Maxi International

What Maxi International does

International Maxi Association (IMA / Maxi International) is the international governing body for maxi yacht racing, founded in 1986 and headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, with an operative address in Porto Cervo, Italy. IMA is endorsed by World Sailing to organize World Championships and to manage the global maxi racing class. Its core products are the portfolio of sanctioned maxi regattas and championship series — including the Mediterranean Maxi Offshore/Inshore Challenge, Caribbean Maxi Challenge, Australian Maxi Championship, Transatlantic Trophy, Transpacific, Aegean 600, and the Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup — together with Class Rules, measurement standards, and recognition trophies such as the IMA Yacht of the Year Trophy and the George Andreadis Challenge Trophy. Race-day infrastructure includes YB Tracker for real-time position tracking across member events.

IMA operates as a private non-profit membership association. Its revenue mechanics are built on recurring membership dues from maxi yacht owners and their representatives, layered with sponsorship income from a concentrated sponsor base led by Rolex, alongside Credit Suisse and Code 0. The customer base is a narrow population of high-net-worth individual owners, owners' representatives, and competing maxi programs, served through IMA's network of partner yacht clubs and regatta organizers. The organization runs with a small staff of 1–10 employees, reflecting a lean operational model focused on class governance, event coordination, and member services rather than asset-intensive product development.

Name

Maxi International

Legal name

International Maxi Association

Website

https://internationalmaxiassociation.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1986

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

International Maxi Association (IMA) is the World Sailing-endorsed governing body for maxi yacht racing, organizing world championships and major regattas for an exclusive membership of maxi yacht owners since 1986, funded through membership dues and sponsorships led by Rolex.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Sailing Association & Yacht Racing Governance

NAICS

Business Associations (813910)

SIC

Services-Racing, Including Track Operation (7948), Services-Membership Organizations (8600)

akta.pro primary industry

Motorsport Sanctioning Bodies (FIA/FIM/IMSA, etc.) (MPAKAFAH)

Keywords

• Maxi yacht racing
• Sailing championships
• Offshore regattas
• Yacht association governance
• Class rules management

Headquarters

HQ city

Geneva

HQ country

Switzerland

HQ region

Europe

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Membership Fees: Annual membership fees from maxi yacht owners and enthusiasts who join the association.
2. Sponsorships: Long-term sponsorship from Rolex as main sponsor and Credit Suisse as additional sponsor. Code 0 provides marine clothing and gear.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels6 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

The International Maxi Association (IMA) is a membership-based sailing organization that coordinates and promotes maxi yacht racing worldwide. It organizes and sanctions competitive regattas, publishes and enforces class rules, manages offshore and inshore championships (including the Mediterranean Maxi Offshore/Inshore Challenges, Caribbean Maxi Challenge, Australian Maxi Championship, and Transatlantic Trophy), and administers trophies such as the IMA Yacht of the Year Trophy. It is endorsed by World Sailing to organize World Championships and manage maxi racing globally.

Product overview

The International Maxi Association (IMA) is a not-for-profit sailing organization endorsed by World Sailing to organize World Championships and manage maxi racing globally. The organization does not offer a traditional product portfolio but rather organizes and sanctions sailing competitions and awards. The IMA's primary offerings include the Mediterranean Maxi Offshore Challenge, Mediterranean Maxi Inshore Challenge, Caribbean Maxi Challenge, Caribbean Maxi Multihull Series, Australian Maxi Championship, Transatlantic Trophy, George Andreadis Challenge Trophy, and the IMA Yacht of the Year Trophy. These are competitive sailing events and trophies, not commercial products or services in the traditional sense.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• IMA Mediterranean Maxi Offshore Challenge: The IMA's offshore racing championship covering Mediterranean maxi yacht events
• IMA Mediterranean Maxi Inshore Challenge
• IMA Caribbean Maxi Challenge
• George Andreadis Challenge Trophy
• IMA Yacht of the Year Trophy

Named customers4 records

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Seven partnerships are on record, tiered major, minor and core.

