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The fleet shines on the second day of the Prince of Asturias in Baiona

 

· With all the participating categories already in contention, this Saturday the Prince brought together almost ninety teams divided into eight classes and three regatta fields

· Xekmatt, Marías, Urbapaz and Deep Blue 2.1 enter the final day leading in ORC divisions 1 to 4

· The Gadis ORC 5 and Vanguard Open classes premiered their locker with the first coastal regatta of their program

· GB Bullhound and Silleiro, are the first leaders in the Solventis J80 and Gestilar Ladies Cup classes

 

Spectacular second day of regattas in the Rías Baixas. The thirty-seventh edition of the Príncipe de Asturias Trophy, a test organized by the Monte Real Club de Yates and the Marín Naval School, successfully completed its planned test program this Saturday and even made up some of the races that were not disputed on Friday. Xekmatt, Marías, Urbapaz, Deep Blue 2.1, Cinco Islas Albariño, Salseiro, GP Bullhound and Silleiro will face the final day at the top of the podium in their respective categories.

The wind did comply with the fleet in this second day of regattas in the waters of the Vigo estuary. He did it with mild conditions at the start, enough so that the Race Committee could honk the start for all classes between half past twelve and one in the afternoon. Winds of between six and eight knots from the southwest component was the general trend in the three regatta fields at the beginning of the day, although as the hours passed they reached an average of up to thirteen knots.

The ORCs haggled at the Cíes anchorage – Photo Lalo R Villar

In total, the second day of the Prince was resolved with three new tests for the ORC 1 to 4 divisions, a coastal one for ORC 5 and Open, three tasks for the Figaros that compete in the Gestilar Ladies Cup and four for the J80 monotypes.

Xekmatt maintains the lead in ABANCA ORC 1

There were no changes in the general classification of ABANCA ORC 1 after adding up to three tests in a windward-leeward format this Saturday. The Portuguese Xekmatt de Hugo and Joao Prista tied with the Magical in the lead in the first race of the day and added another partial victory in his locker plus a third, results that allow the ship of the Naval Association of Lisbon to occupy one more day the leadership of the general ahead of Julio Rodríguez’s Magical (Real Club Náutico de Vigo), who once again scored two seconds in addition to the tie in the first round, and Aceites Abril of the brothers Jorge and Luis Pérez-Canal, who again occupy the third place with two third positions and one first in the last test of the day. Therefore, everything will depend on what happens tomorrow, and that is that only three and a half points separate the top three classified.

Tie for the lead in the Volvo Autesa ORC 2 class

In Volvo Autesa ORC 2, the same team that did it on Friday, Marías de Manuel María Cunha del Monte Real Club de Yates, also continues to lead. This Saturday, the Marías scored a first and two thirds with which they managed to defend the first position, tying on points with the Arroutado of the Real Club Náutico de Portosín. José Manuel Pérez’s team was third, second and first in the three tests completed on this second day. It did change the third position on the podium, which is now occupied by Mirfak from the Ferrol Naval Regatta Commission, relegating Rui Ramada’s Yessito to provisional fourth place.

The ORCs played three tests on the second day – Photo Lalo R Villar

Urbapaz takes the lead in April ORC Oils 3

In the Aceites Abril ORC 3 class, the second day ends with a new leader in the general classification. José Francisco Edreira’s Urbapaz (Club Náutico Cabanas), who was second yesterday, shone today in the regatta field and, with three partial victories in the three races held, comes to dominate ahead of Ramón Ojea’s Sailway (Club Marítimo de Canid). With three seconds scored, Ojea’s men now occupy second position with six points ahead of the third, Diogo Talone’s Milaneza (Clube de Vela Atlántico).

Deep Blue 2.1 stays ahead of Martin Miller ORC 4

It was more difficult today for Vicente Cid’s Deep Blue 2.1. The boat from the Real Club Náutico de Vigo began the day by winning the first test and continued with a second and a third in the two remaining races. Their regularity, however, allowed Cid’s men to maintain first position ahead of Alberto Javier Pérez’s Orión (Monte Real Club de Yates), who stormed the podium this Saturday with a great day in which they sealed a second and two victories partials. Behind, the third position is occupied by the Alma do Mar by Sadamar of the Club Náutico de Cabanas.

Gadis ORC 5 and Vanguard Open debut with a coastal

They are the two ORC divisions that remained to inaugurate markers in the thirty-seventh edition of the Príncipe de Asturias, and they did so by completing a coastal route as it appeared in their regatta program.

In Gadis ORC 5, the partial victory was scored by Iñaki Carbajo’s Cinco Islas Albariño, who sails representing the Club Náutico de Beluso. They are followed in the general by Antonio Francisco Gómez’s Marcolfo in second place (Real Club Náutico de Vigo) and Juan Carlos Sicre’s Salao (Liceo Marítimo de Bouzas), which is third.

In the Vanguard Open, the best of the day was Manuel Blanco’s Salseiro from Coruña, who with a time invested of three hours was also the fastest in real time. Second, for its part, is the Portuguese Porto de Aveiro of Delmar Conde and the fourth position is occupied by the Albarellos of Fernando Rey (Club Náutico de Portonovo). The Monte Real adapted sailing team also competed in the Open division this Saturday, in which a crew from the Juan María de Nigrán Center sails.

Solventis J80 and Gestilar Ladies Cup

Up to four tests completed the fleet of the Solventis J80 class. After not having been able to open their pigeon holes on Friday due to the instability of the wind, the one-designs that will play for the national title in two weeks finally faced each other at the regatta course located inside the Bay of Baiona.

