point, inner-east Sydney. The club is known as one of Australia's premier yacht clubs, and is acknowledged as one of the ...

increased the IRC rating upper limit for length of hull from , and most 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 carbon fibre,

thermoformed Thermoforming is a manufacturing process where a plastic sheet is heated to a pliable forming temperature, formed to a specific shape in a mold, and trimmed to create a usable product. The sheet, or "film" when referring to thinner gauges and cert ...

sails, rotating wingmasts,

water ballast Ballast is weight placed low in ships to lower their centre of gravity, which increases stability (more technically, to provide a righting moment to resist any heeling moment on the hull). Insufficiently ballasted boats tend to tip or heel exce ...

canting keel A canting keel is a form of sailing ballast, suspended from a rigid canting strut beneath the boat, which can be swung to windward of a boat under sail, in order to counteract the heeling force of the sail. The canting keel must be able to pivot t ...

s, and

hydrofoils A hydrofoil is a lifting surface, or foil, that operates in water. They are similar in appearance and purpose to aerofoils used by aeroplanes. Boats that use hydrofoil technology are also simply termed hydrofoils. As a hydrofoil craft gains sp ...

. Previous smaller maxi yachts are still raced with corrected time class victories in mind whilst the "mini-maxi" yachts now have a class of their own. Maxi yachts are raced in both inshore and offshore races.

List of largest maxi yachts

{, class="wikitable sortable" style=font-size:8pt;line-height:1 , - !Yacht, , Year, , data-sort-type=number, LOA, , Designer, , Shipyard, , Notes , - , ''Stealth'' , , 1996 , , , ,

Germán Frers Germán Frers Sr. (born July 4, 1941) is an Argentinian naval architect known for designing racing yachts. He designed his first yacht in 1958 and has been involved in the design of more than 1000 yachts, including '' Kialoa V'' and '' Hyperion' ...

, , Green Marine , , Owned by

Gianni Agnelli Giovanni "Gianni" Agnelli (; 12 March 192124 January 2003), nicknamed ("The Lawyer"), was an Italian industrialist and principal shareholder of Fiat S.p.A., Fiat. As the head of Fiat, he controlled 4.4% of Italy's GDP, 3.1% of its industrial ...

, won the 2001

Fastnet race The Fastnet Race is a biennial offshore yacht race organized by the Royal Ocean Racing Club (RORC) of the United Kingdom with the assistance of the Royal Yacht Squadron in Cowes and the City of Cherbourg in France. The race is named after th ...

, - , ''Cap Gemini'' , , 1999 , , , ,

Ron Holland Ronald John Holland (born 1947 in Auckland, New Zealand)Ron Holland:De ...

, , Pendennis , , Renamed ''Hyundai'', now ''Light One'' , - , ''Leopard 2'' , , 2000 , , , , Reichel/Pugh , , Green Marine , , Now ''Maria Alba II'' , - , '' Alfa Romeo I'' , , 2002 , , , , Reichel/Pugh , , McConaghy Boats , , Renamed ''Shockwave'', then ''Rambler'', now ''La Bête'', won the 2002

, the 2003

and four

Middle Sea Race The Middle Sea Race, or Rolex Middle Sea Race for sponsorship reasons, is a yacht race organised by the Royal Malta Yacht Club. The race was co-founded in 1968 by the Royal Malta Yacht Club and the Royal Ocean Racing Club. The Rolex Middle Sea R ...

s , - , ''Bols'' , , 2003 , , , , Hugh Welbourn , , Boatspeed , , Now ''Med Spirit'' , - , ''Zana'' , , 2003 , , , , Brett Bakewell-White , , Hakes Marine , , Renamed ''Konica Minolta'', now ''Lahana'', redesigned in 2014 at the TP Cookson yard as ''Rio 100'' , - , ''

Skandia Skandia is a Swedish financial services corporation that provides insurance, banking and asset management services. Between 2006 and 2015, the financial group underwent major changes. From an insurance company with the main emphasis on non-l ...