• Hellenic Offshore Racing Club (HORC)majorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ Distributor · 5 July 2026Organizer of the Aegean 600, the penultimate leg of the IMA Mediterranean Maxi Offshore Challenge. Provides race organization and venue hosting at Lavrion, Greece.
• Olympic MarinemajorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ Distributor · 5 July 2026Co-organizer with HORC for the Aegean 600 event, providing venue and operational support for the race.
• Code 0minorGTM or Marketing PartnerMarine clothing company that provides smart new gear and clothing for the IMA team, enhancing brand visibility through team apparel.
• World SailingcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe international governing body for sailing that has endorsed the IMA to organize World Championships and manage maxi racing globally. This endorsement provides regulatory authority and legitimacy.
• Yacht Club Costa SmeraldacoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerHosts the IMA operative address in Porto Cervo, Sardinia and organizes the prestigious Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup, the flagship event of the IMA calendar.
• Yacht Club de MonacomajorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorCo-organizer of the Palermo-Montecarlo race and provides the Giuseppe Tasca D'Almerita Challenge Trophy. Major partner in Mediterranean racing events.
• Circolo della Vela SiciliamajorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorCo-organizer of the Palermo-Montecarlo race, providing race management and organizational support for the event.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Storm Trysail Club: Storm Trysail Club organizes prestigious offshore sailing events (Block Island Race Week, the SORC series, the Pineapple Cup) and runs its own championship and safety programs. It serves a comparable owner-skipper audience in large-format offshore sailing and overlaps with the IMA on standards-setting and event sanctioning in the Atlantic / Caribbean basin.
• Yacht Club Costa Smeralda: YCCS hosts the IMA's operative headquarters in Porto Cervo and is the principal organizer of the flagship Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup. While it is also a member club, its direct organizational role in IMA events places it as a peer in maxi class event management and owner relations in the Mediterranean.
• Royal Ocean Racing Club (RORC): RORC is the principal UK-based organization sanctioning offshore yacht racing and managing championship series for IRC classes. Like the IMA, it operates a member-driven model that organizes racing, manages measurement standards, and awards trophies across a multi-event championship calendar, serving a comparable owner-skipper community in the North Sea / Atlantic.
• Offshore Racing Congress (ORC): ORC is the international body that manages measurement and rating systems for offshore sailing — including the IMA-affiliated maxi classes. While the IMA focuses on event organization, ORC handles the underlying technical measurement standards, making it a complementary peer in the same regulatory-infrastructure ecosystem for maxi yacht racing.
• J Class Association: The J Class Association is formally affiliated with the IMA and operates as a parallel class organization for J Class yachts, participating in IMA events like the Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup and Les Voiles de Saint-Tropez. It shares the IMA's structure of class rules, measurement standards, and trophy recognition for a defined (and similarly elite) sailing class.

Broad incumbents

• New York Yacht Club: The New York Yacht Club organizes high-profile sailing events including the Transatlantic Race and Rolex New York Yacht Club Invitational Cup. It is comparable to the IMA in owner-class profile and elite-event positioning but is broader in scope, operating as a member club with a full racing calendar rather than a class-specific governing body.
• Cruising Club of America: CCA is a premier blue-water sailing organization with comparable member profile (experienced offshore sailors, yacht owners) and activities including race organization, safety-at-sea, and awards. It is broader in membership base and recreational rather than racing-only focus, but operates in the same exclusive sailing-membership space.
• World Sailing: World Sailing is the international federation that has endorsed the IMA to manage maxi racing globally. It operates the umbrella regulatory layer above all class associations, making it a structural parent-equivalent rather than a direct competitor — but its governance over class rules, world championships, and Olympic sailing makes it the broadest incumbent in the same sport category.
• Royal Yacht Squadron: The Royal Yacht Squadron is one of the most prestigious yacht clubs globally, hosting premier racing including the America's Cup-linked events and Cowes Week. Like the IMA, it serves ultra-high-net-worth yacht owners and sanctions elite racing, but operates more as a private club with broader membership scope than the IMA's class-specific franchise.

Regional players

• Transpacific Yacht Club: Transpac organizes the biennial Los Angeles-to-Honolulu offshore race, which the IMA explicitly supports as part of its calendar. It is a comparable sanctioning body for a single iconic offshore event, with similar function but a more regional Pacific focus relative to the IMA's Mediterranean core.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xtwitter.com/INTMAXIASSOC
• Facebookfacebook.com/imamaxi
• Instagraminstagram.com/imamaxi
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/maxi-international

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Maxi International