Spectacular image of the J80 fleet – Photo Lalo R Villar

Solventis Ría de Ribadeo, GP Bullhound and Okofen shared the four wins up for grabs, with the second being the first overall leader with two first, one second and one fifth. The team commanded by Per Roman dominates with a three-point advantage over Ignacio Camino’s Solintal of the Real Club Marítimo de Santander, which with a 2-2-3-5 split is in second position. Third, meanwhile, is the Okofen del Monte Real led by Javier de la Gándara.

The Gestilar Ladies Cup signed three tests this Saturday – Photo Lalo R Villar

For their part, the Figaros of the Gestilar Ladies Cup also opened their program this Saturday with the dispute over three races. With two partial victories and a third, the Marina Burriananova team led by Carlota Hernández, Silleiro, is at the head of the general classification with only one point ahead of Tutatis de Pilar Casares (Real Club Náutico Puerto Pollensa), who They added three second positions. Completing the provisional podium are the sailors from the Real Club Náutico de Palma who sail aboard the Serralleiras with Helena Alegre at the helm.

Everything is decided on Sunday

With the first two days completed and after the celebration on Saturday night of the Terras Gauda National Sailing Awards gala, the Prince of Asturias will put an end to its thirty-seventh edition this Sunday. The start, scheduled for twelve o’clock in the morning for all classes, the provisional leaders will try to defend their positions to win one of the most important titles of the regatta season in Galicia. The delivery of trophies with which the emblematic The regatta will be held at Monte Real at half past six in the afternoon.

The J80s are competing with great intensity as the Spanish championship approaches – Photo Lalo R Villar

The 37th Prince of Asturias Trophy is being held under the organization of the Monte Real Yacht Club and the Escuela Naval Militar and thanks to the sponsorship of ABANCA, the Xunta de Galicia through Xacobeo, Terras Gauda and Gestilar. The competition also has the collaboration of the Pontevedra Provincial Council and the Baiona City Council; the Royal Spanish and Galician Sailing Federations; and the support of companies such as Solventis, Volvo Autesa, Aceites Abril, Zelnova Zeltia, Paradores, Vanguard Marine, Gadis, Foxy, Onda Cero, Musto, the Solitium group, HOLA, Tuypan, Coca Cola and Martin Miller’s Gin.

 

 

37th PRINCE OF ASTURIAS TROPHY
Monte Real Yacht Club Naval Military School
Baiona, 2-4 September 2022

 

ABANCA ORC 1 class

1. Xekmatt Hugo and João Prista Lisbon Naval Association
2. Magical · Julio Rodríguez · Royal Nautical Club of Vigo
3. April Oils Jorge and Luis Pérez Canal Real Club Náutico de Vigo

VOLVO AUTESA ORC 2-Class

1. Marias Manuel Maria Cunha Monte Real Yacht Club
2. Arroutado · José Manuel Pérez · Royal Nautical Club of Portosín
3. Mirfak · Diego López · Ferrol Naval Regatta Commission

Class OILS APRIL ORC 3

1. Urbapaz · José Francisco Edreira · Cabanas Yacht Club
2. Sailway · Ramón Ojea · Maritime Club of Canido
3. Milaneza Diogo Talone Atlantic Sailing Club

MARTIN MILLER ORC 4 class

1. Deep Blue 2.1 · Vicente Cid · Royal Nautical Club of Vigo
2. Orion Javier Pérez Monte Real Yacht Club
3. Alma do mar by Sadamar · José Manuel Enríquez · Cabanas Yacht Club

GADIS ORC 5 class

1. Five Albariño Islands Iñaki Carbajo Beluso Yacht Club
2. Marcolfo Antonio Francisco Gómez Royal Nautical Club of Vigo
3. Salao · Juan Carlos Sicre · Bouzas Maritime Lyceum

VANGUARD ORC OPEN class

1. Salseiro · Manuel Blanco · Real Club Náutico Coruña
2. Porto de Aveiro · Delmar Conde
3. Albarellos · Fernando Rey · Portonovo Yacht Club

SOLVENTIS J80 Class

1. GP Bullhound · Per Roman · Club Nautico de Sevilla
2. Solintal · Ignacio Camino · Royal Maritime Club of Santander
3. Matrako · Ricardo Díaz-Munio · Royal Nautical Club Castro Urdiales

GESTILAR LADIES CUP class

1. Silleiro Carlota Hernandez Marina Burriananova
2. Tutatis Pilar Casares Royal Yacht Club Puerto Pollensa
3. Serralleiras · Helena Alegre · Royal Yacht Club of Palma

 

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Baiona opens the most massive Prince of Asturias Trophy in recent years

 

· Six of the eight participating categories inaugurated this Friday the thirty-seventh edition of the event organized by the Monte Real Club de Yates and the Escuela Naval de Marín

· Xekmatt, Marias, Sailway and Deep Blue 2.1 are the first leaders of the four ORC divisions that competed today in the waters of the Vigo estuary

· The Solventis J80 and Gestilar Ladies Cup classes will open on Saturday after not having been able to complete any test due to the instability of the wind

The Gadis ORC 5 and Vanguard ORC Open divisions will complete tomorrow a fleet of almost ninety teams fighting for the prestigious Prince of Asturias title

The most awaited regatta of the cruise season in Galicia started in Baiona. The 37th Prince of Asturias Trophy, organized by the Monte Real Yacht Club and the Naval Military School, completed the first of three days of competition this Friday, and did so by inaugurating the ABANCA ORC 1, Volvo Autesa ORC 2 class markers , Oils April ORC 3, Martin Miller ORC4.

As the reports pointed out, the wind did not miss its appointment in the regatta area located in the Cíes anchorage. Although it did so with less intensity than expected, the Regatta Committee was able to complete the first windward-leeward race with the start around half past three off Cíes, and did so in conditions of between eight and ten knots of intensity which diminished as the afternoon progressed.

The monotypes, for their part, did not have the same luck and it will be tomorrow when they open their boxes in the star competition of Galician sailing.

