This afternoon began in Baiona the operation of unloading and placing the 18 containers of the crews and organization of the 52 SUPER SERIES that arrived in Vigo last week aboard the same freighter that brought the TP52.
The logistics operation, led by the international company Peters & May, will last throughout the day and tomorrow, Tuesday, all the containers are expected to be perfectly installed in the parking lot of the Monte Real Yacht Club.
It is a complicated operation due to the limited space and because it is an area of special heritage interest. Also due to the need to avoid disturbances in traffic flow in Baiona.
“The difficulty of this logistics operation for the 52 SUPER SERIES is to regulate the traffic of the trucks so that the town is not blocked. We have a truck inside the Parador and another outside working, and on the outskirts of Baiona there will also be a filtering area for trucks so that they enter little by little and their circulation has the least impact. Inside the Monte Real, where the containers are being unloaded and placed, is the critical point of the operation, since the space is very small and everything is calculated to the millimeter” , Justo Gosalbes, manager of Peters & May for Spain and Portugal and responsible for this operation, told us.
With the placement of the containers and the installation of the village tents in the Monte Real gardens, the club will be practically ready to host the ABANCA 52 SUPER SERIES – Baiona Sailing Week.
The ABANCA 52 SUPER SERIES – Baiona Sailing Week will premiere the 2022 season of the prestigious 52 SUPER SERIES from May 23 to 28
· The Monte Real Club de Yates will host the nine teams of the circuit that will make their debut in the surroundings of the National Park of the Atlantic Islands of Galicia
Víctor Mariño, from Vigo, crew member aboard the double world champion Platoon, is eager to compete in the waters in which he learned to navigate
· The president of the MRCYB assures that the arrival of the SUPER SERIES in Baiona will be a milestone in the history of sport in Galicia
· The event will be officially presented next Friday, May 20 at 1:30 p.m. at the Monte Real Club de Yates facilities
The countdown begins for the ABANCA 52 SUPER SERIES – Baiona Sailing Week. The popular Galician fishing village will host the first round of the 52 SUPER SERIES season from May 23 to 28, and will bring together the nine candidates for the 2022 title.
In Baiona, the German Platoon owned by Harm Müller-Spreer will compete; the Americans Quantum Racing (Doug DeVos), Interlodge (Austin and Gwen Fragomen) and Sled (Takashi Okura); the British Alegre (Andy Soriano) and Gladiator (Tom Langley); Turkish Provezza (Ergin Imre); the South African Phoenix 11 (Hasso Platner); and the Thai Team Vayu (Tom and Kevin Whitcraft).
It will be the first regatta in which they will face each other since the Rolex TP52 World Championship, with which the 2021 season closed last November with the Sled as TP52 world champion, champion of the 52 SUPER SERIES and team to beat in 2022.
The Sled will defend both crowns this year against the likes of Quantum Racing (four-time circuit champion and three-time world champion, who finished just one point behind Sled in 2021) or Platoon (two-time world champion and third in 2021, two points behind the winner), although given the quality of the crews on board each of the TP52s and the fine-tuning of the boats during the winter, it is early to speak of clear favorites.
For the Baiona event, the TP52s arrived at the port of Vigo aboard a Peters & May freighter and are now resting on the pontoons of the Monte Real Club de Yates de Baiona (MRCYB) finalizing preparations to start training next weekend (Saturday 21 and Sunday 22 have free training).
The competition program will begin with the traditional official training regatta on Monday, May 23. This non-scoring test will act as a dress rehearsal for the organization and participants for the five days of competition that will complete the sports program of the ABANCA 52 SUPER SERIES – Baiona Sailing Week between Tuesday 24 and Saturday 28 May.
An impressive regatta field and an excited Galician
The Regatta Committee led by the Spanish María Torrijo will establish the battlefield in front of the majestic archipelago of the Cíes Islands, turning the National Park of the Atlantic Islands of Galicia into a spectacular backdrop for the action of the TP52.
Víctor Mariño, from Vigo, a crew member aboard the double world champion Platoon, is excited to compete in the waters in which he learned to navigate: “I’m looking forward to the 52 SUPER SERIES being held in my home waters, it’s kind of a dream come true. The weather is quite unstable at this time of year depending on the systems, one week can be bad and another good. At the end of May, the usual wind is from the northwest with an average of around 15-16 knots. It’s a very even race course, so there’s no real advantage I can give from my local knowledge. I don’t feel the pressure of having to perform well in my waters with the Platoon, but we are aware that if we sail at our best we can achieve a good result. What I feel is pressure for us to have good weather.”.
Baiona, looking forward to 52 SUPER SERIES and for everything to be perfect
Among the actions devised by the organizers of the event, the initiative to take the business out into the street and summon its people to a village installed in the park of La Palma, a few meters from the MRCYB, the operations center of the 52 SUPER SERIES, stands out. The village will be open to the public the weekend of May 26 to 28, and will have a giant screen where you can enjoy the best images of the competition and a wide range of entertainment and gastronomy.
In the opinion of José Luis Álvarez, president of the MRCYB: “Having been chosen by the SUPER SERIES to open the 2022 season is a source of pride for the club, but also a huge responsibility. Monte Real is used to organizing big events, but this competition is a new challenge for us, at all levels. The club’s staff has spent months making every effort to ensure that everything goes perfectly and we are sure that it will be what we want it to be: a milestone in the history of sport in Galicia, an unforgettable date for sailing lovers, a new opportunity to demonstrate how we do things at Monte Real and a unique opportunity to promote Baiona, the Rías Baixas and Galicia beyond our borders”.
The official presentation of the ABANCA 52 SUPER SERIES – Baiona Sailing Week will be next Friday, May 20 at 1:30 p.m. at the Monte Real Club de Yates facilities.
· This morning the sailboats that will compete in the ABANCA 52 SUPER SERIES will arrive at the Monte Real Yacht Club throughout the day · Baiona Sailing Week
· They are TP52-type boats, monohulls built in carbon fiber, light and high performance, considered authentic “flying machines”
· The logistics company Peters & May was in charge of bringing them to Galicia from the port of Sagunto (Valencia), unloading them in the port of Vigo and will also be in charge of the logistics of moving the containers to Baiona
The port of Vigo hosted this morning one of the most peculiar unloading and unloading operations so far this year, that of the sailboats that at the end of this month will compete in the ABANCA 52 SUPER SERIES – Baiona Sailing Week, organized by Monte Royal Yacht Club.
These spectacular boats, Transpac 52 or TP52, are carbon fiber monohulls, 15.85 meters long, with a large sail area and long, thin keels. Light and high-performance sailboats, considered authentic “flying machines” over the sea, the authentic “Formula One” of current cruising sailing.
Under the supervision of the logistics company Peters & May, in charge of bringing them to Galicia from the port of Sagunto (Valencia) aboard a freighter, the sailboats were unloaded one by one until they touched the waters of the Rías Baixas.
“More than a complicated operation, it is a delicate operation due to the type of boats, which although they are easy to load and unload, are very delicate due to the carbon fiber with which the sailboats are built,” says the manager of Peters & May for Spain and Portugal, Justo Gosalbes.
“The greatest difficulty in this type of operation -says Gosalbes- is customs, because all the teams are foreign, many of them are not European, and there is a lot of customs and port paperwork that is also very laborious”.
Today’s was the first contact of the TP52 with the Vigo estuary, in which in less than two weeks one of the most important nautical competitions on the planet will be held, an event that will bring to Galicia some of the most prestigious, including world champions and Olympic medalists.
In addition to the sailboats, which once unloaded continue their journey by sea to Baiona, this Wednesday the 18 containers of each of the crews and the organization are also unloaded in Vigo, which later, on the 16th, will be transferred by land to the Monte Real Yacht Club.
Its entry into Baiona will be another of the complicated phases of the logistics operation. “Here the difficulty -explains Justo Gosalbes, from Peters & May- It is in regulating the traffic of trucks so that the town is not blocked. We will have a truck inside the Parador and another outside working, and on the outskirts of Baiona there will also be another filtering area for trucks so that they enter little by little and their circulation has the least impact. Inside the Monte Real, where the containers will be unloaded and placed, will be another of the key points of the operation, since the space is reduced and everything is calculated to the centimeter”.
In Baiona they have been clearing and preparing the entire entrance surface of the Parador Nacional and the Monte Real Club de Yates for days to be able to place the containers there. In addition, the club’s marina has had to carry out a major restructuring of the boats in order to reserve an entire pontoon for the TP52s.
