King Juan Carlos’ “Bribon” and Finnish team “Oiva”, European Champions of the Trofeo Xacobeo

The fourth consecutive continental title for “Bribon” from the Real Club Náutico de Sanxenxo, with King Juan Carlos leading the crew
Henrik Andersin’s Finnish team “Oiva” achieves their first European championships in Sanxenxo in the Open division.
The harsh meteorological conditions hitting the Rías Baixas prevented the last day of racing in the programme from going ahead.
The closing dinner tonight at 20:00h, will give a final touch to the Trofeo Xacobeo with the prizegiving ceremony organised for the winners.

Sanxenxo, Spain, 5th October 2024

The 6 Metre class has already declared its new European champions. The Trofeo Xacobeo, which kicked off on 30th September to dispute the continental title in Sanxenxo, finally concluded on Saturday. King Juan Carlos on board “Bribon” claimed their fourth consecutive title in the Classics division and Finnish team Henrik Andersin’s “Oiva” were crowned in the Open division.

As predicted in the forecast, the arrival of a new storm on the Galician coast saw Sanxenxo starting the day with rain and strong gusts of wind of up to 30 knots throughout the morning. With a prediction of extreme conditions throughout the day, the Race Committee made the definitive decision at 10:45h to cancel the last programmed race of the event.

A total of seven out of the eight programmed races were held, a true success for the organization following a week of competition with wind conditions proving a challenge for all involved.

A fourth consecutive European title for King Juan Carlos’ “Bribon” in the Classics division

Leaders from day one of racing, the team were able to maintain their position. The crew of “Bribon”, with King Juan Carlos heading the team, kicked off the Trofeo Xacobeo on Monday with their first partial victory; immediately placing them as the first leaders on the board; a position they were able to maintain up until the end.

“We always head out on the water with the aim to be at the top and to stay consistent. We have the advantage of being a particularly competitive boat in all wind conditions and I think that is key in championships held over several days.” explained Roi Álvarez, crew member on board “Bribon”.

Jane Abascal, from Cantabria, added,

“We have had quite a difficult week, but it has been very complete. I think that the committee made the right decisions with the races, only risking when it was necessary. We are really happy with our victory, and having been able to revalidate the title again, because we have had several rivals that were pushing back right from the start such as `Titia´, `Aida´ and especially `Astree III´”.

In total King Juan Carlos’s crew had two partial wins, three seconds, one fourth and an eighth place which they were able to discard, enabling them to claim the title of the European Championships and the Trofeo Xacobeo in the classics division with a one-point advantage over their maximum rival Finnish team Ossi Paija’s “Astree III.”

Behind them, the podium was completed by another team sailing for the Real Club Náutico de Sanxenxo (RCNS), Mauricio Sánchez-Bella’s “Titia” a regular competitor in the National league, held every month in the Salnés.

Henrik Andersin’s“Oiva” winners in the Open division

The Open division was an even closer competition. Three different teams were leading the championship at different moments during the week: American team Basil Vasiliou’s “Jane Ann” Swiss team, Muller Rainer’s “Junior” – drawn even with Violeta Álvarez’s “Stella” and Finnish team, Henrik Andersin’s “Oiva.”

After a discreet start, Andersin’s team gradually moved up the leaderboard and went into the lead on Friday having finished second and third in the last two races of the week. With these results and discarding their seventh place from the day before,
“Oiva” were able to claim the definitive leadership of the competition on Saturday, following the annulment of the last race due to the extreme conditions in the region.

For the Finnish team, it is their first title,

“It’s incredible, I have been after this title for 21 years. We have never won something like this, so I am extremely happy,” commented Andersin. “We have a fantastic crew, and I think the organization did a very good job with the challenging weather, so the regatta has been a great success. We think the boat is good with any kind of wind conditions, it is very balanced, and it is a new boat which we have been sailing for a year and a half, and we now know how it responds,” he added.

Behind them, just four points separated the second place from the eleventh, reflecting the extremely high level of the fleet in the racecourse in the Ria de Pontevedra.

The second place finally went to British team, Jeremy Thorp’s “Battlecry” and third to Swiss team “Junior”.

Prizegiving, a final touch to the event in the Real Club Náutico de Sanxenxo

With the competition concluded for the RCNS, on Saturday night the closing dinner will be held at 20:00h, with prizes being awarded to the winners of the Trofeo Xacobeo and the new European champions of the class.

The official act will be attended by King Juan Carlos, the infant Doña Elena, Diego Calvo, counsellor for ‘Presidencia, Xustiza e Deportes’ (lit. Presidency, Justice and Sports) for the Xunta de Galicia, Nava Castro, parliament representative for tourism; Telmo Martín, Mayor of Sanxenxo, José Ramón Lete, General Secretary of sport. Manuel Villaverde, President of the Real Federación Gallega de Vela, Pedro Cardona, director commander of the Escuela Naval de Marín, Sauro Martínez, Principal Captain of the ‘Cofradía’ (lit guild), Ramón Guinarte, director of the Mancomunidade del Salnés, and Pedro Campos, president of the RCNS, among other authorities.

FINAL RESULTS

Classics
Position/Country/Boat/Skipper/Points
1. ESP, Bribon, El Rey Juan Carlos, 12 puntos
2. FIN, Astree II, Ossi Paija, 13 puntos
3. ESP, Titia, Mauricio Sánchez-Bella, 23 puntos
4. ESP, Aida, Javier de la Gándara, 26 puntos
5. FRA, Fun, Louis Heckly, 30 puntos

Open
Position/Country/Boat/Skipper/Points
1. FIN, Oiva, Henrik Andersin, 19 puntos
2. GBR, Battlecry, Jeremy Thorp, 24 puntos
3. SUI, Junior, Loic Forestier, 25 puntos
4. SUI, Momo, Dieter Schoen, 25 puntos
5. ESP, Stella, Violeta Álvarez, 26 puntos