'' , , 2003 , , , , Don Jones, Fred Barrett , , Hart Marine , , Triple Moving Foil, now ''Wild Thing'', won the 2003

, - , ''Mari-Cha IV'' , , 2003 , , data-sort-type=number, , , , , JMV Industries , , Schooner built for

Robert Warren Miller Robert Warren Miller (born May 23, 1933) is an American-British billionaire, entrepreneur, co-founder of DFS (Duty Free Shops), and sailing champion. He is the father of Marie-Chantal, Crown Princess of Greece, Princess Alexandra von Fürste ...

, redesigned in 2015 at

Royal Huisman Royal Huisman is a Dutch shipbuilding company that specializes in the newbuild construction and refit, rebuild and renewal of sailing and motor yachts. History The shipyard was established in 1884 in Ronduite as a builder of wooden workboats ...

as cruiser ''Samurai'' , - , ''

Nicorette III ''Nicorette III'' is a 90 ft maxi yacht. The yacht was designed by Alexander Simonis & Marten Voogd and built in New Zealand by Boatspeed Performance Sailcraft. She won line honours in the 2004 Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race skippered by Ludde ...

'' , , 2004 , , , , Alex Simonis, Marten Voogd , , Boatspeed , , Triple Moving Foil owned by

Ludde Ingvall Ludvig "Ludde" Ingvall (born 8 January 1956) is a Finnish-Australian sailor competing in offshore races. Career In his youth, Ingvall sailed in the Flying Junior, 420 and 505 classes. He participated in the 1985–86 Whitbread Round the World Ra ...

, Renamed ''Aapt'', then ''YuuZoo'', won the 2004

. Redesigned in 2016 by Brett Bakewell-White at the Southern Ocean Marine yard as '' CQS'' , - , ' , , 2004 , , , , Edward George Dubois , , McConaghy Boats , , Canting Ballast Twin Foil, purchased in 2021 by Meridian Capital. Won 2004 and 2008 Chicago Yacht Club Race to Mackinac, 2010 Newport Bermuda Race, 2011 Fort Lauderdale Montego Bay Race, 2011 Antigua Sailing Week, 2012 and 2014 Rolex China Sea Race - including line honors and race record, 2013 Hong Kong Vietnam Race (record), 2014 Okinawa Tokai Race (record), 2015 Subic Bay Boracay Race (record) , - , ''

Maximus Maximus (Hellenised as Maximos) is the Latin term for "greatest" or "largest". In this connection it may refer to: * Circus Maximus (disambiguation) * Pontifex maximus, the highest priest of the College of Pontiffs in ancient Rome People Roman hi ...

'' , , 2005 , , , , Greg Elliott, Clay Oliver , , TP Cookson , , Canting Ballast Twin Foil. Renamed ''Investec Loyal''. Redesigned in 2014 by Andrew Dovell at the Innovation Composite yard as ''Ragamuffin 100ft''. Now ''Scallywag''. Won the 2005

and the 2011

, - , ''

Alfa Romeo II ''Alfa Romeo II'' (rechristened ''Black Jack IV'') is a maxi yacht designed in 2005 by Reichel/Pugh for yachtsman Neville Crichton. First-to-finish in the 2009 Transpacific Yacht Race ("the Transpac"), she also set a new elapsed-time Transpac ...

'' , , 2005 , , , , Reichel/Pugh , , McConaghy Boats , , Canting Ballast Twin Foil, now ''Black Jack IV'', won the 2009 Transpac, the 2009

and three

s , - , ''

Wild Oats XI ''Wild Oats XI'' is a maxi yacht, most famous for being the former race record holder and a nine-times line honours winner of the Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race. Launched in 2005, she was owned by Bob Oatley (Oatley's estate since his death i ...

'' , , 2005 , , , , Reichel/Pugh , , McConaghy Boats , , Development of ''

'', now and completely modernised, won eight

s (

Line Honours Yacht racing is a sailing sport involving sailing yachts and larger sailboats, as distinguished from dinghy racing, which involves open boats. It is composed of multiple yachts, in direct competition, racing around a course marked by buoys or o ...

) and the 2015 Transpac , - , '' Leopard 3'' , , 2007 , , , ,

Farr Yacht Design Farr Yacht Design, founded by Bruce Farr in Auckland, New Zealand, is a Regatta, racing Yacht designer, yacht design firm based in Annapolis, Maryland, United States. The firm is led by Patrick Shaughnessy. Its yachts measure from to . Farr de ...