A great organizational and logistical display for what will undoubtedly be one of the sporting events of the year in Galicia. In the ABANCA 52 SUPER SERIES – Baiona Sailing Week, the teams Allegre (UK), Gladiator (UK), Interlodge (USA), Phoenix (South Africa), Platoon (Germany), Provezza (Turkey) will compete from May 23 to 28. , Quantum Racing (USA), Sled (USA) and Team Vayu (Thailand).
Today, our “Vela en feminine” project, with which we have been promoting the presence of women in the world of sailing for some time, is on the cover of La Voz de Galicia.
A great cover for women and for sailing… A cover that encourages us to continue working so that there are more and more women sailing and competing.
The Baitra J80 Winter League will be held in the waters of the Bay of Baiona on January 22, February 5 and 19, March 5 and 19 and April 2, organized by the Monte Real Yacht Club.
The regatta will be governed by:
to. The rules as defined in the WS Racing Rules of Sailing 2021–2024 (RRS).
b. J80 class monodesign regulations and their special adaptations of the J80 Galicia Fleet[NP][DP] .
c. Announcement and Instructions of Regatta.
d. The infraction of the Rules in AR and IR of this event indicated as[NP] It will not be a reason for protests between ships. This modifies Rule 60.1(a) RRS.
and. The infraction of the Rules in AR and IR of this event indicated as[DP] indicates that your penalty may be lighter than disqualification if the protest committee so decides. The abbreviation for the discretionary penalty imposed pursuant to this instruction shall be[DPI] .
F. The penalty for infractions of the IR indicated as[SP] they will be fixed, without hearing and imposed by the Race Committee, in the most recently completed race, applied as indicated in Rule 44.3 RRS (modifies Rules 63.1 and A5 of the RRS).
g. [NP] [DP] Annex A Security protocol in relation to COVID-19.
2. ADVERTISING [NP] [DP]
2.1. Participants may display advertising in accordance with the provisions of WS Regulation 20.
2.2 The Organization may require the participants to display the sponsor’s publicity in the form that is convenient and that will be provided to them before the regatta, not being able to manipulate or modify said material under any circumstances.
3. PARTICIPATION [NP] [DP]
3.1 J80 class boats that comply with the regulations of point 1 and all the requirements demanded in point 4 of this AR may participate. As long as each and every one of them is not fulfilled, their registration as a participant in the Regatta will not be considered. Depending on the circumstances, the Organizing and Race Committee may grant a special extension in a particular way to the boat that requests it in writing.
3.2 Owners and skippers must be members of the J80 Class National Association and be registered at http://www.j80measurement.com.
3.3 Skippers who are not owners must be in possession of Sailor Classification Grade 1. See the following link:
https://members.sailing.org/classification/?unique=1442849722.9402&view=req_new_classification&nocache=1
4. REGISTRATION
4.1 Registration will be mandatory, at a cost of €50 per boat, and the following documentation must be sent or presented before January 22:
• Complete the registration through the MRCYB website: https://www.mrcyb.es/events/event/j80-winter-league-2 /
• Updated boat insurance.
• Federal licenses of 2022 for all crew members.
• Proof of transfer of registration rights.
Submitted or presented in:
Mount Royal Yacht Club Parador Enclosure, s/n, 36300 Baiona Email: regatas@mrcyb.com phone + 34 986 385 000
4.2 Registration and confirmation of registration:
The owner or person in charge of each boat must personally sign the declaration of responsibility regarding Covid-19 before 12:00 noon on January 22, 2022.
5. PROGRAM
5.1. The competition will take place on the following days:
5.2. This program may be modified if circumstances so require (postponement to other dates due to suspension due to storms, etc., or modification of schedules according to forecast weather conditions or other causes).
6. COMPETITION FORMAT
6.1. It will be navigated in fleet format, in real time.
6.2. 18 tests are scheduled.
6.3. There will be no more than 3 tests per day.
7. MEASUREMENT AND SAFETY [NP] [DP]
7.1 The responsibility of attending this regatta having previously updated its Measurement Certificate, measuring the material with which it is intended to participate, is exclusively the registered skipper.
7.2 The number of crew members on board may be changed during the course of the regatta, but not on each day where it must end with the same number as the start.
7.3 The safety of this regatta will be considered as category 4 (reduced) in accordance with the Special Rules for High Seas Regatta of the WS and adapted to the particular regulations of the Galician J80 Fleet.
7.4 All boats must be equipped with a VHF radio with channels 16, 09, 71 and 72.
7.5 It will be the responsibility of the owner or skipper of each boat to comply with the legal regulations established for recreational boats, both in general and in particular for their government, dispatch and security.
8. SCORING SYSTEM
8.1. The Low Score system described in Appendix A of the RRS will apply.
8.2. There will be one (1) discard from 6 or more races held and two (2) discards from 11 or more races held.
9. PRIZES
Prizes will be awarded to at least the top 3 classifieds, the award ceremony will take place on April 2 at 8:30 p.m. at the club.
10. LIABILITY
Participants in the Baitra J80 Winter League do so at their own risk and responsibility.
The MRCYB or any person or body involved in the organization of the event, reject any responsibility for loss, damage, injury or inconvenience that may occur to people or things, both on land and at sea, as a result of participation in the tests covered by this race announcement.
Attention is drawn to Fundamental Rule 3, Decision to Race, of part 1 of the RRS, which states: “It is the sole responsibility of a boat to decide whether to participate in a race or to continue racing”.
MRCYB
[NP][DP] ANNEX A
Security protocol in relation to COVID-19
to. Access to the regatta facilities is subject to the control of body temperature.
b. Participants and support people are required to wear a mask:
1º: At all times while in the Club facilities, except in the cases established by law.
2º: At all times while they are afloat, except in the cases provided by law.
3rd: when embarking on any Organization vessel: Regatta Committees, Referees and maintenance boats, etc. The masks must be thrown only in the containers provided for it, duly marked.
c. Participants and support people are obliged to respect the capacity and access shifts, where appropriate, to:
1º Changing rooms will remain closed.
2nd Bar, restaurant and social lounges.
d. Participants and support people are required to wash their hands frequently and, where appropriate, to use hydrogels when accessing rooms and closed areas.
and. Participants and support persons are required to use the one-way lanes when traveling within the facility.
F. All participants are recommended to download and activate the App Radar Covid19.
The Monte Real Club de Yates de Baiona is finalizing the details to start, in just a few days, its 2022 sports season, in which competition, fun and entertainment will be the main ingredients.
The most outstanding event on its calendar is, without a doubt, the celebration, next May, of the prestigious 52 SUPER SERIES , one of the most important nautical events in the world, considered the “Formula 1 of the sea” . From May 23 to 28, between 10 and 12 teams of more than 8 nationalities with sailors from 5 continents will compete in the Rías Baixas aboard unique boats with the most cutting-edge technology.
Another of the events that will focus the attention of sailing lovers in Galicia will be the Spanish Championship of the J80 class , which will be held in Baiona from September 15 to 18. The most important event of the 8 meters at a national level returns to Baiona four years after having been organized by the Monte Real Club de Yates, which owns the most important fleet of these monotypes in the northwest of the peninsula.
The club chaired by José Luis Álvarez also repeats, in this case for the eleventh consecutive year, in the organization of the Galician A Two Championship , which on June 11 will bring together some of the most intrepid sailors in the community to prove their worth with crews reduced to the maximum.
In 2022, the club’s four great classics will also return: the Prince of Asturias Trophy , which will once again include the delivery of the Terras Gauda National Sailing Awards ; the Conde de Gondomar Trophy , with the legendary climb of almost 100 miles to Carrumeiro Chico; the Repsol Trophy , during the first weekend of May; and the Comunica Trophy , at the end of April.
The MRCYB sports calendar for 2022 includes 12 major events – Photo Lalo R Villar
There will also be 11 exclusive competition days for the J80, which will be divided into two leagues: the Baitra Winter League , from January to April; and the Fall League , from October to December.
After the successful participation of the previous edition, Monte Real will repeat the Route through the Rías Baixas , a non-competitive journey destined to travel the Camino de Santiago by sea and win the Jubilee. And this year, as a novelty, Monte Real will also organize a Laser class qualifier.
It will clearly be an intense year for the club from Baiona, in which, in addition to competition, fun and spectacle, there will also be a place for solidarity and social responsibility actions, most of them promoted through its School Sailing Adapted .
