The usually reliable Bay of Palma has not only delivered good racing conditions for each and every day of the 42nd Copa del Rey MAPFRE but it saved the best until the last day when the new Finals format added spice to the deciding finale.
Palma (Spain), 3 August 2024
The winners of the top trophy for the 123 boat annual showcase regatta, which this year featured eight racing divisions, went to the Torrevieja based Dufour 40 Fala Pouco which, after a fourth in the first race, never finished lower than third to win the 17 boat Balearia ORC Class 3.
After finishing second four times and third twice skipper José Ballester was delighted to win the class and the top trophy. “We carry on from seven years sailing on the Maverta project. We started this new campaign in January or February. Then in the Trofeo de la Reina we had a good feeling but we decided to make some changes, going from asymmetric kites to spinnakers and then, next, we won the Tabarca Trophy. We have been consistent: our worst position was a fourth. This fleet has been very competitive, very compact and a lot of fun. Usually we have had four or five boats within 10-15 seconds on real time. This is by far my best result in the Copa del Rey.”
German owner-driver Hendrik Brandis has been racing his Earlybirds in the ClubSwan fleets at Copa del Rey since 2008 first in the Swan 45, winning that class in 2016 before moving up to the ClubSwan 50 which he won when the new class debuted in Palma in 2017, taking victory again in 2018. His Earlybird won most recently two years ago with Tom Slingsby calling tactics. Their rivalry with Marcus Brennecke’s Hatari continues to spur both teams on to greater things.
This year it is the red boat Earlybird which has prevailed, winning by seven points over Hatari after taking a third and a second today. Brandis’ team with double 470 world champions pair Nic Asher calling tactics, former crew Elliot Willis on mainsheet and South African ace Shane Elliot navigating had to hold back Hatari in the showdown final race which they did on the first upwind. Graeme and Raquel Peterson’s Moonlight took third.
Drenched in champagne owner-driver Brandis grinned, “It was a difficult start to the day as we were locked out in the first start and we had to catch up, we ended up third behind Hatari which won. And so in the second race we had to be ahead of Hatari. We started tacking on them on the first beat and we ended up them last and us second last. But then we went well and had a good downwind and a good beat. It is three years since we won and it is so very, very nice to be back. We have boatspeed for sure, Nic Asher has done a fantastic job I must say and that made a difference. We have a great team for the worlds.”
Markus Wieser tactician on Hatari acknowledged, “Earlybird were better and deserve it. They sailed well, they were fast and had good pace. Our target is to win the worlds and we will have new sails on in Porto Cervo. We were struggling a little bit for boatspeed.”
On the day after Diego Botín and Florian Trittel delivered Spain their first Olympic gold medal of the Olympic Games in Marseille, some of the nation’s most decorated Olympians were to the fore among the fleets today.
Double gold medallist Luis Doreste guided the TP52 Teatro del Soho Altavista to victory in the premier ORC division Watches of Switzerland ORC 0, edging out Aifos the Spanish Navy’s TP52 which is steered by the King of Spain. The winners never scored lower than third and won by 5,5 points ahead of Aifos which finished second again this year. Aifos tactician Alberto Barovier smiled, “Soho were quite aggressive on the start line of the first race and we are still a little bit green for this kind of match racing procedure, we came back strong with good tactics upwind and downwind and King Felipe was steering very well and we finished first. And in the second race it was a little more complicated the wind dropped a little more, the other class started later and it was really mixed up and hard to keep a clean lane of breeze, there was such a big mix of boats. But we are happy with second, the King and the whole crew did such a good job. But, once again we are second, hopefully next year we might have the luxury of a new boat!”
Portuguese Olympic bronze medallist Hugo Rocha has dozens of Copa del Rey class wins under his belt, not least in the Swan 45, Swan 42 and J/80 – all of which he has gone on to win the world championship as tactician in. Rocha called tactics on the Vigo team on Luis Bugallo’s Kimpton Hotels/Les Roches to win the Sandberg Estates J70 class in which most contenders have been training and scoping out the race areas ahead of the world championships. Second place went to John Heaton’s crew from Chicago USA who were eighth at last year’s worlds.
Rocha reported, “Actually it was a big fight for me to be here as I just finished the Baltic 600 four days ago and struggled to get here on time. But is has been such a nice week with such a nice team. Today in the first and second races we made very good starts and we are fast which makes my job as tactician quite easy.”
Heaton of Empeira enthused, “It was a great week. It has been just a little bit too hot for us at times but it has been a super week. One day we did not have speed and we figured that out fairly quickly but the first placed boat was super fast, we have something to shoot for. That one day we had the rig too loose and the headstay too tight we were slow and that makes tactics hard but after that we have been good. But it has been a great learning for the worlds, the club is great, the city is great and the whole area is great. We can’t wait for the worlds in September.”
It was a Vigo team which also win the Women’ Cup Class, triumphing in today’s six boat Medal Race Patricia Suárez from the Citanias RCN Vigo smiled, “We are very happy with the result. Victory had eluded us in previous years due to breakages and so on. I think this format has favoured us a bit because the boats were more equal and well cared for, and we have also been able to show our value within the fleet. Citanias is finally on top of the podium. We are looking forward to celebrating now and to coming back next year”.
The Argentine flagged PG390 Katara won in Altavista ORC 2 whilst the only team to retain their title from 2023 is in the ClubSwan 42 class Jose Maria Meseguer’s Pez de Abril.
The 42nd Copa del Rey MAPFRE is organised by the RCNP by delegation of the Royal Spanish Sailing Federation (RFEV), with the sponsorship of MAPFRE, the institutional sponsorship of the Government of the Balearic Islands and the Palma City Council, with the collaboration of the Port Authority of the Balearic Islands and the Balearic Sailing Federation.
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