Mr. North Sails takes revenge. North Star is European Maxi Champion

After her triumph at the Regatta of Three Gulfs, the former Maxi 72 North Star of British owner Peter Dubens is European Maxi IMA 2023 Champion. A real rematch for North Star, which in 2022 had seen victory slip away by a whisker, running into a wind hole during the last side of the last race.

North Star is European Maxi IMA 2023 Champion

With its combination of offshore, coastal and stick racing, the IMA Maxi Europeans has been a complex race for competitors, making it one of the most difficult titles to win in the Maxi Yacht calendar. North Star got off to the best possible start by winning last weekend’s Three Gulfs Regatta. After a disappointing day for all former Maxi 72s on Monday, when conditions favored the smaller boats, North Star continued with a very even series of trials, recording a fourth-place finish as the worst result of the series. He closed the last day of racing by knocking George Sakellaris’ Proteus off the top of the leaderboard, thus winning, after discarding the worst result, the European title by only a quarter of a point.

“In spite of the rain, this week’s weather conditions allowed for exceptional and very close racing. Peter Dubens and North Star deserved the victory-and what an end result!” is the comment of IMA Secretary General Andrew McIrvine. On the sidelines of the award ceremony it was confirmed that the 2024 edition of the European Maxi IMA Championship will return to Sorrento in mid-May.

North Sails’ flagship

North Star was originally known as Rán II, the boat designed by Judel&Vrolijk for Niklas Zennström (patron of Skype) that won two Rolex Fastnet Races and was one of the most successful Maxi 72s of all time. After several changes of hands, and a few name changes, the boat was purchased by Peter Dubens, an entrepreneur and financier who heads the Oakley Capital fund. Through its investment fund Dubens in 2014 it acquired the North Technology group that owns the North Sails sailmaker.

James Barbaro