Monte Real will reaffirm, once again, its social commitment to people with disabilities, offering, throughout the year, courses and activities aimed at promoting their inclusion and allowing them to navigate under equal conditions. Since it was launched a decade ago, this section of the club has only grown, and what was initially limited to people with different disabilities (physical, sensory, intellectual or mental) has been extended to people elderly, children in care, children with behavior problems and women victims of gender violence.
The commitment to women will be another of the axes of the 2022 season of Monte Real, with various proposals to promote their participation in competitions and events. In addition, the club will once again organize the Final of the National Women’s Sailing League , which will be held next fall.
Light sailing and cruising courses within the framework of the MRCYB Sailing School , coaching and team building activities for groups and companies, and talks and clinics for sailors are other proposals offered by the Monte Real Yacht Club in what will be its first year as a member of the International Council of Yacht Clubs (ICOYC) , of which it has been a member since last December along with the 44 most prestigious clubs in the world.
January 22, February 5 and 19, March 5 and 19, April 2 BAITRA J80 WINTER LEAGUE
April 23rd COMMUNICATE TROPHY
April 29 and 30, May 1 REPSOL TROPHY
May 23 to 28 52 SUPER SERIES – BAIONA SAILING WEEK
11th of June GALICIAN CHAMPIONSHIP OF TWO
July 5 to 10 RÍAS BAIXAS ROUTE
July 22 to 25 COUNT OF GONDOMAR TROPHY
September 2 to 4 PRINCE OF ASTURIAS TROPHY
September 15 to 18 J80 SPANISH CHAMPIONSHIP
October 8 and 22, November 12 and 26, December 17 J80 FALL LEAGUE
November 5 and 6 LASER QUALIFYING RACE
Date yet to be determined FINAL OF THE NATIONAL FEMALE SAILING LEAGUE
· The AEDAS Homes J80 Autumn League comes to an end with the fifth and last day of competition this Saturday starting at three in the afternoon in Baiona
· Except for last minute surprises, the final victory will be debated between Manel Cunha’s Marías and Javier de la Gándara’s Okofen
· The Portuguese and the Vigo lead the classification separated by just two points and with a margin of 13 and 11 points over the third-placed team
· After the last heats that are disputed in the water, Monte Real will host the awards ceremony for the winners and a dinner for the crews
The J80 fleet that has been competing in the AEDAS Homes Autumn League since last October will compete this weekend in Baiona for the title of champion of the one-design competition organized by the Monte Real Yacht Club.
Starting at three in the afternoon, the twenty J80s that aspire to the final victory will compete in the last tests that will take place in the bay of Baiona. If the wind allows it, forecasts will be played in the program and a discard will come into play that will allow the crews to eliminate their worst result from the classification.
Despite this possibility, and barring any last-minute surprises, victory will be debated between Manel Cunha’s Marías and Javier de la Gándara’s Okofen. The Portuguese and Vigo have alternated the provisional podiums in the different days held so far and lead the table separated by just two points. They also have a wide margin of 13 and 11 points respectively over Alejandra Suárez’s Cansino, who is third.
In intermediate positions they are grouped in a handkerchief the Mondo de Bernardo Macedo, with 41 points; Francisco Martínez’s SND Cormorant, with 45 points; Luis de Mira’s Namasté, with 46 points; and Yago Marquina’s Miudo, with 47 points.
The weather forecasts for this weekend are good and everything indicates that the regattas will be able to take place and that the sailboats will be able to navigate comfortably. Light winds are announced that will blow from the south component with the possibility of turning to the east as the afternoon progresses.
Once the water tests are over, the crews will meet on land to applaud the winners at the awards ceremony and to share a fellowship dinner and end of the event at the Monte Real facilities. Both events will be attended by different managers from AEDAS Homes, sponsor of the league.
· The historic club from Baiona has become part of the exclusive International Council of Yacht Clubs (ICOYC), the association that brings together the 44 clubs -now 45- most prestigious in the world
· The social responsibility activities that the MRCYB promotes through its Adapted Sailing School and the maritime route created to complete the Camino de Santiago by sea were two of the most valued aspects for its inclusion.
· Entering the ICOYC was an old aspiration of Monte Real to have its own voice in one of the most important nautical forums in the world where experiences about the world of sailing are debated and shared
The historic Monte Real Club de Yachts de Baiona joins the best yacht clubs in the world after being included in the exclusive International Council of Yacht Clubs (ICOYC), the association that brings together 44 clubs (now 45 with the MRCYB) most prestigious in the world.
The social responsibility activities that the Baiona club promotes through its Adapted Sailing School for people with functional diversity, children with behavioral problems, the elderly or women victims of sexist violence were one of the most valued aspects for their inclusion in the ICOYC.
The member clubs were also attracted by the maritime route that Monte Real organizes to complete the Camino de Santiago by sea, a route that can generate important tourist-sports synergies with other clubs in northern Europe attracted by the Jacobean route.
Joining this prestigious nautical entity was an old aspiration of the club directed by José Luis Álvarez, who was always interested in having his own voice in the best forums worldwide. “The incorporation of Monte Real to the ICOYC is not only -says Álvarez- good news for the club but also for all of Galicia, because we will echo everything that is done here and may be interesting for the rest of the world” . “We will be the transmitters -concludes the president of Monte Real- of culture, sports, gastronomy and the good work of the Galician people” .
The International Council of Yacht Clubs is an association created to promote sailing and improve the organization of nautical activities and events worldwide. It includes, among others, prestigious clubs such as the San Diego Yacht Club (USA), the Clube Naval de Cascais (Portugal), the Yacht Club de Monaco, the Societe Nautique de Marseille (France), the Royal Yhames Yacht Club (London), the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron (New Zealand), the Royal Natal Yacht Club (South Africa) or the Royal Canadian Yacht Club (Canada).
In the list of member clubs there are two Spanish clubs: the Real Club Náutico de Palma and the Real Club Náutico de Barcelona, which last October was in charge of organizing the ICOYC 2021 EUROPEAN CONFERENCE, in which Monte Real participated as speaker from the club’s commodore, Ignacio Sánchez Otaegui.
It was precisely the presentation made at that event that gave the final impetus for the ICOYC to accept the inclusion of the Baiona club among its members. “This arrives -says Otaegui- in a very important year for the club, at the gates of hosting the 52 SUPER SERIES and the World Championship of the J80 class ”. For the commodore of Monte Real “sharing experiences with these prestigious clubs, which also have a great commitment to sport and major sporting events, will be a great boost to continue working and bringing the best sailing to Galicia” .
In the letter in which the International Council of Yacht Clubs announces its inclusion in the association to Monte Real, the president of the ICOYC, David Mead, highlights the synergies and opportunities that can be created with the inclusion of such an outstanding club as the MRCYB .
Despite the progress that has been made in recent years to achieve equality, the women-sea binomial continues to need support and encouragement to continue making its way, and that is something that will only be achieved with everyone’s commitment to promoting sport egalitarian.
In this sense, the Monte Real Yacht Club launched a series of initiatives throughout this year aimed at increasing the presence of women in the world of sailing and promoting their participation in competitions and activities in which the male presence continues to be the majority.
We tell you all about them in a special newsletter, which you can read here :
One of the current and future challenges of the MRCYB is to continue helping women to have a greater role in nautical sports, so that they can navigate under equal conditions, because the sea does not understand gender.
Their youth, their effort and their enthusiasm predicted that the Terras Gauda National Sailing Award they received last year would not be the only one of their sports career, but possibly they themselves could not have imagined being able to repeat it so soon.
The Catalan Jordi Xammar (Barcelona, 1993) and the Galician Nico Rodríguez (Vigo, 1991) will receive a new National Sailing Award for the best Olympic team on September 4 at the Monte Real Club de Yates (Galicia).
The bronze medal that the men’s 470m crew achieved at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games has made them worthy of the prestigious distinction for the second consecutive year, and both will be in Baiona to collect the award and receive tribute from the public.
Because the truth is that these young sailors do nothing but collect applause and admiration throughout the country, not only for their continuous chain of successes but also for their indisputable charisma.
In the last 5 years of preparation for the Olympics, they have been the most regular of the Spanish squad, managing to get on the podium of all the world and European championships played since 2017. They got the bronze in the 2017 European Championship and in the 2018 World Cup; silver at the 2019 European and World Championships, and bronze and silver at the 2021 World and European Championships.
