Leopard 3 Wins IMA Maxi Title as Nelson’s Cup Finale Smashes Records

Leopard 3, the Farr 100 owned by Laura and Joost Schuijff, took the IMA Maxi prize at the RORC Nelson’s Cup Series finale in Antigua after a dramatic two-race finish off English Harbour. The International Maxi Association reported Leopard 3’s line-honours time as 3:32:58, which it said was well inside the previous monohull race record of 4:01:42 set by Niklas Zennström’s Rán in 2023 and also faster than the outright monohull mark of 3:46:08 established by Hetairos in 2022.

Final-day conditions saw trade winds edging into the high teens, with Leopard 3 typically sailing at around 20 knots or equalling wind speed as the IMA described. Sailweb and RORC laid out the programme as two coastal races for the IMA Maxi class - a 20-mile race followed by a 10-mile contest - and Afloat captured the close-quarters drama at the start. “It is pretty hectic when you've got this massive starting line, and three 100-footers tacking within three boat lengths of each other,” said Leopard 3 tactician Chris Nicholson. “It's really high-end racing for such big boats.”

Race reporting varied by outlet but several sources agreed that Leopard 3 finished the decisive race ahead on IRC corrected time, more than two and a half minutes clear of Galateia with Filip Balcaen’s Maxi 72 Balthasar third, a result RORC said secured the series by two points from Wendy Schmidt’s Deep Blue. Afloat noted Galateia’s Irish crew included Justin Slattery, Nin O'Leary, Simon Johnson and West Cork’s Kelvin and Rory Harrap. V’s captain Jack Bouttell reflected on an earlier race when his boat scored a strong start: “The first race was great,” he said. “We had a really good start and we won the cliff end… I think the rest of the race we just sailed cleanly.”

Sailweb’s published final leaders table lists Leopard 3 on 10 points, Deep Blue on 12 and Galateia on 14, with V also on 14 and Balthasar on 16. Prizegiving at The Admiral’s Inn in Nelson’s Dockyard saw Leopard 3 collect the top IMA Maxi prize, with Wendy Schmidt and Lizz Flowers picking up the prizes for second and third respectively; Tim Wright’s photos show the Leopard 3 crew celebrating, including Royal Cork’s Tom McWilliam kneeling front row first left.

A conflicting account from the International Maxi Association complicates the official narrative: while IMA supplied Leopard 3’s 3:32:58 line-honours time and credited the boat for benefitting from “no park up in the lee of the island,” its report also states that Filip Balcaen’s Balthasar, finishing just over 20 minutes behind Leopard 3, “won the IMA Maxi class under IRC corrected time, albeit by just 30 seconds.” RORC remains the series organiser and its race bulletin, echoed by Afloat and Sailweb, records Leopard 3 as the RORC Nelson’s Cup IMA Maxi winner. Racing in Antigua continued the next day with the Antigua 360 around the island ahead of the RORC Caribbean 600 start on Monday 23 February.