Portugal rules in ABANCA ORC 1

In the ABANCA ORC 1 division, the first day of the Prince was resolved with victory for the Portuguese Xekmatt, led by Hugo and João Prista and representing the Lisbon Naval Association. The IMX 45, which also has the Olympic Afonso Domingos among its ranks, was the third to cross the finish line in real time, but in compensated they achieved a tight advantage of less than a minute over Julio Rodríguez’s Magical (Real Club Náutico de Vigo), who placed second in the provisional general standings. Behind, the absolute winner of the last edition, the Aceites Abril of the brothers Luis and Jorge Pérez Canal (Real Club Náutico de Vigo), started the thirty-seventh edition of the Prince closing the provisional podium in the third drawer.

The Portuguese Xekmatt hopes to win his second Prince of Asturias – Photo Lalo R Villar

“We are very happy with today’s result and the crew was very good”, explained Hugo Prista at the end of the day. The patron of the leader in ORC 1 also added that “it has been ten years since we got our first and only Prince title, so without a doubt we are going to do everything possible to get it again, although for this it is also necessary that the rivals win it. allow”.

ABANCA sponsors this thirty-seventh edition of the Prince – Photo Lalo R Villar

The Marías del Monte Real, first in Volvo Autesa ORC 2

Just as tight was the Volvo Autesa ORC 2 division with three leading teams separated by just one minute and fourteen seconds. The local team Marias, commanded by Manuel Maria Cunha, became the first leader of the class after crossing the line in third position and obtaining almost a minute of advantage over the second with the compensation of times. Second place is currently held by the Arroutado del Real Club Náutico de Portosín, led by José Manuel Pérez Santamaría, while third place goes to the Yessito del Monte Real Club de Yates, which has a Portuguese crew led by Rui Ramada.

The Aceites Abril ORC 3 class starts with dominance of the Sailway

The partial victory for the Aceites Abril ORC 3 division was not easy either. Ramón Ojea’s Sailway (Club Marítimo de Canido) became the first overall leader this Friday after a very tight first round.
Behind, just 30 seconds behind those from Ojea, the second position in the race and therefore in the general classification went to José Francisco Edreira’s Urbapaz (Club Náutico Cabanas), who managed to beat the Portuguese Milaneza by Diogo Talone for just a second.

Martin Miller ORC 4-class

There were no surprises in Martin Miller ORC 4. Vicente Cid’s Deep Blue 2.1 from Vigo opened the classification by placing at the top, although he did so with an Alma do mar by Sadamar by José Manuel Enríquez (Club Náutico Cabanas) squeezing into second place, three seconds behind those of Cid. third position, on the other hand, was this Friday for the Unus of Luis García Trigo, also of the Real Club Náutico de Vigo.

Blank day for Solventis J80 and Gestilar Ladies Cup

Less lucky were the participants of the Solventis J80 and Gestilar Ladies Cup classes. Although the weather forecasts indicated that it would be a good windy day, Eolo did not get involved in the regatta course located in Cabo Silleiro or inside the bay of Baiona, so after several attempts and with a test already underway, the Regatta Committee was forced to end the day without being able to complete the first scheduled tests.

The J80 fleet made several starts but could not complete any tests – Photo Lalo R Villar

Alfredo González, crew member of the J80 GP Bullhound and recently proclaimed Snipe world champion in Cascais, explained after returning to land that “Although the wind was very difficult, the Committee did very well and we were able to have a good attempt that helped us to see which boats are going to be ahead. We come here with the aim of getting in tune for the World Cup in Newport, winning or not winning will depend on how we do it, although it is not our main objective now “.

The Gestilar Ladies Cup went blank on the first day – Photo Lalo R Villar

It will therefore be tomorrow, Saturday, when the monotypes open their competition program to fight for the thirty-seventh Prince of Asturias.

Tomorrow, second day of regattas and delivery of the prestigious National Sailing Awards

Tomorrow, Saturday, the Gadis ORC 5 and Vanguard ORC Open categories will join the fleet that already debuted today on the regatta field, which will inaugurate their markers by completing the first of the two coastal regattas that they have in their program.

With the eight categories in contention, there will be a total of eighty-nine teams that will take to the water to fight for one of the most coveted titles of the cruise season in Galicia. One more year the Open fleet will include the club’s adapted sailing team with a crew from the Juan María de Nigrán Center.

The event will also feature the celebration of the Terras Gauda National Sailing Awards gala. At 8:00 p.m., the village of Monte Real will host a new edition of the prestigious awards, where the best athletes and teams of the season will meet. The gala will be attended by José María Fonseca Moretón, president of Terras Gauda; José Luis Álvarez, president of the Baionese club; Naval Captain Pedro Cardona, Commander Director of the Naval School; Walter Álvarez, territorial director of ABANCA; Gorka Gómez, Deputy for Sports; Marta Fernández-Tapias, delegate of the Xunta in Vigo; and Carlos Gómez, mayor of Baiona.

The 37th Prince of Asturias Trophy is being held under the organization of the Monte Real Yacht Club and the Escuela Naval Militar and thanks to the sponsorship of ABANCA, the Xunta de Galicia through Xacobeo, Terras Gauda and Gestilar. The competition also has the collaboration of the Pontevedra Provincial Council and the Baiona City Council; the Royal Spanish and Galician Sailing Federations; and the support of companies such as Solventis, Volvo Autesa, Aceites Abril, Zelnova Zeltia, Paradores, Vanguard Marine, Gadis, Foxy, Onda Cero, Musto, the Solitium group, HOLA, Tuypan, Coca Cola and Martin Miller’s Gin.