Trained by Gideon Kliger and Juan María de la Fuente, they arrived in Japan at the top of the world ranking and turned Enoshima into their litmus test. The Japanese bronze medal was the perfect culmination of all the years of effort of a duo that destiny brought together in 2016, years after having met for the first time when both were sailing in Optimist.
Since their farewell to Tokyo through the front door and their entry into Spanish Olympic history, they have been deserving of multiple recognitions and expressions of admiration wherever they have passed.
In Baiona they will surely repeat applause and ovations. They received them a year ago when they collected their first Terras Gauda National Sailing Award and they will receive them, without a doubt, on September 4, at a gala to which both have already confirmed their attendance.
The 100-mile round-trip challenge between Baiona and Carrumeiro Chico inaugurates this Friday the forty-sixth edition of the competition
April, Pairo, Magical or Solventis oils are some of the contenders for victory in the star test of the Zelnova Zeltia Banco Sabadell Grand Prix
· The departure will be given at 11 in the morning from the interior of the bay of Baiona and the end is not expected until well into the morning
The first round of the Conde de Gondomar Trophy is held this Friday from 11 a.m. – Photo José Ramón Louro
The forty-sixth edition of the Conde de Gondomar Trophy – Zelnova Zeltia Banco Sabadell Grand Prix, organized by the Monte Real Club de Yates, brings to the stage this Friday on its opening day the great test of the Carrumeiro Chico, a regatta close to 100 miles considered as one of the most complex sailing crossings in Galicia.
Created in 1981 from an idea by Fernando García Tobío and in honor of Jesús Valverde, the race celebrates 40 years of life with more validity than ever, since there are many who aspire to achieve the record of the regatta, which has remained intact since 2011. That year, the Cenor & De Dietrich, a Farr 50 from the Real Club de Regatas Galicia led by Martín Bermúdez de la Puente, completed the journey in 11 hours, 56 minutes and 57 seconds, a mark that has not been broken since then.
Regardless of what happens in this edition, what is clear is that the Carrumeiro Chico test is quite a navigation challenge and one of the most exciting tests of the Spanish sailing season. The round trip regatta between Baiona and the lighthouse located in the Corcubión estuary will begin, if the weather permits, at 11 in the morning, with the start honk from inside the Bay of Baiona.
From then on, the sailboats that will dare with the test will head north along a route not marked in advance. The crews will be able to choose to sail closer to the land or more open towards the sea, outside the Cíes and Ons archipelagos.
In the last edition of the competition, the Portuguese skipper Rui Ramada and his crew, aboard the Swan 45 Yess Too, were the first to reach the Carrumeiro, eight hours after leaving Baiona. They were the fastest (they had already achieved it in 2019), but the time compensation gave the stage victory to Magical de Julio Rodríguez, who would also win the final victory of the Conde de Gondomar in 2020.
On this occasion, the Portuguese from Ramada will not go out on the water, but we will see the Magical from Vigo, trying to defend their title. In front of them, some of the most outstanding teams of the current Galician nautical scene, such as the Aceites Abril of the brothers Luis and Jorge Pérez Canal; the Marías of the Portuguese Manel Marías; Alberto Moro’s Solventis, with Manuel “Malalo” Bermúdez de Castro at the wheel; the Sea of Frades Marine Ronautics by Jorge Carneiro; or Corsair by Jorge Durán, from Vilagarcía.
In this edition of the Count we will surely see again the classic hand in hand between Aceites Abril and Pairo – Photo José Ramón Louro
José Luis Freire’s Pairo, the owner and skipper with the highest number of wins at the Conde de Gondomar, will also enter the competition. Add a total of 6: three in the eighties (1983, 1984 and 1988) and another three in the first years of the new millennium (2003, 2007 and 2009). At the controls of his boat, one of his trusted men, the young Luis Bugallo, who has already completed the Carrumeiro stage with very good times on several occasions.
The 46th edition of the Conde de Gondomar Trophy – Zelnova Zeltia Banco Sabadell Grand Prix will last for three days, from Friday to Sunday. The development of the first two stages (Carrumeiro test, on Friday 23; and Ons test, on Saturday 24), can be followed live through the Monte Real Club de Yates website , at the following link:
LIVE FOLLOW-UP FIRST RACE 46th COUNT OF GONDOMAR TROPHY BAIONA – CARRUMEIRO – BAIONA
All those who want to follow live the evolution of the Carrumeiro Chico climb on the first day of the 46th Conde de Gondomar – Zelnova Zeltia Banco Sabadell Grand Prix, on Friday, July 23, starting at 11:00 , can do so from here:
LIVE FOLLOW-UP SECOND RACE 46th COUNT OF GONDOMAR TROPHY BAIONA – ONS – BAIONA
On Saturday, July 24, starting at 12:00 , the second stage of the 46th Conde de Gondomar – Zelnova Zeltia Banco Sabadell Grand Prix will be held, and it can be followed live from here:
· Between July 23 and 25, the forty-sixth edition of the high-altitude regatta par excellence in Galicia will be held, disputed without interruption since 1976
Some 40 boats will be measured in three days of regattas that will include two medium and long distance courses and two technical tests in the Rías Baixas
· One more year on the competition program is the mythical route between Baiona and Carrumeiro Chico, in Corcubión, close to 100 miles
· The nautical event enters the scene under the organization of the Monte Real Yacht Club and with the sponsorship of the tandem Zelnova Zeltia and Banco Sabadell
In just three days, the forty-sixth edition of one of the longest-running and most charismatic regattas on the Spanish nautical scene will begin in Galicia, the Conde de Gondomar Trophy, which the Monte Real Yacht Club is bringing to the stage in 2021 under the name of Zelnova Zeltia Banco Sabadell Grand Prize in honor of the tandem of sponsors.
From July 23 to 25, some of the best boats and the most outstanding skippers will participate in the deep-sea regatta par excellence in Galicia, a test that has not lost its pull over the years and that hopes to bring together some 40 boats in the Rías Baixas, attracted by a of the most exciting current sailing competitions and the oldest of the historic Monte Real.
At the official presentation of the trophy, held this Tuesday in Baiona, the president of the yacht club, José Luis Álvarez , predicted a great success for the event because “Its main attractions remain: the mythical ascent to the Carrumeiro Chico, its celebration around July 25 (Galicia’s big day) and the participation of some of the best crews in the country” . Álvarez also highlighted the alliance between the two large companies – Zelnova Zeltia and Banco Sabadell – which have come together to sponsor the competition “thus clearly expressing their commitment to the sport of sailing” .
After a previous day, the Thursday 22 , intended to finalize preparations, close registrations, make reviews and deliver instructions, the 46th Conde de Gondomar Trophy will begin on Friday 23rd , at eleven o’clock in the morning, with what is considered the great test of the competition, the mythical Baiona-Carrumeiro Chico-Baiona route, close to 100 miles away.
Although at first the possibility of introducing changes in the test between Baiona and the Carrumeiro Chico (dividing it into two stages with an intermediate stop in Portosín to make it more accessible to smaller boats), the club finally decided to meet the request of the shipowners who asked to keep the route intact. “What we were looking for with this possible modification -says the Commodore of Monte Real, Ignacio Sánchez Otaegui- it was to open the event to more crews that could venture with a shorter distance regatta, but we were also clear that this would imply a loss of attractiveness for the star event of the competition; and after evaluating it in the club and consulting with skippers and owners, we decided to keep the traditional route”.
After the opening day and the navigation to the Carrumeiro (Conde de Gondomar Regatta), Saturday 24 will feature the Erizana Regatta, in which the rest of the sailboats will participate. It will start at 12 noon and, depending on the weather conditions, the crews will be able to race around the Ons archipelago (32 miles) or the Baiona-Camouco-Baiona route (29 miles).
On Sunday 25 , Galicia’s big day, the decisive stage of the competition will take place. Two windward-leeward technical tests at the Cíes Islands anchorage will decide the winners of the fortieth edition of the trophy, who will receive their awards at the awards ceremony scheduled that same day at half past six in the afternoon.
The event is expected to be attended by the CEO of Zelnova Zeltia , Pedro González, who this Wednesday, at the official presentation of the competition, thanked Monte Real for the opportunity to collaborate with the trophy “linking our corporate image with the values of sport and more specifically with those of sailing, highlighting teamwork, effort, tradition and competitiveness, all of them -he said- closely linked to our vision and way of understanding the business world in the Zelnova Zeltia Group” .
