Imagine you are on your boat in the middle of an emerald sea enjoying a quiet bit of fishing. Imagine in the distance an array of colourful spinnakers is heading towards you, under a cloudless blue sky in ten to twelve knots of warm breeze.

Imagine that the leading boats all turn in unison towards you as if they have been choreographed to do so. Then you suddenly realise that you are parked up next to Secca tre Monti, the turning mark in the middle of Race 2 at the Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup.

You would probably start feeling a bit like the Captain of the L'Orient at the Battle of the Nile, as the British fleet turned towards him line astern. Unlike that poor seafarer, you are able to take evasive action and find yourself in the best seat in the house as five IRC-optimised Mini Maxis bear down before dousing their kites, make a sharp turn right and head off the rocks at Monaci to disturb the afternoon of a couple of nearby diving parties.

Day 2 of the Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup opened with less than promising conditions. The Race Committee kept the fleet ashore until 11:30. But even then, it was not until 13:30 that the racing began with just over 5 knots of easterly breeze.

Three hours later, the Cruising and Mini Maxis had completed a 17 nautical mile course that took them to a windward mark, before reaching back west towards Capo Ferro. Here they entered the channel and reached off to the submerged outcrop of rocks, simply and locally known as Secca. From Secca in a freshening breeze, they followed a fetch north to Monaci and another fetch back to Golfo Pevero before finishing off Porto Cervo. Ranger (CAY IS) took a second bullet in Cruising, as did Meyers / Bertarelli’s Numbers (USA), featuring the Alinghi crew in the Mini Maxis.

The Racing and Wally Divisions stretched their longer and more nimble legs a little further, covering 25nm which included a long beat from Monaci down towards Mortoriotto before returning to Pevero and the finish. As they turned the corner at I. di Nibani, the returning Wallys found themselves on a beam reach and at times appeared overpressed under their massive mains and spinnakers.

With the foot of kites toying perilously close to the foaming bow waves, crew nerves must have been tingling. What seemed to be a short hop must have felt like an age. Thomas Bscher's Open Season (GER) was one that almost rounded up as she took a gust broadside, but this did nothing to upset her otherwise perfect day. Open Season in the Wally Division was joined by George David's Rambler (USA) in Racing Division on today's winner's podium.

Tactician Jochen Schuemann on Open Season was happy with how the race unfolded. "The day started with a postponement, but the race committee did a very good job. They waited exactly to the moment the breeze developed and we were able to sail downwind into the islands, which look great with all these maxi yachts sailing through the rocks."

Schuemann, another triple gold medallist from the Games and competing here this week, continued. "We have to fight in our division with two similar-sized boats. Today we had a good start and all three were very close together. Luckily we were in a very good position to keep Magic Carpet behind us and not to lose distance on Y3K in front. Real concentration was important during the entire race, but especially close to the coast where the wind was stronger than further offshore. Tactical decisions were very important because although you can't influence the smaller boats behind you have to beat them. It is what we were able to accomplish today and of course we are very happy about. It has been the first win for Open Season since quite a long time ago. The crew did a great job today!"

Whilst Claus Peter Offen’s Y3K led the 143-foot Esense home on the water, it was Open Season that took the race ahead of Jean Charles Decaux's J One on handicap and now leads the Wally Division after two races.

Back to Aboukir Bay (or at least the reach past Capo Ferro and into Bomb Alley), it was great sailing for the front-runners in the Mini Maxi Division. Apart from an annoying gybe near the end, this leg of the course was almost a straight-line drag race.

Neville Crichton's Alfa Romeo 3 (NZL) with Torben Grael in the hot seat led the pack by some distance. Behind were Andy Soriano's Alegre (GBR), Meyers / Bertarelli's Numbers (USA), Roger Sturgeon's Rosebud / Team DYT (USA), Jim Swartz's Moneypenny (USA) and one or two of the smaller Wallys, such as Jean-Charles Decaux's J One, down towards the unsuspecting picnickers. The wind had finally built to double figures at this point and the spectacle was complete as the group gybed together, as though signalled to do so by the lead boat.

Andy Soriano, owner of Alegre who lives in the Philippines and is usually seen racing on the Asian circuit was pleased with the way the day went and with progress generally. "It's a tough fleet. Every day we do a little better which is good. There was a little bit of everything today windwise, and we sailed a good race, which is important. I'm really enjoying being out there racing with a number of similar boats."

Alegre went onto to finish the race in third place on the water behind Alfa Romeo 3 and Numbers, but came in second on handicap and now lies second overall behind the word-perfect Numbers.