HRM King Felipe skippered “Aifos” in the second of the two races held today in the class Gaastra IRC 1. Three classes sailed today a coastal race and five sailed two windward/leeward races. The overall provisional leaders at the end of this third racing day received the Enlace trophies, as winners of the regatta halfway point.
Today was the midpoint of the 33rd Copa del Rey MAPFRE, which is being held until Saturday. The classes Gaastra IRC 0, Gazprom Swan 60 and Barclays 52Super Series sailed a 29 nautical miles coastal race around the bay of Palma. All other classes added two more races to their scoring boards. The rankings offer different scenarios: two classes have new leaders (one-designs Nespresso X-35 and Herbalife J80), four have ties between the second and third place, and only three seem to have a clear leader. The best teams of the week received an award today.
The wind was kind again to the fleet, blowing from the south-southwest and speed of between 10 and 13 knots, and peaks up to 15 knots.
Gaastra IRC 0
The Gaastra IRC 0 fleet completed its coastal race in just over three hours. The fastest was Hap Fauth’s American “Bella Mente”, who fought an intense duel with Andres Soriano’s British “Alegre”. There was only a 36 seconds difference at the finish line. Third was George Sakellaris’ “Shockwave”, who maintains the overall lead in the class with 10 points. In the fight for second place, there is a tie between Roberto Tomasini’s “Robertissima III” (fourth today) and “Bella Mente”, both with 14 points. Tomorrow they will sail again a windward / leeward race.
Gaastra IRC 1
Giuseppe Parodi’s “Hurakan” continues to lead with iron fist the class Gaastra IRC 1. He won both races today and is already seven points ahead of “Team Vision Future” (3-3 today) and ten ahead of René Mangold’s “Aquila” (2-2). In the second race of the day, HRM King Felipe VI joined “Aifos” as skipper, which after three days is in fifth place overall. The King is expected to return tomorrow to skipper the Spanish Army’s TP52 in both races scheduled for the Class Gaastra IRC 1.
Gazprom Swan 60
In the battle for the Gazprom Swan 60 world championship, “Bronenosec” seems to be catching up and won today’s coastal race, his second consecutive win. Second was Boris Gusev’s “Spirit of Europe”, followed by Lorenzo Bortolotti’s “Windward”. Vladimir Liubomirov’s team leads the overall classification seven points ahead of “Petite Flamme” (fourth today), and 11 ahead of “Tsaar Peter” (sixth today).
Barclays 52 Super Series
Swedish Niklas Zennström’s “Rán” is recovering today from an irregular start of the week, winning the coastal race 43 seconds ahead of Brazilian Eduardo de Souza’s “Phoenix”. Third was British Tony Langley’s “Gladiator”. “Rán” is the fifth winner out of five races in the Barclays 52 Super Series. Despite its discreet sixth place in today’s race, “Quantum Racing” retains its lead, now five points ahead of the tie between “Rán” and “Azzurra”.
BMW 1 ORC
Double victory for Manuel Doreste’s “Rats on Fire” in the class BMW ORC 1, who has won five races out of six. Last year’s winner makes up for yesterday’s seventh place, and now leads 14 points ahead of the tie between Christian Plump’s “Elena Nova” (2-2 today) and Hendrik Brandis’ “Earlybird” (3-3). The category is dominated by the Swan 45 teams, which after six races have taken over the top four positions.
BMW ORC 2
The class BMW ORC 2 seems a replica of the class BMW ORC 1: five out of six victories for the leader and tie on points in the second place. “Movistar” skippered by Pedro Campos is not slowing down, and won both races today. In the fight for the second places, Teo Matheu’s “Airlan Aermec” suffers from his results today (4-5) and is overtaken by Lluis Blanchar’s “Varador 2000” (2-2). Good day also for Felix Comas’ “Pinyol Vermell” (3-3).
Nespresso X-35
In the class Nespresso X-35 today’s victories went to Dani Cuevas’ “Puerto Deportivo Benalmádena” and Alessandro Solerio’s “Lelagain”. Today’s good results allow the Italian boat to stand as the new class leader, one point ahead of his rival. Javier Sanz’s “Red Eléctrica de España”, who docked out at the top of the scoring board, lost its lead due to the eight place in the first race today, but recovered well with a second on the next race and is third overall.
Herbalife J80
Flawless day for José María Torcida’s “Noticia”. The Spaniard won both races today and snatches the lead to Javier Padrón’s “Herbalife”, who had a rough day (8-5). Third on the podium is the defending champion, Hugo Rocha’s “New Territories”, who finished fourth in both races today.
The social program continues
The Nespresso Brunch this morning received the visit of Spanish actor and top model Andres Velencoso. Former Irish cyclist Stephen Roche, winner of the Tour de France and the Giro d’Italia, was also in the RCNP and sailed onboard TP52 “Gladiator” to sail the Barclays 52 Super Series coastal race.
The Sailor’s Tent hosted a new performance by Alex Caro and Sote de Lino, with their musical entertainment at the tastings offered to the sailors at the Real Club Náutico de Palma at the end of the day.
The Enlace Trophies in the midpoint
Today the Enlace Trophies were awarded to the leaders of each class at the end of the first three days of racing. “Shockwave”, “Hurakan”, “Quantum Racing”, “Bronenosec”, “Rats on Fire”, “Movistar”, “Lelagain” and “Noticia” received the trophy for leading their classes in this halfway point of the regatta.
Tomorrow’s racing schedule is a coastal race for the classes Gaastra IRC1, BMW ORC 1 and BMW ORC 2. All other classes will sail windward-leeward races. The one-design classes Nespresso X-35 and Herbalife J80 may discard their worst result if they sail their eighth race tomorrow. The first race of the day will start at 13h00.
The 33rd Copa del Rey MAPFRE is organized by the Real Club Náutico de Palma and will take place from August 2nd to the 9th, 2014.