Speech by Pedro Gonzalez General Director of Zelnova Zeltia – Photo Leticia Acero
The director general of SabadellGallego , Pablo Junceda, also had an impact on this idea, assuring that the Count of Gondomar unites “the culture of the sea, the commitment to teamwork and overcoming to win, values that are also committed to -said- at Banco Sabadell”. “We are a company, we support Galician companies and we are present in the social life of this land”Junceda concluded.
Speech by the General Manager of SabadellGallego Pablo Junceda – Photo Leticia Acero
Along with González and Junceda, as sponsors of the competition, the local, provincial and regional administrations were also represented at the official presentation of the event.
From Baiona, the deputy mayor of the fishing village, Óscar Martínez, thanked the work of Monte Real during this year and the previous one. “You are the representative of Baionese sport and you make Baiona cross our borders and reach an international level. We know that last year it was very difficult to maintain the activity, and you did it, and for that you deserve applause and that we thank you” , he said.
For the Deputy for Tourism of the Pontevedra Provincial Council, Ana Laura Iglesias “We are proud that tests like this are held in our province, because they give us the opportunity to show how incredible our estuaries are, and everything that people can see, do and enjoy in them” .
The General Secretary for Sport of the Xunta de Galicia said that “for the Xunta de Galicia the nautical sector is a strategic sector and, although it is deeply rooted in the essence of our people, we always talk about its great growth potential” . According to José Ramón Lete Lasa “The world of sailing is in excellent health, with 2,000 licenses and being one of the sports modalities that has given us the most success. Glad to hear it -he went on to say- that the Conde de Gondomar Trophy has been held uninterruptedly during these 46 editions, and the fact is that the sport of sailing is, without a doubt, a safe sport”.
Speech by the General Secretary for Sport of the Xunta de Galicia, José Ramón Lete Lasa – Photo Leticia Acero
Although the registration period is not yet closed and several days ahead it is difficult to specify a final number of participants, from the organization they hope to have about 40 boats. Among them there will be a team of women from the Monte Real Club de Yates Women’s Sailing project, with which the club seeks to promote the presence of women in nautical competitions; and they will be, almost in all probability, the winners of the last edition.
in 2020, within the framework of a COVID scenario, the Count of Gondomar was celebrated with extensive security measures and the Magical by Julio Rodríguez, from the Real Club Náutico de Vigo (grand prize of the trophy), took the laurels; Yess Too by Rui Ramada, from the Monte Real Club de Yates (winner of the Carrumeiro stage in real time); the Deep Blue 2.0 of Vicente Cid, of the Real Club Náutico de Vigo (gold in the Erizana Regatta); Juan Ameneiro’s Rampage (number one in the J80 class); and the Serralleiras of Patricio de Haz (leader among the Figaros).
GRAND PRIZE ZELNOVA ZELTIA BANK SABADELL 46th COUNT OF GONDOMAR TROPHY Monte Real Yacht Club 23, 24 and 25 July 2021
:::::::::::::::::::::::: THURSDAY, JULY 22 ::::::::::::::::::::: :::::
16:00 – 20:00> LAST PREPARATIONS AND PROCEDURES
20:00> MEETING OF PATRON
::::::::::::::::::::::::: FRIDAY, JULY 23 ::::::::::::::::::::: :::::
Created in 1976 by the Monte Real Club de Yates and disputed without interruption since then, the Conde de Gondomar has established itself over the years as one of the most charismatic regattas on the Spanish nautical scene, with a history full of great names in sailing in Galicia that should not be forgotten, and one of the most exciting tests of Atlantic sailing: the Baiona-Carrumeiro Chico-Baiona, almost 100 miles. In 2020 not even COVID19 could stop it and in 2021 it will celebrate its forty-sixth edition in Baiona under the name of Zelnova Zeltia Banco Sabadell Grand Prix. It will be on July 23, 24 and 25.
Report by Rosana Calvo, head of communication at the MRCYB
Although the history of the Conde de Gondomar Trophy begins to be written in 1976, with the birth of the competition, we must go back several centuries to discover the true origin of its name, which arises from an alleged tribute to the figure of Diego Sarmiento de Acuña, first Count of Gondomar.
Son of the governor of Galicia, in military command of the Portuguese border and the Galician coast, Sarmiento was the key figure in the 5,000-man army who, despite being hastily recruited, managed to contain the attack that the most famous pirate of history, Francis Drake, was going to perpetrate against Baiona.
On October 8, 1585, the Count of Gondomar signed one of the most important chapters in the history of the Galician fishing village, forcing the withdrawal of the 30 ships and 1,500 men with which Drake intended to take over the town, and he was named “Governor of the war people of Baiona and the Castle of Monterreal” .
The Count of Gondomar was thus forever linked to the Monte Real peninsula, where the Parador Nacional is located today, which also bears his name; and the Monte Real Club de Yates, which in 1976 decided to baptize the Conde de Gondomar Trophy for a race that, over the years, would become the deep-sea regatta par excellence in Galicia.
Thus was born one of the most important competitions on the Spanish nautical scene, under the mandate of Rafael Olmedo Limeses as president of the club; and with Admiral Rafael Lorenzo (Commodore), Humberto Cervera “Piruchi” (sailing delegate) and Alfonso Paz Andrade, as key figures in its creation; along with Jesús Valverde, José Ramón Fontán, José de la Gándara and Rui Moreira.
On August 19 of that year, 29 boats accepted the challenge and set sail for the Cabo Silleiro area, where an Olympic triangle was scheduled to be held, but in the end it did not take place due to fog. The second of the three scheduled tests, a route between Baiona and Muros, was also suspended, this time due to lack of wind; and the premiere of the Conde de Gondomar Trophy was reduced to a single test that won the “Ardora” (Contention 33) by Alfonso Paz Andrade and Julio Babé, skippered by Gonzalo Romero.
It was the first of the four consecutive victories that the “Ardora” would chain in the first four editions of the Conde de Gondomar, taking among its crew sailing history in Galicia such as Fernando Massó or Gonzalo Romero.
Roll of Honor of the first winners of the Count of Gondomar
In 1980, the competition introduces changes to the layouts that had been initially designed, with a new 120-mile test between Baiona-Povoa de Varzim-Baiona, which is added to the Olympic triangle and an average regatta with a figure-nine route between the Cies and Ons Islands. The victory went to the Irish “Moonduster” (Swan 441), owned by Dennis Doyle, who had arrived in Galicia with the Lymington-Baiona regatta and decided to make his debut in the Conde as well.
In 1980, at the 5th Conde de Gondomar Trophy, the winner of the Conde was Irishman Dennis Doyle’s Moonduster – Photo Archive MRCYB
In 1981 a new modification in the routes takes place. From an idea by Fernando García Tobío (of the club’s Regatta Committee together with Alfonso Paz Andrade, Estanislao Durán and Jacobo Fontán) and in honor of Jesús Valverde, the Baiona – Carrumeiro Chico – Baiona was born, a historic race that continues until currently as one of the most exciting on the peninsular racing calendar.
The winner of that edition, and also of the following one (1982), was a boat from another of those historical sagas that emerged from Galician nautical: the “Vento” by Manuel Fernández, who many years later would receive the gold medal from the Royal Spanish Sailing Federation, the highest award in Spanish sailing.
The VII Conde de Gondomar Trophy was held in 1982 with the victory of Vento de Manuel Fernández – Photo Archive MRCYB
After the victories of the “Ardora” and the “Vento” , the different Pairos of José Luis Freire begin to embroider their name on the honor roll of the Count of Gondomar. The “Pairo Tres” won for the first time in 1983, repeated in 1984, and the following models with the Freire the Conde competed for, all under the same name would give him another 4 more wins.
The Pairo III (which gave the first two victories of the Count to JL Freire) in a promotional image of the competition
Until now, José Luis Freire is the one who has achieved the greatest number of victories in the competition. Add a total of 6: three in the eighties (1983, 1984 and 1988) and another three in the first years of the new millennium (2003, 2007 and 2009). Currently, at 84 years old, “Tibu” continues to participate in the Conde (not only as an owner, but also aboard its boats) and, although he has not achieved any more victories, he is always among the favorites.
