Matteo di Maio won two races and finished 8th in the RS21 World Championship. Aboard Era l’Ora, the Yacht Club de Monaco member mastered the waters off Cannes for this final event of the 2026 season. He ended the week on a high note by winning the championship’s final race despite light wind conditions that made for challenging racing. The competition attracted 39 teams, including that of Anatoli Karatchinski who finished 34th on Path RS. The world title went to the Italian team Mela after nine races.
Matteo di Maio didn’t wait until the end of the championship to make his mark. As early as the second race, Era l’Ora led the fleet to clinch his first race win. Their performance was then not so consistent with results ranging from 7th to 24th. But the YCM sailor clawed his way back to the front of the pack to conclude the championship. After coming 12th in the penultimate race, he won the ninth and final race to make that two wins for the week. With 100 points, Era l’Ora finished 8th overall. Anatoli Karatchinski was also racing in Cannes on Path RS with his crew taking 34th place.
At the front of the fleet, nothing had been decided before the final starting gun was fired. Les Freaks led by reigning World Champion Marco Pocci had taken the lead after the eighth race, but it was not the end for Edoardo Lupi’s Torpyone who was determined to take the title.
The final showdown however reshuffled the rankings. After finishing 2nd in the final decisive race, Mela took the lead and secured the world title with 44 points. Only four points separated the top two after nine races.
It was a tightly contested event, right down to last leg, that also saw Matteo di Maio win two races and took Era l’Ora into this World Championship’s top 10.
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