From Fastnet Legend to Your Next Campaign: The Maxi 72 North Star (ex-Rán II)
Updated: 7 days ago
This post draws on "World's Coolest Yachts: Maxi 72 Rán II", first published by Yachting World in September 2023. All credit for the original feature goes to Yachting World.
Every so often a raceboat becomes part of offshore sailing history. In its World's Coolest Yachts series, Yachting World picked the Maxi 72 Rán II as one of them. Top British sailor Adrian Stead put her forward, and Yachting World gave her an "adrenalin factor" of 80%.
We think that's a fair score. The boat is now called North Star, and she's for sale through 31 North Group.
A boat built to win
Rán II was launched in 2009 for Niklas and Catherine Zennström. Judel/Vrolijk designed her and Green Marine built her in Lymington. As Yachting World describes, the brief was to take out as much weight as possible while keeping her strong enough for serious offshore racing. The result is a 72ft boat that can top 25 knots.
Her record shows the brief worked. Yachting World lists:
Back-to-back Rolex Fastnet Race overall wins under IRC, in 2009 and 2011
A Maxi World Championship win
A win in the RORC Caribbean 600
The Rolex Sydney Hobart in her first season, 2009
Adrian Stead told Yachting World it was "a great boat, with a great team, and great competition" and "definitely the most fun" of all the boats he has sailed.
The second chapter: North Star
Many famous raceboats stop winning once their headline years are over. North Star has kept winning. Recent results in the Mediterranean maxi fleet include:
2022: 1st, Tre Golfi Sailing Week; 1st in class, Maxi European Championship
2023: 1st overall, Tre Golfi and Maxi European Championship; IMA Yacht of the Year
2024: 1st in class, Tre Golfi; podium at the Maxi European Championship
2025: 3rd, Tre Golfi Offshore; 3rd, Maxi European Championship
Kept up to date and ready to race
Her owners have kept investing in her:
Water ballast system (2022/23)
Cariboni hydraulics and a Harken winch package (2021)
New Steyr engine (2021)
Deck and cockpit repainted (2023–24) and Seadek flooring fitted (2024)
B&G Nemesis mast displays (2025)
She comes with a large set of spares for switching between inshore and offshore racing: three keel fins, two rudders, two masts, three booms (including a 2023 inshore boom), two bowsprits and more than 25 sails dated 2016 to 2025. A 40ft workshop container and a 40ft sail container are also included.
Key details
Design / Build | Judel/Vrolijk / Green Marine, 2009 |
LOA | 21.91m |
Beam | 5.74m |
Draft | 5.65m |
Displacement | 15,819kg |
Location | La Ciotat, France |
Tax status | EU VAT paid |
Asking price | €2,300,000 |
An opportunity like this doesn't come around often
North Star has won the Fastnet overall twice and is still winning Mediterranean maxi events 15 years later. She would suit a team that wants to go straight into the Maxi European circuit, or an owner who wants to take a famous boat back offshore.
To arrange a viewing or request the full specification, contact 31 North Group at office@31northgroup.com or +44 (0) 7470 686717.
Original feature: "World's Coolest Yachts: Maxi 72 Rán II", Yachting World, 2023.