– The different Pairos of José Luis Freire (one of them in the foreground) are the ones that have won the Conde de Gondomar Trophy the most times – Photo Jacobo BastosVery protected with a mask and screen José Luis Freire participated at the age of 83 in the last edition of the Count of Gondomar held in 2020- Photo José Ramón Louro
Following in its wake we find “April Oils” by Luis and Jorge Pérez Canal; that add up to 4 victories, the same ones that Paz Andrade’s “Ardora”, “Castrosúa” led by Willy Alonso and Julio Martínez Gil’s “Alaxe” achieved in their day. The boat of the Ourense brothers has been the undisputed protagonist of the most recent years, taking the grand prize in 2013, and chaining three consecutive golds in 2016, 2017 and 2018.
The April Oils of the Pérez Canal brothers are missing 2 victories to reach the record of the Pairo of José Luis Freire – Photo Archive MRCYB 2018Willy Alonso (in the photo collecting the 2002 Count of Gondomar winner’s award) is one of the most successful skippers in the competitionJulio Martínez Gil’s Alaxe is one of the boats with the most victories in the history of the Count of Gondomar with a total of 4
In the last two years, the winners were the team of the Portuguese Rui Ramada, who in 2019 repeated with the “Yess Too” the triumph he had achieved in 2014 with the “Fifty ”; and the “Magical” by Julio Rodríguez, who in 2020 rewrote his name in the history of winners of the Count, who had already signed in 2001 with the “Starfisher” .
Nearly 40 boats participated in the last edition of the Count of Gondomar (held in 2020 in the framework of the COVID19 pandemic) – Photo José Ramón LouroThe Magical of the owner and skipper Julio Rodríguez was the winner of the last edition of the Count of Gondomar – Photo Clara Giraldo
Paz Andrade, Julio Babé, Gonzalo Romero, Manuel Fernández, José Luis Freire, Jaime Rodríguez Toubes, José María Lastra, Pedro Campos, Julio Martínez Gil, Gonzalo Araújo, Willy Alonso, Javier de la Gándara… are some of the most outstanding figures in the history of sailing in Spain who have passed (and continue to pass) the Conde de Gondomar Trophy.
Contested without interruption since 1976, the Monte Real Club de Yates competition has established itself as one of the most charismatic regattas in Spain and in 2021 it will celebrate its forty-sixth edition under the presidency of José Luis Álvarez. It will be held in Baiona on July 23, 24 and 25 under the name of Zelnova Zeltia Banco Sabadell Grand Prix.
It will include, as has become a tradition, the historic test of the Carrumeiro Chico, about 100 miles away, whose record is held by “Cenor & De Dietrich” , a Farr 50 from the Real Club de Regatas Galicia, which in 2011 smashed the figures that the Basque sailboat “Zorongo” maintained since 1992. The crew from Arousa, led by Martín Bermúdez de la Puente, completed the ascent and descent to the Carrumeiro Chico from Baiona in just 11 hours, 56 minutes and 57 seconds, lowering the numbers achieved by the Basques 19 years earlier by more than 30 minutes.
One of the boats of the Conde de Gondomar Trophy turning the Carrumeiro Chico in 2008 – Photo H.BleinThe mythical lighthouse of Carrumeiro Chico (in the Corcubión estuary) where the sailboats must turn in the long stage of the Count of Gondomar
is a report by Rosana Calvo, head of communication at the MRCYB //THE PHOTOS included BELONG TO THE HISTORICAL ARCHIVE OF THE MRCYB
1985 CUTTY SARK / Skipper/owner: J. Lastra / J. Gándara
1986 KOCHAB / Owner: Armada Española / Skipper: Carlos Pardo
1987 XEITO – J&B / Owner: JM Piñeiro / Skipper: JM Piñeiro
1988 PAIRO CUATRO / Owner: JL Freire / C. Freire / B. Logares / Skipper: JL Freire
1989 PALACIO DE ORIENTE / Owner: JL Freire / C. Freire / Skipper: JL Freire
1990 COTE / Owner: Armada Española / Skipper: Jaime Rodríguez Toubes
1991 SONY / Owner: Castor Alonso / Skipper: Castor Alonso
1992 FARO FINO 3000 / Owner: Antonio Roquette / Skipper: Javier Gándara
1993 DEAR HENRY (IOR) / Owner/skipper: Jean Claude Sarrade // RABISCO (IMS) / Owner: Rafael Olmedo / Skipper: Rafael Olmedo Jr.
1994 CONSERVAS MIAU (IMS Regatta) Owner/skipper: José María Lastra // ALAXE (IMS Cruise) / Owner/ skipper: Julio Martínez Gil
1995 CONSERVAS MIAU (IMS Regatta) / Skipper: José María Lastra // GALICIA CALIDADE (IMS Cruiser) / Skipper: Alberto Viejo
1996 TERRAZOS RIEGO (IMS Regatta) / Skipper: Carlos Monclús // CUTTY SARK (IMS Cruise) / Skipper: Pablo Boiznet // ALAXE (IMS Amateur Cruise) / Owner: Julio Martínez Gil
1997 GALICIA CALIDADE (IMS Regatta) / Skipper: Pedro Campos // ALAXE (IMS Cruiser) / Skipper: Julio Martínez Gil
1998 PORTOS DE GALICIA (IMS Regatta) / Skipper: Javier de la Gándara // ARROUTADO (IMS Cruiser Regatta) / Skipper: José María Pérez // NORO (IMS Cruiser) / Skipper: Gonzalo Araújo
1999 PORTOS DE GALICIA (IMS B) / Skipper: Javier de la Gándara // ARROUTADO (IMS C) / Skipper: José M. Pérez
2000 TELEFÓNICA MOVISTAR (IMS B) / Skipper: Gonzalo Araújo // ALAXE (IMS C) / Skipper: Julio M. Gil
2001 STARFISHER (IMS – B) / Skipper: Julio Rodríguez
2002 TELEFONICA MOVISTAR (IMS 600) / Skipper: Guillermo Alonso // SALSEIRO (CRUISE) / Skipper: Manuel Blanco
2003 PAIRO IX / Skipper: Francisco Moret
2004 CASTROSÚA – CARSA (IMS 600) / Skipper: Guillermo Alonso
2005 CASTROSÚA – CARSA / Skipper: Guillermo Alonso
2006 SWISS NATIONAL INSURANCE / Patron: Javier de la Gándara
2007 PAIRO VIII / Patron: José Luis Freire
2008 CASTROSÚA – CARSA / Skipper: Guillermo Alonso
2009 PAIRO VIII / Skipper: Laureano Wizner
2010 SOLVENTIS / Patron: Manuel Bermúdez de Castro
2011 XPLOSION / Skipper: Carlos Mendonça
2012 CASTROSÚA / Skipper: Willy Alonso
2013 APRIL OILS / Patron: Luis and Jorge Pérez Canal
2014 FIFTY / Pattern: Rui Ramada
2015 CORSAIR VI / Skipper: Javier Durán
2016 APRIL OILS / Patron: Luis and Jorge Pérez Canal
2017 APRIL OILS / Patron: Luis and Jorge Pérez Canal
2018 APRIL OILS / Patron: Luis and Jorge Pérez Canal
Two years after the arrival of Roy Alonso at the Monte Real Club de Yates, the former Olympic coach of the Laser Radial class, coordinator of the Santander High Performance Specialized Center and technical director of the Royal Spanish Sailing Federation, we He talks about how the sports management of the Baionese club has changed.
New boats, new strategies and new actions that have already begun to give the expected results. The Monte Real Club de Yates Sailing School currently has 123 students in its different modalities of light sailing and cruising, most of them from Baiona and other points in the province of Pontevedra. It also provides services to numerous associations and entities of people with functional diversity, offering adapted sailing activities and courses to nearly 50 people throughout the year.
We would like to start this interview by looking back so that you can tell us how these last two years have been in Baiona, what balance do you make of the changes introduced in the Sailing School?
The assessment is very positive at all levels. When the possibility of being able to work at Monte Real came to me, the board of directors was always very proactive in the sport of sailing, and that was something that encouraged me a lot to take on this project. In addition, the coaching staff that the club had was very good, it was only necessary to redirect each one towards what they were really specific about; and with the new additions we were able to increase the technical capacity of the school in a very short time. Now we have a structured school with planning within each work group with the school’s students, which is giving us very good results.
One of the biggest changes to the School has been the introduction of a new type of ship, the Cyclone. Why the bet on this boat?