37th PRINCE OF ASTURIAS TROPHY
Monte Real Yacht Club Naval Military School
Baiona, 2-4 September 2022

ABANCA ORC 1 class

1. Xekmatt Hugo and João Prista Lisbon Naval Association
2. Magical · Julio Rodríguez · Royal Nautical Club of Vigo
3. April Oils Jorge and Luis Pérez Canal Real Club Náutico de Vigo

VOLVO AUTESA ORC 2-Class

1. Marias Manuel Maria Cunha Monte Real Yacht Club
2. Arroutado · José Manuel Pérez · Royal Nautical Club of Portosín
3. Yessito Rui Ramada Monte Real Yacht Club

Class OILS APRIL ORC 3

1. Sailway · Ramón Ojea · Maritime Club of Canido
2. Urbapaz · José Francisco Edreira · Cabanas Yacht Club
3. Milaneza Diogo Talone Atlantic Sailing Club

MARTIN MILLER ORC 4 class

1. Deep Blue 2.1 · Vicente Cid · Royal Nautical Club of Vigo
2. Alma do mar by Sadamar · José Manuel Enríquez · Cabanas Nautical Club
3. Unus · Luis García Trigo · Royal Nautical Club of Vigo

 

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Baiona brings together the best crews in the 37th Prince of Asturias Trophy

 

· In Baiona, everything is ready for the celebration of an event that releases moorings this Friday under the organization of the Monte Real Yacht Club and the Naval Military School.

· A storm from Greenland is approaching the peninsular northwest and the instability it announces could condition the competition tests

· If the competitive models of previous years are repeated, the opening day will already be one of the most exciting of the trophy with the crews giving their all on the water

Olympic sailor Nico Rodríguez and the president of Gestilar Javier García Valcarcel at the Ladies Cup boat draw – Photo © Rosana Calvo

Everything is ready in Galicia for the celebration of the 37th Prince of Asturias Trophy, which will cast off in Baiona under the organization of the Monte Real Yacht Club and the Naval Military School.

With the weather pending from a storm coming from Greenland, a huge influx of boats that left the club’s pontoons without space and the presence of world and Spanish champions among the crews, this Friday the first tests of the competition will be held.

On the previous day, the closing of registrations left a majority of Galician, Portuguese and Cantabrian boats on the lists, and an Olympic sailor raffling the sailboats for the Ladies Cup.

A storm from Greenland will mark the weather and the tests

Although there are only a few hours left before the start of the competition, and by now the weather forecast is usually clear, no one from the regatta committee has yet dared to give an exact forecast of what is going to happen these three days of the Prince of Asturias Trophy .

A storm from Greenland is approaching the peninsular northwest and a period of instability is expected, although it is not known with certainty when it will reach Galicia. For now, from the organization they trust that the rain will give the sailors a break and the wind, which in principle looks like it will blow from the west, will remain above 9 or 10 knots, with peaks of up to 14.

If it remains boarded and the conditions are favorable, the fleet of the largest boats, grouped in the different ORC classes, will complete two windward-leeward runs, between buoys. Two upwind and two stern in each of the tests will serve to begin to measure forces and release the markers.

In the event that the wind does not pick up and there are difficulties in designing the course, the regatta committee has prepared up to ten different coastal routes, all along the Vigo estuary although with different obligatory passage points.

Intensity and emotion from minute zero

If the competitive models of previous years are repeated, the opening day will not only serve to take the pulse of the regatta fields and will already be one of the most exciting in the trophy. The crews usually arrive in Baiona with a lot of energy and try to demonstrate their power by putting all the meat on the grill from the first tests.

The starting signal will be, on the first day, the latest of the three days. The ORC fleet will hear it at three in the afternoon and half an hour later, at half past three, it will be the turn of the J80 and the girls of the Gestilar Ladies Cup.
Once the tests are over, the well-deserved rest of the fleet in the village located in the club’s gardens will complete the opening day on Friday.

Ahead, the Prince of Asturias Trophy will still have two more days to define the winners’ podiums.

A fleet with a Galician, Portuguese and Cantabrian accent

Galician, Portuguese and Cantabrian, will be, in this order, the accents that will be heard the most in a Prince of Asturias Trophy that, favored by the arrival of boats for the Spanish J80 Championship to be held in Baiona in just a few days, has brought together more than 80 sailboats.

“This year we have achieved a very good number of boats. There was a certain fear about the downward evolution that is being seen in many of the regattas that have been held in recent months in Galicia, but the truth is that the Prince never fails. People want to come to Baiona not only to compete, but also to enjoy with friends”, assures the sports director of Monte Real, Roy Alonso.

The figure of 70 boats that the club established as a participation limit to ensure the comfort of the crews in the club’s space, was finally exceeded and the organization looked for alternatives for the location of the boats. “We have requested the pontoon of the caravel Pinta and placed buoys so that all those who wanted to be here, yes or yes, could be” , says Roy Alonso, who appreciates the understanding of the owners and crew to be in the regatta despite the lack of space.

Among the participating boats, the first to open the competition, this Friday from three o’clock, will be the ORC grouped in the classes ABANCA ORC 1, Volvo Autesa ORC 2, Aceites Abril ORC 3 and Martin Miller ORC 4. Among them we will see, among others, the April Oils and the Magical de Vigo; to the Arroutado de Portosín; the Corsario de Vilagarcía, the Mirfak de Ferrol, the Lambaix de Cabanas, the Sailway de Canido, or the Orión de Baiona, among many others.

There is also a great presence of Portuguese boats, with 12 sailboats in competition and a large number of Portuguese crew members, such as the Yessito by Rui Ramada, the Marías by Manel Cunha, the Xekmatt by Hugo and Joao Prista, the Defender by Nuno Vasconcelos or the Farofino by Edgar Pimenta.