, , McConaghy Boats , , Now , won two

s and the 2009

, - , '' LawConnect'' , , 2008 , , , ,

Juan Kouyoumdjian Juan Kouyoumdjian (July 15, 1971 –), also known as Juan K is regarded to be one of the world’s leading Naval architecture, naval architects designing racing sailboats. His designs have obtained 2 Olympic gold medals, 3 VOR The Ocean Race, Vol ...

, , TP Cookson , , Renamed ''Virgin Money'', ''Rambler 100'', ''Perpetual Loyal'', ''Infotrack'' and now ''LawConnect'', won the 2011 Caribbean 600, the 2011 Newport-Lizard Point race and the 2016, 2023 and 2024

. When the yacht was named

Rambler 100 Rambler or Ramble may refer to: Places * Rambler, Wyoming * Rambler Channel (藍巴勒海峽), separates Tsing Yi Island and the mainland New Territories in Hong Kong * The Ramble and Lake, Central Park, an area within New York City's Centr ...

it famously had a keel failure in the 2011 Rolex Fastnet Race, leading to the boat capsizing. , - , ''Beau Geste'' , , 2013 , , , , Botin Partners , , {{nowrap, {{flagicon, NZ TP Cookson , , Renamed ''Stefan Racing'', now {{cvt, 100, ft, order=flip ''Wild Thing 100'' , - , ''Rambler 88'' , , 2014 , , {{cvt, 88, ft, order=flip, disp=br() , ,

, , {{nowrap, {{flagicon, US New England Boatworks , , Owned by George David, won the 2015

, - , ''

Comanche The Comanche (), or Nʉmʉnʉʉ (, 'the people'), are a Tribe (Native American), Native American tribe from the Great Plains, Southern Plains of the present-day United States. Comanche people today belong to the List of federally recognized tri ...

'' , , 2014 , , {{cvt, 100, ft, order=flip, disp=br() , ,

VPLP VPLP Design (Van Peteghem Lauriot-Prévost) is a French-based naval architectural firm founded by Marc Van Peteghem and Vincent Lauriot-Prévost, responsible for designing some of the world's most innovative racing boats. Their designs presently ...

, Guillaume Verdier , , {{flagicon, US Hodgdon Yachts , , Holder of the New York-Lizard Point monohull record and former holder of 24hrs monohull record, winner of the 2017 and 2019

, - , ''

Skorpios Skorpios or Scorpios (, ) is a private island in the Ionian Sea off the western coast of Greece and just to the east of the island of Lefkada. The 2011 census reported a population of five inhabitants. Administratively it is part of the munici ...

'' , , 2021 , , {{cvt, 120, ft, order=flip, disp=br(), ,

, , {{nowrap, {{flagicon, Finland Nautor Swan , , Owned by

Dmitry Rybolovlev Dmitry Yevgenyevich Rybolovlev (, ; born 22 November 1966) is a Russian oligarch, billionaire businessman, and investor. Rybolovlev became chairman of the Russian fertilizer producer Uralkali in 1995. In 2010, he sold his majority share of ...

is the largest Modern Supermaxi yach built. The yacht won Monohull

in the 2021 Rolex Fastnet Race.

was the first yacht to have a mast taller than the Fastnet Rock Lighthouse, being 4 metres taller than the structure.

also has the highest

IRC IRC (Internet Relay Chat) is a text-based chat system for instant messaging. IRC is designed for group communication in discussion forums, called '' channels'', but also allows one-on-one communication via private messages as well as chat ...

rating ever issued.{{Cite web , last=World , first=Yachting , date=2021-10-19 , title=Sailing the fastest offshore monohull, the ClubSwan 125 , url=https://www.yachtingworld.com/yachts-and-gear/the-fastest-monohull-ever-meet-the-clubswan-125-132623 , access-date=2024-10-30 , website=Yachting World , language=en-US • LH designates the length of hull as measured by IRC, excluding bowsprits

References

{{reflist {{DEFAULTSORT:Maxi Yacht Sailboat types

Origin

Competition

Modern maxis

List of largest maxi yachts

See also

References