I was looking for a collective boat that was more complete than those currently being used in Galicia, and that could be used by both children and adults. And this boat had the features he was looking for. The important thing is that it was a fast, simple and easy-to-handle boat in which the closest thing to the boats that are later used when leaving a school could be taught. With this we get more fun and learning for the students, who leave more prepared for any type of boat.
From what I see, one of the objectives is still for children, the more the better, to come to the sea and enjoy the world of sailing, but the truth is that there are many who continue to think that it is an elitist sport. Is it possible to demystify this idea?
When a student enters a school, be it a child or an adult, they can come to enjoy and learn sailing or they can have the bug of the competition. When you only come to sail to learn and have fun, you only have the monthly expenses, which range between 50 and 65 euros, depending on age. Well, and then the clothes you buy to navigate comfortably, and here we already know that there are companies that sell sports brands at more affordable prices. When someone is bitten by the competition bug and wants to go further, there are two possibilities. The first is to buy a ship and the material, and here everything depends on how optimized it is. The example is very clear if we compare it with bicycles. To walk and play sports you have them from 200 euros, but if you want better material or something to compete, prices can easily exceed 6,000 euros. Well, the same thing happens with sailing. The second option is that you like to compete and do not have or do not want to spend that money. In this case, if you manage to enroll in a regatta boat that needs crew members, you will only have the cost of the federative license and the specific clothing.
Another problem is that many clubs have ended up becoming purely social entities with very little connection with the sea, mainly due to the lack of fans of their members. What is the situation of Monte Real with respect to this issue?
Unfortunately it is something that usually happens in yacht clubs. I believe that we are on the right track and every day there are more partners who are involved in the sport of sailing, through the school part with family members or helping in the progression of the school’s students. The club has invested in the last two years in sports material and work equipment and with this we have managed to involve the member more in the sport and we hope to continue advancing in this line. Today, the percentage of members in the Sailing School is 25 percent. The remaining 75 percent of the students are not members of the club, a figure that is also very important for us, because it implies opening Monte Real to the outside, to Baiona, to the province of Pontevedra and to anyone who wants to practice sailing with us. .
When you arrived at the club you said that “in Monte Real there is great potential dormant and it is my intention to awaken it and promote it, take advantage of the greatness of this historic club to lay the new foundations for a promising future”. How do you carry that goal?
I keep thinking the same thing and little by little we see that the evolution is very good. We are increasing the number of events and boats in the different competitions that we carry out and we achieve satisfaction on the part of the athlete who comes to the club to compete. And on the side of the school we have much more demand and a great activity both on weekends and on weekdays. Our desire is always to improve and we will continue in this line, because it fills us with satisfaction when both the sailor and the students are happy with all the activities carried out in the club.
What does the Monte Real Club de Yates currently offer to anyone who wants to sail?
We try to offer courses that people who want to enjoy them learn and enjoy sailing. In the annual courses we have light sailing and regatta teams for children. They are courses that are taught during the weekends for minors with very affordable prices, between 40 and 60 euros. In addition, we work with several associations of people with functional diversity, children in care and minors with behavioral problems. And for adults we have light sailing and cruising, both on weekends and during the week, with a price of 65 euros per month. In this group, in addition to teaching sailing, there are many night navigation dynamics, learning to anchor, dock, coastal navigation, etc. We also offer private classes, in case any student needs different schedules than those marked or if they have their own boat and want to learn more about it. And in summer we have much more recreational and leisure offer.
This year, as a novelty, you have also included PNB, PER, Skipper and Yachtsman courses in the school, and the well-known RYA (Royal Yachting Association) courses, for which you still have to wait for homologation. It will be, without a doubt, a great qualitative leap, what expectations do you have for this type of training?
So is. We signed an agreement to be able to carry out ENAL nautical qualifications, the national pleasure boat management titles; and also the famous RYA courses. We will also give courses on high-altitude navigation, handling electronics, and many other things. The truth is that we have one of the most complete schools in Spain.
With the launch of the RYA courses, Monte Real becomes the first club in Galicia and in the entire Cantabrian Sea to offer this type of training. Do you think that the rest of the Galician schools will end up offering them as well or is there not as much demand as it happens, for example, in the Mediterranean?
They are very specific courses, with a majority of foreign clientele, so an academy in the north of Spain should be more than enough. These qualifications are in greater demand in the Mediterranean because the yachts do require their crews to obtain the RYA qualifications. In Galicia at the moment we do not have so much tourist demand. If only.
How do you see the situation of sailing schools in Galicia?
I think there are clubs that are doing well and others that could improve. There are schools with very old material and thus it is difficult to offer something interesting. To make sailing an attractive sport, you have to renew materials, be up-to-date and offer variety.
And in that scenario that you just drew for us… where is the Monte Real School located? What is your situation compared to other schools?
I don’t like to compare myself with any school, but I do believe that at Monte Real we are moving towards a very complete and modern school. Every time we bring more boats and new products to make it more attractive and we also look for an environment of comfort and fun.
And now that we know a lot about what is being done and will be done at the MRCYB School, tell us why we should participate in one of your courses or activities?
I can give you several reasons. The first is that, for sailing, the Rías Baixas have perfect sea and wind conditions. On the other hand, the courses we teach have very affordable prices and that allow anyone who wants to sail to stay without doing it for money. And finally, we have such a wide variety of candle making products that you can get hooked on so many different things. I’m sure you like some.
It is an interview with Rosana Calvo, head of communication at the MRCYB
REPORT BY ROSANA CALVO, HEAD OF COMMUNICATION AT MRCYB
In this 2021, after more than 40 years of competition, the Galician A Two Championship , held at the beginning of the month, had its first Galician champions. For the first time in the history of the trophy , women were able to opt for a specific title for them, a distinction that was requested from the Royal Galician Sailing Federation by the Monte Real Club de Yates within the framework of its Women’s Sailing project. It is an initiative that, through different proposals, seeks to end the inequalities that girls and women have suffered in the world of sailing in particular and the nautical world in general. Some inequalities and injustices that go back centuries…
Not long before the Revolution there was a royal ordinance in France that prevented women from embarking on Crown ships. As in many other sectors of society, in the nautical world women were considered to be less intelligent and capable beings than men, and having one on board supposed -according to what they said- a clear ballast for expeditions. There were even those who, relying on an ancient seafaring superstition, claimed that women brought bad luck to ships, which is why they had to stay on land.
Luckily, already at that time there were those who did not want to accept these inequalities and dared to break the rules, even running the risk of being discovered and punished. Disguised as a man, the French botanist Jeanne Baret embarked, in 1767, on one of the ships that, under the command of Louis Antoine de Bougainville, would form the first Gallic expedition to circumnavigate the planet. Baret thus became the first woman to go around the world through its oceans, also bringing with her a collection of more than 6,000 species of plants (which are now kept in the National Museum of Natural History in Paris), which earned him the congratulations of King Louis XVI himself.
Photograph by Jeanne Baret and illustration of the French botanist dressed as a man
We will never know how many women have had to go to sea dressed as men over the centuries or how they managed to fool the sailors on board during the long months that the expeditions lasted, but the truth is that there were and that the Most of them do not appear in the history books.
Doodle that Google dedicated to the French botanist Jeanne Baret
Among those great women who have not received the recognition they deserve is the Galician Isabel Barreto de Castro . Born in Pontevedra around the year 1567, she was a pioneer in world navigation when she became the first admiral of the Spanish Navy. In 1595 she assumed command of the expedition that left for the Solomon Islands but, despite having a chronicler on board (the Portuguese Pedro Fernández de Quirós), little or almost nothing is known about the great chapter that this woman wrote in the era of the discoveries.
Isabel Barreto de Castro, the first woman to hold the title of admiral in the history of Spanish navigation
These are just two examples of the many that have gone virtually unnoticed in the history of navigation, in which the domain has been and continues to be clearly male. We had to wait until the 20th century to begin to see women occupying prominent positions on ships. The Russian Anna Ivanovna Shchetinina became in 1935, at the age of 27, the first female captain of the merchant navy.
Anna Ivanovna Shchetinina, the first female captain of the merchant navy
In Spain, it was not until after the 1978 Constitution (which established equality before the law for men and women, without gender discrimination) that women were able to enroll, for the first time, in the nautical careers of the higher schools of the Civil Navy.
The Asturian Ángeles Rodríguez was the first student in 1979 and graduated as the first officer of the Merchant Navy in 1984. The Canarian Mercedes Marrero was the first captain in 1992, Idoia Ibáñez the first commanding captain, María Cardona the first engineer officer and Macarena Gil , the first woman to work as a port pilot, a profession in which until 2015 -basically until the day before yesterday-, only men worked.