World and Spanish champions in the J80 fleet

With more than 30 registered units, the Solventis J80 class is the most numerous in the trophy and from which a greater spectacle is expected due to the quality of the crews. They will sail inside the bay of Baiona, they will compete in real time and they will compete, if the wind allows it, three double courses of the windward leeward type between buoys.

Among the participants we will see the Etnia Barcelona de Peru Múgica (RCM Santander), current champion of the Prince and defender of the title; the Andalusian GP Bullhound led by Per Roman, who in the last European event of the class was one step away from getting on the podium and who this time has the recent snipe world champion Alfredo González on board; the Spanish runner-up Biobizz, led by José Azqueta (RCM del Abra RSC), or the Cantabrian Solintal, of the former J80 world champion Ignacio Camino.

All of them will have to face each other with a very powerful local fleet, among which the boats of the Monte Real Club de Yates predominate and in which there are two crews that, due to their trajectory and victories in recent seasons, stand out above the rest. They are those of Okofen by Javier de la Gándara and El Alboroto by Juan Carlos Ameneiro.

The women’s 6×6 of the GESTILAR LADIES CUP

The J80 will share the regatta field and direct judging inside the bay of Baiona with the 36 sailors of the Gestilar Ladies Cup, which in its twenty-sixth edition reaffirms itself as the most traditional women’s sailing competition on the Spanish nautical scene.

The six crews competing this year come from Alicante, Mallorca, Baionao, Madrid, the Basque Country and Santander. Six teams of six sailors aboard six identical boats, the Figaro Beneteau that the Monte Real Club de Yates gives them for the competition.

This Thursday, on the previous day, the draw was made for them, and the Olympic sailor Nico Rodríguez, who is also sponsored by Gestilar in his race to the Paris Olympics together with Silvia Más in 470, participated as an innocent hand. mixed.

“The existence of the Gestilar Ladies Cup is one more push that we have to give to promote women’s sailing and equality in the world of sailing. Before, I already saw it like that and now, that I am part of a mixed couple with Silvia, well, much more. Women have great potential and the Ladies Cup is a golden opportunity to make them known so that in the future they can be part of larger or professional projects”Rodriguez assured.

Boat draw for the Gestilar Ladies Cup of the Prince of Asturias Trophy – Photo © Rosana Calvo

Great institutional and business support for the trophy

The 37th Prince of Asturias Trophy is being held under the organization of the Monte Real Yacht Club and the Escuela Naval Militar and thanks to the sponsorship of ABANCA, the Xunta de Galicia through Xacobeo, Terras Gauda and Gestilar.
The competition also has the collaboration of the Pontevedra Provincial Council and the Baiona City Council; the Royal Spanish and Galician Sailing Federations; and the support of companies such as Solventis, Volvo Autesa, Aceites Abril, Zelnova Zeltia, Paradores, Vanguard Marine, Gadis, Foxy, Onda Cero, Musto, the Solitium group, HOLA, Tuypan, Coca Cola and Martin Miller’s Gin.

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More than 80 boats in the most massive Prince of Asturias Trophy

 

· The star sailing competition in Galicia celebrates its thirty-seventh edition from September 2 to 4 under the baton of the Monte Real Club de Yates de Baiona and the Escuela Naval Militar

· Although the organization had limited the number of boats that could participate in the regatta to 70 in recent days, it was forced to increase the number due to the large influx of crews who requested to register

· Of the 8 classes in contention, the largest will be the J80, with more than 30 units from different parts of Spain that will take advantage of the competition to prepare for the National Championship that will be held in Baiona in the middle of the month

· The 37th Prince of Asturias Trophy, sponsored by ABANCA and the Xunta de Galicia through Xacobeo, will include the Gestilar Ladies Cup and the delivery of the Terras Gauda National Sailing Awards

Official presentation of the Prince of Asturias Trophy – Photo Antía Martínez

The star sailing competition in Galicia, the Prince of Asturias Trophy, returns one more year to the waters of the Rías Baixas under the baton of the Monte Real Club de Yates and the Naval Military School, which organize it hand in hand and in a uninterrupted since 1986.

Thirty-seven springs celebrates in this 2022 one of the most beloved appointments by the sailors of the peninsular northwest, which nobody wants to miss. This year, in fact, will be one of the most massive editions. Although the organization had limited the number of boats that could participate in the regatta to 70, in recent days it was forced to increase the number due to the large influx of crews who requested to register.

Finally, there will be more than 80 sailboats that will compete, from September 2 to 4, in the three days of scheduled regattas, which will have as scenarios the interior of the Bay of Baiona, different points of the Vigo estuary and the anchorage of the Islands Cies.

Of the 8 classes that will compete (ABANCA ORC 1, Volvo Autesa ORC 2, Aceites Abril ORC 3, Martin Miller ORC 4, Gadis ORC 5, Vanguard OPEN, Solventis J80 and Gestilar Ladies Cup), that of the J80 will be the most numerous, with more than 30 units arriving from different parts of Spain. The fact is that the crews of these 8-metre sailboats have the perfect opportunity at the Príncipe de Asturias to finish their training for the National Championship to be held in mid-September in Baiona and to continue studying the peculiarities of the winds, waters and Galician tides for the 2023 World Cup.

After the official presentation of the event, this Tuesday at the Monte Real Club de Yates, the starting signal for the trophy will be given by the draw for the boats of the Gestilar Ladies Cup , the women’s competition included in the competition, which this year celebrates its twenty-sixth edition. The distribution will take place on Thursday afternoon at the Baionese club and there will be the patron saints of the participating crews, who this year arrive from Alicante, Mallorca, Madrid, the Basque Country and Santander. Along with the Baiona team, there will be a total of six, with six sailors aboard six identical boats.

