Javier de la Gándara’s Okofen team from Vigo had a great day this Saturday, adding two victories and placing second, just four points behind the leader
· The Rampage of Juan Carlos Ameneiro remains first in the general classification and will seek to win the hotly contested J80 national title on Sunday
· After Alboroto and Okofen, the third place on the podium is occupied by Solintal from Cantabria, who keeps his options open for the final day
· After the dispute of the last tests this Sunday the Monte Real Club de Yates will hold the awards ceremony at five in the afternoon
Very long day for the fleet that disputed the Spanish J80 Championship in the waters of the Vigo estuary, on a second day that kept the crews in the water for almost ten hours. The stage began with a delay of more than three hours and was resolved with new changes in an increasingly tight general.
The Galician Alboroto de Juan Carlos Ameneiro (MRCYB) managed to maintain his position as leader in the regatta field ahead of Okofen de Javier de La Gándara (MRCYB), one of the most outstanding of the day, after signing two firsts in the three races completed and climb to second place overall.
First thing in the morning, the Committee announced a postponement at the regatta course located in the Cíes area, waiting for conditions to improve before giving the first honk. The fleet, which was already in the area around twelve noon, had to wait until after three in the afternoon for the wind to pick up with about seven knots from the northwest, finally allowing the almost forty participating teams to add three new tests in their lockers.
“We had rather more complicated conditions, especially at the beginning,” said Aleix Ballester, the championship’s main official, after returning to land. There was very little wind, so we looked for the pressure further north of the race course and there we managed to start with about six or seven knots that reached twelve in the last race”.
The first test of the day began with practically all the teams in a fist, disputing the partial victory. At the head of the fleet, Santander’s Solintal and Javier de la Gándara’s Okofen were in a tough one-on-one match for almost the first half of the race, but the Gándara men did not give up and managed to sign their first partial victory after having released on Friday in fifth position overall.
Behind, Ignacio Camino’s Solintal failed to maintain their position and crossed the finish line in fifth position, while second and third place in the race went to two other representatives of the Real Club Marítimo de Santander, Palibex of Guillermo González and Etnia Barcelona with Peru Múgica at the controls.
In the second test, however, the tables were turned and it was three other teams that shared the first three positions, leaving an increasingly tight general after the entry into play of the discard, which allowed the crews to eliminate from the table your worst result.
The Avator Mercury of the renowned Cantabrian sailor Jaime Piris was the winner of the heat ahead of Solintal, also representing the Real Club Marítimo de Santander, who on this occasion did keep their options until the end and added a second place in their locker. Third position went to Juan Carlos Ameneiro’s Alboroto (Monte Real Club de Yates), who returned to the top positions after finishing eleventh in the previous one.
After the second test and with a wind that was already reaching twelve knots, the Regatta Committee honked for a final race in which only Javier de La Gándara’s men repeated on the podium, adding their second victory of the day ahead of Cleansailing by Chisco Catalán and Ferralemes by Rosario García, both from Monte Real, occupying the second and third position respectively.
With these results, Okofen climbs up to second place on the podium and is only four points behind the leader, who continues to be Ameneiro’s Uproar. Although the final result will depend on what happens on Sunday, everything is open for both crews.
“It was a very complicated day but we did three good partials with which we placed ourselves close to the first. Where we are now is already a good result, so if we manage to improve it tomorrow it would be great and if we stay in second position it would also be perfect.”, stated Jaime de La Gándara, crew member of the Okofen, as soon as they reached the pontoons.
Behind, third place is now occupied by Solintal, who finished the day with a ninth in the last test and also has options for the final victory.
Tomorrow, Sunday, the Committee will try to complete the program again with the first start at twelve noon. The reports once again predict a day with little wind, so we will have to wait to see how the conditions present themselves on the regatta field. In the words of the main official, “the report is still complicated for tomorrow and we have the time limit at half past three, but we hope to be able to get one or two heats”.
Once the competition is over, the trophy ceremony will be held at five in the afternoon in the gardens of Monte Real, where the new champion of Spain in the J80 class and winner of the Gestilar Trophy will be crowned.
The Spanish J80 Championship is organized by the Monte Real Club de Yates with the sponsorship of Gestilar and Homes by Gestilar and the collaboration of the Royal Spanish Sailing Federation and the Royal Galician Sailing Federation. It also has the support of the Xunta de Galicia, the Pontevedra Provincial Council and the Pontevedra City Council; and from brands and companies such as Volvo Autesa, Martin Miller’s Gin or Terras Gauda, among others.
J80 SPANISH CHAMPIONSHIP GESTILAR TROPHY
Monte Real Yacht Club Baiona, 15 – 18 September 2022
TOP 10 classification after the first day
1. ALBOROTO · JUAN CARLOS AMENEIRO · MRCYB · 12 POINTS
2. OKOFEN · JAVIER DE LA GANDARA · MRCYB · 16 POINTS
3. SOLINTAL · IGNACIO CAMINO · RCM SANTANDER · 21 POINTS
4. SPACO SANTIAGO ESTÉVEZ MRCYB 28 POINTS
5. NAMASTE · LUIS DE MIRA · MRCYB · 40 POINTS
6. BIOBIZZ JOSE AZQUETA RCM ABRA/RSC 40 POINTS
7. AVATOR MERCURY JAIME PIRIS RCM SANTANDER 41 POINTS
8. TIRED · NANO YÁÑEZ · MRCYB · 41 POINTS
9. MAIJA JOSÉ LUIS PÉREZ MRCYB 43 POINTS
10. PALIBEX GUILLERMO GONZÁLEZ RCM SANTANDER 45 POINTS