The fact that in Spain women were not allowed access to nautical training until 1979 caused many of them to join the labor market very late and this is one of the causes, added to many others also related to discrimination ( such as the belief that women are less physically capable or prepared for the danger of the activity), that their presence in the maritime sector is much lower than that of men.
Despite being fully involved in the 21st century and all the advances experienced in recent decades, women are still a minority and They barely reach 2 percent of the almost one and a half million sailors that exist throughout the world , according to data from the International Labor Organization. They are not only few, but also rarely (they do not even reach 1 percent) occupy positions of high hierarchical rank.
The sea has remained for centuries linked to the figure of the man, who went out to fish while the woman stayed on land waiting, as a housewife or as a redeira, fishmonger, canner, marketer… in professions that were practiced outside of the sea (and had a much lower prestige), although they were closely linked to it.
In the most playful and sporty section, the one related to the sport of sailing, the balance also falls sharply towards the masculine side. Currently, the number of federated athletes in Spain exceeds 17,000, of which almost 14,000 are men, with the female presence reduced to just 3,500 athletes. They are barely 21 percent of the total , and the figure falls below 15 percent if we count those who participate in official regattas.
36 sailors from Spain and Portugal compete each year in the Monte Real Ladies Cup – Photo Lalo R Villar
Although it is true that important steps have been taken towards equality in the sport of sailing, the truth is that, as was the case in the maritime sector, there are still very few women who have obtained worldwide recognition for their feats . Of most of them, only those really interested in the subject will know how to recognize their names and their achievements.
Cover of the first edition of Alone with the sea by Naomi James
Women like the New Zealander Naomi James , the first who, in 1977, sailed around the world, solo and non-stop, also beating all speed records; or Dee Caffari, that 2006 did the same thing but in reverse, from east to west, along the considered “wrong path”, against the prevailing winds and currents on the globe; and that in 2009, after winning the Vendée Globe (the solo round-the-world sailing without stops or assistance), she became the first woman who, alone and propelled by the wind, hugged the planet in both directions.
Dee Caffari celebrating victory at the Vendée Globe in 2009
Women like Tracy Edwards who, at just 23 years old, had to dodge the ridicule of all those who laughed at her for dreaming of an all-female team in the Whitbread Round the World Race (sailing around the world), in which managed to participate in 1989.
Tracy Edwards aboard the Maiden in which she made history
He fulfilled his dream aboard the Maiden. She did not win, but she became the first woman to receive the trophy for the best sailor of the year and managed to make 12 women the focus of the world nautical scene for months.
Her decision and her courage made it possible to build a door that would open up to four more times, thanks to four teams that took to the sea to show that women had a lot to say around the world. Tracy Edwards’ Maiden was the first all-female boat in what is now known as The Ocean Race, and was followed by Nance Frank and Dawn Riley’s Heineken (US Women’s Challenge) in 1993, Christine Guillou’s EF Education in 1997, Lisa McDonald’s Amer Sports Too in 2001; and Sam Davies’ Team SCA in 2014.
Since the first edition of the round the world race in 1973 there have been teams -few- made up solely of women, and women -increasingly- forming part of teams, the most notable case being that of Carolinjn Brouwer and Marie Riou , the first to proclaim themselves champions of a Sailing Tour of the World aboard the Dongfeng in 2018.
And so, although with ups and downs, the evolution of the presence of women in the world of sailing has not stopped there. Without going any further, in 2020 they participated in the Vendée Globe , the most demanding regatta in ocean sailing, 6 women, a record that had never been set before in this challenge. They were the English Samantha Davies, Miranda Merron and Pip Hare; the French Clarisse Crémer and Alexia Barrier, and the Franco-German Isabelle Joschke.
The progress in terms of equality is evident but the work is not – far from it – complete in the world of sailing. Proof of this are the multiple initiatives that, especially in recent years, have been launched through federations, clubs and teams. Women’s leagues, women-only crews, training and specialization activities designed especially for them… what is sought is to give women a greater role in a sector that has historically relegated them to a secondary position .
The Ladies Cup is a 100 percent female competition – Photo Lalo R Villar
The Women’s Sailing project of the Monte Real Club de Yates de Baiona is also part of this struggle, thanks to which an entirely female team was formed to participate in the main regattas of the Galician Rías Baixas, the Royal Galician Sailing Federation was able to create a specific prize for women in the Galician Two-handed Championship, sailing activities were organized specifically for women, will be held the 25th anniversary of the Ladies Cup and several more initiatives are expected to be launched in 2021.
From Monte Real we believe that the woman-sea binomial continues to need support and encouragement, that the female presence in the world of sailing needs and deserves to continue making its way, and that this will only be achieved through everyone’s commitment to promoting the sport egalitarian. The sails are already hoisted, all that remains is to fill them with wind.
It is a report by Rosana Calvo, head of communication at the MRCYB
· For the first time in the history of the competition, specific prizes are put up for the best female and mixed crews
· The 72 sailors participating in the race will compete this Saturday in a regatta of about 30 round trip miles between Baiona and Ons
· The appointment framed in the MRW Trophy is held for the tenth consecutive year under the organization of the Monte Real Club de Yates
13 women aspire to become, this Saturday, the new Galician A Dos Champions in the regional event that the Monte Real Club de Yates organizes by delegation of the Royal Galician Sailing Federation and is part of the MRW Trophy. For the first time in the history of the competition, in 2021 specific prizes are put up for the best female and mixed crews, and there will be several teams of each type competing in the different classes.
In J80, 4 exclusively female teams will go for the title, made up of: Alejandra Suárez and Pilar Amaro, María Campos and Rita Hernández, Marta Ramada and Dunia Reino; and Carlota Hernández and Carolina Terron. The crew members of this last team, Hernández and Terrón, who will sail aboard the “Gordita”, agreed on the importance of continuing to take steps to increase the number of women sailing.
“Having a prize for women within the general competition is very important since the percentage of men who participate is always higher and, statistically, they have more chances of winning, so these prizes – says Carlota Hernández – they allow women to stand out in some way, and they also serve to promote sports among women” .
For Carolina Terrón, the fact that there are more and more women in the regattas is a very good sign, “but there is still a lot of work to be done” , she says. “These types of initiatives give women much more visibility than they usually have and that is very important to continue attracting more female sailors. I think that a very strong commitment is being made in this sector, more and more, and that it is working, but we have to continue working”
In the class in which they compete, that of J80, there will also be a mixed team, that of the couple formed by Luis de Mira and Susana Baena, but they will have to face the male teams since it has not been possible to form a mixed class due to lack of boats (the committee required the participation of at least 4).
The Galician A Dos Championship is part of the MRW Trophy – Photo Clara Giraldo
Where there will be a mixed section will be in the ORC class, in which 4 crews made up of men and women have signed up to participate. They are those of Carolina Martínez and Miguel Ángel Fernández (RCN A Coruña), Víctor Carrión and Ana Sardiña (CN Beluso), Elena Raga and Miguel Sterner (MRCYB); and Miguel Barros and Paula Rey (MRCYB).
In total, 36 sailboats (at this time the registration period has not yet closed) manned by only two sailors, will compete this Saturday in the Rías Baixas in a regatta that will begin at eleven in the morning from inside the bay of Baiona. It will be there that the starting horn will be given for a route of about 30 miles that will take the participants, if the wind allows it, to the Ons area, to return again to Baiona.
The more than 30 participating sailboats must sail to Ons – Photo Clara Giraldo
Faced with a complicated weather forecast, which could make the intensity of the wind drop, the committee has also prepared an alternative that would involve taking the sailboats through the interior of the Vigo estuary towards the Rande bridge, placing various points of possible return in case it were necessary to shorten or even finish the route earlier than planned.
Once the competition is over, the Monte Real Club de Yates will host the awards ceremony for the winners, in which the president of the MRCYB, José Luis Álvarez, and the Director of the South Galicia Zone of MRW, Santos Almeida, will participate, among others. event sponsor.
Among the participating fleet in 2020 there was only 1 woman – Photo Clara Giraldo
GALICIAN CHAMPIONSHIP OF TWO · MRW TROPHY VII RAFAEL OLMEDO MEMORIAL – June 5
11:00> Start of the regatta (bay of Baiona) 20:00> Awards
