2026 Range Rover Sardinia Cup Day 3 - RORC leads club-team standings
by Yacht Club Costa Smeralda 5 Jun 11:56 PDT
31 May - 7 June 2026
With the offshore race completed, the Range Rover Sardinia Cup resumed today with two windward-leeward races, the starting line set approximately 4 miles off Porto Cervo.
At 12 noon CEST, the warning signal for the first race sounded right on schedule, with a lighter-than-expected Mistral breeze of 12 to 14 knots, which went on to strengthen and shift to the right for the second race, settling at around 20 knots with gusts of up to 24. The result was a spectacular day on the water, with yachts planing downwind and tight manoeuvring in the fleets. As the wind and swell built, the boat-handling skills of the crews at the top of the leaderboard made the difference, while some competitors struggled more with the challenging conditions of the second race. Although the left side of the course, closer to shore, is typically favoured in Mistral conditions, today it proved less rewarding than expected and pin-end starters did not always secure the advantage they were aiming for.
In SC1, Ino Veritas representing the RORC posted a 2-1 scoreline to win the day and extend their lead in the overall standings. Some way behind in the classification are Django WR for the YCCS in second and RocketNikka for YC Repubblica Marinara di Pisa in third.
In the first race, Spirit of Lorina, flying the Yacht Club de France colours, claimed victory by just one second - in corrected time - over Ino Veritas and three seconds over Jolt 3.
The margins were equally tight in the second race, with Ino Veritas winning by four seconds over Jolt 3 and ten seconds over Django WR.
In SC2, the overall lead is held by Ran from the RORC Gold team, the day's top performer with a first and a second-place finish. They are followed by Django JP (3-1) for the YCCS and Garm (4-3) from the RORC team.
In the overall Range Rover Sardinia Cup team standings, calculated by combining the points of the two boats in each team, the RORC holds the lead. In second place is the YCCS and in third the YC Repubblica Marinara di Pisa.
This evening, owners and their guests are invited to a dinner at the YCCS terrace restaurant, hosted by title sponsor Range Rover. Alongside the dinner, a photographic exhibition featuring past editions of the Sardinia Cup was inaugurated in Sala Azzurra - the model room at the YCCS - in the presence of renowned yachting photographer Carlo Borlenghi.
Tomorrow, 6 June, racing continues at 12 noon CEST, with two further windward-leeward races scheduled, after which the first discard of the series comes into play. Mistral winds of 13 to 20 knots are forecast.