Those of the Gestilar Ladies Cup will be one of the many trophies that come into play in the Prince of Asturias Trophy, in which the President of the Xunta Trophy will also be awarded (to the winner of the Regatta Infanta Elena de Coruña, the Mar de Finisterre de Portosín and the Prince of Asturias de Baiona); the Conde de Barcelona Trophy (for the best boat with a Portuguese crew in the competition); and the Juan Sebastián de Elcano Trophy (for the best female crew).

The awards ceremony for the competition will be held on Sunday, September 4 at half past six in the afternoon in the gardens of Monte Real, and the day before, on Saturday, September 3 at eight in the afternoon, that same location will host the gala of the Terras Gauda National Sailing Awards , which for 30 years have recognized the best athletes and teams on the Spanish nautical scene.

On this occasion, the winner of the prestigious Transat Jacques Vabre, the Cantabrian Pablo Santurde (Best Navigator); the world champions María Perelló and Marta Cardona (Best dinghy sailing team); the Teatro Soho Caixabank, put together by Javier Banderas from Malaga and six-time winner of the Copa del Rey (Best Boat); José María “Pichu” Torcida from Santander for his victories in the Spanish and European J70 Championships (Sailor of the Year); the initiative “We want to make history” led by Nuria Sánchez from Alicante (Best female project); and the nautical outreach program Tying Cabos (Mariano Aguado Communication Award).

Transoceanic, light, cruise, women’s, one-design sailing… and in the Príncipe de Asturias there will also be room for adapted sail, for which the Monte Real Club de Yates has been betting for years with courses and activities for people with physical, mental and sensory functional diversity, children with behavioral problems or women victims of sexist violence. A crew from ASEM Galicia, the Galician Association against Neuromuscular Diseases, will sail on the second and third days of competition alongside the Open class boats.

Authorities attending the presentation of the Prince of Asturias Trophy – Photo © Antía Martínez

And so, with 3 days of regattas in 3 different fields, more than 80 boats registered, 8 classes in contention, multiple trophies at stake, a specific women’s section, an inclusive boat, 6 national sailing awards, tastings, galas and fireworks , among many other things, the 37th Prince of Asturias Trophy is presented, which is being held once again this year under the organization of the Monte Real Yacht Club and the Naval Military School and thanks to the sponsorship of ABANCA , the Xunta de Galicia through Xacobeo , Terras Gauda and Gestilar .

The competition also has the collaboration of the Pontevedra Provincial Council and the Baiona City Council; the Royal Spanish and Galician Sailing Federations; and the support of companies such as Solventis, Volvo Autesa, Aceites Abril, Zelnova Zeltia, Paradores, Vanguard Marine, Gadis, Foxy, Onda Cero, Musto, the Solitium group, HOLA, Tuypan, Coca Cola and Martin Miller’s Gin.

OFFICIAL PRESENTATION DECLARATIONS

“For the 36 editions that have been held so far, the best boats have passed, with the best skippers and the most outstanding sailors… and this year will be no different. In this thirty-seventh edition we will have sailing in its purest form in an event that has always been, is, and will be, much more than sport. Tourism, economy, feminism, social inclusion, nature, gastronomy, equality, sustainability, fun, radio, television… An appointment, as you can see, essential” – José Luis Álvarez, president of the MRCYB

“Through the twinning with the MRCYB, this regatta allows us to get closer to civil society, to work and cooperate with you, and that has a very important value. My main goal is to train future naval officers, and I can’t think of a better way to start the academic year than by reconnecting with all those values that the world of sailing transmits, teamwork, the desire to excel and overcoming difficulties” Naval Captain Pedro Cardona, Commander Director of the Naval School

“It is a pride for us to collaborate one more year with the MRCYB. Thanks for another year to the entire organization, to those who make this event possible, and I congratulate you in advance because I am sure it will be a complete success. At ABANCA we have been supporting the world of sport for years, from top competition to grassroots schools, and we will continue to do so because we understand that values that our entity shares one hundred percent are transmitted” – Walter Álvarez, territorial director of ABANCA

“Giving the National Sailing Awards within the framework of a regatta as important as this one, and doing it hand in hand with the Naval School and this beloved club, is undoubtedly an honor for us and I hope we can continue to do so for many years” – José María Fonseca Moretón, president of Bodegas Terras Gauda

“This year the one-designs, between the Figaros that will compete for the Ladies Cup with six female crews, and the J80s with a very high participation of more than 30 boats, are going to be very protagonists. The J80, in addition to the large fleet that the club already has, will be completed this year with a large number of boats arriving in Galicia for the Spanish Championship that we will celebrate in 15 days” – Ignacio Sánchez Otaegui, Commodore MRCYB

“Any event held at the MRCYB is a sure win, and that is thanks to the club’s president and the entire human team that surrounds him. Monte Real is a guarantee of success and proof of this is the collaboration and support that they always have in their events, both from public administrations and private entities, which make events of this type, with their consequent economic, social and sporting repercussions , they can continue to be celebrated” – Gorka Gómez, sports deputy of the Pontevedra Provincial Council

“The Ladies Cup has been a firm commitment to women’s sport for many years, when the competition began and the club showed a spectacular vision of the future. In this promotion and defense of women’s sport you will always find me and the Xunta de Galicia, to show that collaboration between administrations, sports entities and companies is a very beneficial model for society” – Marta Fernández-Tapias, territorial delegate of the Xunta de Galicia in Vigo

“Once again we come to Monte Real, a benchmark club in our country, to present the 37th edition of the Prince of Asturias Trophy and the Terras Gauda National Sailing Awards. I want to recognize not only the work that is done in this club, but how it is done. As I always say, the MRCYB is an added value for Baiona and a mirror in which to look at ourselves to learn about how things are done” – Carlos Gómez, Mayor of Bayonne

……………………… THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 1 ………………………

10:00 · Opening of the race office.
Registration of participants, delivery of documentation,
reviews, measurements and weighing

