Back-to-back. That is the simplest way to describe what Marco Favale and the Yacht Club de Monaco crew achieved aboard Millenium Falcon off the coast of Sardinia. Having claimed the Smeralda 888 Invitational in Porto Cervo the previous year, they returned to the same waters and did it again, holding off a fierce challenge from the home club to secure a second consecutive title. The title was only settled in the very last race of the regatta, which made the result all the more compelling.
Nine boats answered the invitation to Porto Cervo, each sailing identical one-design Smeralda 888s, the elegant German Frers designs that have become a well-established part of the Yacht Club Costa Smeralda racing calendar. Representing the host club was Vittorio Lombardi Stronati's Stay Rude, alongside two further YCCS entries, Giada and Mathilde. The international challenge came from Monaco, France, and further afield, with Marie Helene Polo's Zarina by DAS, Timofey Sukhotin's V Force, and several other crews all bringing genuine title ambitions to the startline.
Light Mistral conditions shaped the opening two days of racing, and those breezes suited Millenium Falcon well. Favale's crew moved to the head of the provisional standings, though not by any commanding margin. On the third and final day the wind shifted to the northeast and freshened to 6 to 7 knots, raising the intensity across the fleet. When the penultimate race wrapped up, the gap between Millenium Falcon and the YCCS boats had been cut to just two points, setting up a winner-takes-all finale.
Stay Rude made a determined charge in that deciding race. Lombardi Stronati's crew pushed hard from the gun and sat in second place at the first windward mark, in a position to overturn Millenium Falcon's slender lead. For a moment, a home-club victory looked genuinely possible. Millenium Falcon reasserted itself past that mark, pulling clear of Stay Rude and refusing to relinquish the lead. When the finishing gun fired, the two boats ended the regatta level on points. It was Millenium Falcon's four individual race wins that proved the decisive tiebreaker, securing the title in Favale's favour. Marie Helene Polo claimed the final race aboard Zarina by DAS, while V Force secured third place overall after its own tiebreaker against Vamos Mi Amor.
The Smeralda 888 Invitational delivered once again what one-design racing promises: a genuine contest where uniform equipment strips away any performance advantage and lays bare the skill of the sailors aboard. No boat can hide behind superior hardware. A title resolved only in the final race says plenty about how competitive and healthy the class remains, both at Porto Cervo and across the wider sailing world.
Millenium Falcon's crew received a Garmin OnBoard system as their prize. Attention now turns to the Smeralda 888 European Cup, scheduled to begin on 3 July, with Porto Cervo once again providing the setting.