17:30 Gestilar Ladies Cup boat draw

……………………… FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 2 ………………………

10:00 – 14:00 Opening of the race office.
Registration of participants, delivery of documentation,
reviews, measurements and weighing

10:00 Family photo of the crews of the Gestilar Ladies Cup

12:00 Live radio program with Onda Cero in the club’s village

15:00 · ORC tests 0, 1, 2, 3 and 4

15:30 Tests J80 and LADIES CUP

18:00 Opening of the village

……………………… SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 3 ………………………

12:00 Start of tests for all classes

18:00 Opening of the village

20:00 TERRAS GAUDA NATIONAL SAILING AWARDS Gala

23:30 · Fireworks and start of the party

……………………… SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 4 ………………………

12:00 Start of tests for all classes

17:00 Opening of the village

6:30 p.m. Awards ceremony

 

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The Soho CaixaBank Theater closes a brilliant season with the National Sailing Award for best boat

 

· The boat from Puerto Deportivo de Benalmádena has been distinguished with the National Sailing Award for the best ORC boat after achieving its sixth victory, absolute and class, in the Copa del Rey

· The project of the shipowner from Malaga Javier Banderas, brother and partner of the well-known actor Antonio Banderas, will receive the award in a year in which he celebrates 25 years of sporting career

· The Terras Gauda National Sailing Awards will be presented on September 3 at a gala to be held at eight in the afternoon at the Monte Real Yacht Club in Baiona

The Soho Caixabank Theater in the Copa del Rey

The National Sailing Awards gala will sound this year with a Malaga accent after the Soho CaixaBank Theater was awarded the prize for the best ORC boat of the season. The boat, armed and led by Javier Banderas, will receive the prestigious award after achieving its sixth victory -the second in a row- in the Copa del Rey, in which, both last year and this year, it took the absolute and class wins.

The crew of the boat, a Swan 42 CS from the Puerto Deportivo de Benalmádena, includes, in addition to Javier Banderas as owner and navigator on board with the electronics, and Daniel Cuevas at the helm; Olympic medalists Luis Doreste with tactics and Domingo Manrique with spi. Also Ángel Medina as mainsail trimmer, Piti Estébanez acting as sports director and Genoa trimer, Pipe Ruiz on mast, Fernando Valderrama as free, Rafael Díaz on piano, Ángel Medina Jr. as libero, Nicolás de Virgilis in the bow and Pablo Gauna as bow helper.

A computer teacher, a terrace waterproofer, a hotel worker, a physiotherapist, a student… different professions and different origins (the majority are from Malaga but there are also Canarians) in a team that stands out for its solidity, progression and adaptability.

“The perseverance of maintaining a sports project for 25 years is not something very common today and that continuity is perhaps the most outstanding thing about this crew, which has known and been able to stay together going through many different classes and boats”, assures the sports director of the Soho CaixaBank Theater, Piti Estébanez.

The crew of the Soho Caixabank Theater receiving their Copa del Rey award – Photo Laura G Guerra

Their sixth victory, this year, in the Copa del Rey, in which a hundred boats from twenty countries competed, allowed them to climb once again to a podium that, since 2009, they have already stepped on 13 times; and get closer, more and more, to the legend. On September 3, in Baiona, they will receive the award for the best ORC boat of the year.

The Soho Caixabank Theater in competition
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Pablo Santurde from Spain wins his second National Sailing Award

 

· After being distinguished as the best skipper of the year in 2020, this time Santurde will receive the award for the best sailor, as a result of his victory in the Transat Jacques Vabre aboard the Class40 Redman

At just 35 years old, the sailor from Santander has achieved multiple successes in some of the most outstanding and complex ocean regattas on the international nautical scene

· “I have followed ocean sailing since I was a child and I never thought I would do the things I have done” , declared Santurde after learning that he was deserving of a new National Sailing Award

Pablo Santurde’s Redman on the Transat Jacques Vabre – Photo © Jean-Marie LIOT

In November 2021, after sailing 5,502 miles in 21 days, 22 hours, 33 minutes and 30 seconds, Pablo Santurde from Spain crossed the finish line of the prestigious Transat Jacques Vabre. He did it ahead of all the boats he was competing against, aboard the Class40 Redman and accompanied by Frenchman Antoine Carpentier.

His victory in the prestigious competition allowed him to write a new chapter in the history of transoceanic sailing, and almost a year after that feat, the echoes of his triumph still resonate in the Spanish nautical scene, which next September will yield a new and deserved tribute.

Pablo Santurde aboard the Redman with which he won the Transat Jaques Vabre

Santurde will receive the Monte Real Club de Yates de Baiona the Terras Gauda National Sailing Award for the best sailor, an award that, as soon as he heard the news, the sailor wanted to dedicate to his family and those who supported him from the beginning.

“In this profession we spend a lot of time away from home and the family is the one that suffers the most. I am very lucky because they support me unconditionally, and that is why they are also deserving of this award”, assured Santurde before looking back to also remember its beginnings. “Since I was little I have followed ocean sailing and I never thought I would do the things I have done. Many times the most difficult thing is to get a first opportunity that opens doors for you, and this is where I will always be grateful to Gonzalo Botín” .

With just 35 springs, this year will be the second National Sailing Award received by Pablo Santurde, who in 2020 was distinguished as the best skipper after the successes achieved aboard the M&G Tressis of the Real Club Marítimo de Santander, with which he managed to be J80 class world champion.

Pablo Santurde – Photo A Champy McLean

For this ocean sailing enthusiast, his four world championships (two in Class40 and two in J80) and his European championship (in J70) weigh as much as his victories in the Transat Jacques Vabre, the Rolex Fasnet Race, the Sevenstar Round Britain and Ireland and the RORC Caribbean 600.

“Despite the fact that ocean sailing in Spain does not have the following that it has in other countries, there are Spanish sailors who have achieved very important things, and the National Sailing Awards have been able to give them the support and promotion they deserve. For me it is an honor to be distinguished in this category”Santurde concludes.

 

TERRAS GAUDA NATIONAL SAILING AWARDS GALA
Saturday, September 3, 2022 8:00 p.m.
Monte Real Yacht Club (Baiona)

 

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Half a century of the historic Discovery Race

 

In 1972, the Monte Real Yacht Club organized the most important ocean regatta of those held until then in terms of the number of participants. 48 ships from 35 clubs from 11 countries with some 500 people on board left Bermuda on June 29 for Baiona with the aim of replicating the navigation that 479 years earlier, in 1493, had been carried out by La Pinta de Pinzón on its return to Spain. to announce a new continent, which would be called America. Known as the Discovery Regatta, Discovery Race or BB (Bermuda-Baiona), some of the most prominent American businessmen of the time participated in it, people such as the press magnate Beaver Brook; and a single Spaniard, Alfredo Lagos from Vigo, who with his presence helped to silence the comments of the press that branded the Spanish sailors as not very adventurous for not being part of the crossing. Today, 50 years after that competition, the archives of the organizers (MRCYB, New York Yacht Club, Royal Bermuda Yacht Club and The Cruising Club of America) barely keep a few documents and photographs of its celebration but everyone remembers very well what was: one of the most important regattas in the history of navigation, with the highest number of participants to date.

It is a report by Rosana Calvo,
communication manager of the MRCYB

 

Pendants of the organizing clubs and route of the test (in red) and of the Pinta (blue)

 

“Battered the ship by the storms but not the hearts” . This is how the historical documents (and also the commemorative monolith erected in the fishing village of Baiona) describe the arrival, on March 1, 1493, of the Pinta caravel of Martín Alonso Pinzón to the Galician port with one of the most important news in history of mankind: the discovery of America.
479 years after that chapter, the Monte Real Club de Yates, one of the most outstanding clubs in Spain at that time, promoted the most important regatta of the time in his honor, a competition of more than 3,200 miles in which the participants would replicate the journey of the caravel across the Atlantic.

They called it, as it could not be otherwise, the Discovery Race, Discovery Race or BB (for Bermudas-Baiona), and in its organization they collaborated hand in hand with Monte Real, the New York Yacht Club, the Royal Bermuda Yacht Club and The Cruising Club of America.

It is difficult to attribute a paternity to the initial idea of the regatta. Many speak of Fernando Solano, who advanced in the sponsorship negotiations with Fraga and the organization with the clubs involved. Other names that appear in the records as main promoters are those of Richard B. Nye (chairman of the regatta committee), Hugh CE Masters (commodore and chairman of the committee of the Royal Bermuda Yacht Club), and José María de Gamboa (chairman of the committee Spanish of the regatta).

They also promoted the celebration of the competition and the former mayor of Vigo, José Ramón Fontán, was part of the Spanish committee; one of the historical figures of sailing in Galicia, recently deceased, Fernando Massó; the patriarch of the Gándara, José de la Gándara; Jose Maria Padro; the Vigo industrialist Alfredo Lagos; the president of Monte Real until 1971, Alfredo Romero (who would be succeeded by Carlos Zulueta between 71 and 73); and the commodore of the Baionese club until 1971, Manuel Varela.

A regatta simmering for a decade

It was a regatta that was simmering for nothing more and nothing less than 10 years, since 1962, when people began to talk about its celebration; until 1972 when it was finally played. In between, the project was formally presented to the then Spanish Minister of Information and Tourism, Manuel Fraga Iribarne, who would end up approving its patronage; it was exposed to the American clubs that would finally be involved in the event together with the Monte Real (the New York Yacht Club and the Royal Bermuda Yacht Club); and in 1969 the first official meeting with the Spanish Sailing Federation was held.

In 1970, two years before its celebration, there was already a propaganda brochure for the regatta, for which, initially, the name “The Race of Discovery for La Pinta Trophy TransAtlantic” was proposed, which would eventually be simplified to ” The Discovery Race” . In it all the details of the competition were explained. It would be a test of about 3,000 miles of route that would be carried out with the only condition that a minimum of 15 boats register for it.

The most important and massive regatta of the time

Participation forecasts, not very high at the beginning, ended up exceeding all expectations and the Discovery Regatta finally had a total of 57 registered (of which 48 ended up starting), becoming the most important regatta held to date. date, with the highest number of participants of all time.

 

Manuscript with data from some of the test participants

 

Among the boats entered, the majority between 40 and 60 feet (between 12 and 18 meters), the smallest was the French Penélope III, owned by Alain Maupas Trinidad, with a length of 40 feet / 12 meters; and Patrick E. Haggerty’s Beayondan, at 81 feet long / 24.6 meters, the largest.

As a curiosity, it should be noted that there were sailboats, such as the 43-foot / 13-meter New World, by North American Phillip Davies, which was built specifically for the regatta; and that in the test, which was attended by important American businessmen, the second Baron Beaverbrook, son of the well-known British press magnate William Maxwell Aitken (Lord Beaverbrook), founder of newspapers such as the Daily Express or the Sunday Express, also participated.

 

Alfredo Lagos (left) with Jim Pugh at the 1972 Discovery Regatta (Courtesy of the Lagos family)

 

Alfredo Lagos, the only Spaniard on board

Among all those registered there was only one Spaniard: the renowned industrialist from Vigo and experienced sailor Alfredo Lagos, son of the founder and director for more than 50 years of Astilleros Lagos, one of the most prestigious companies worldwide for its work in the construction and restoration of classic wooden boats.

With his presence as a crew member aboard the Dora, Lagos helped to silence the comments of the press of the time, which branded the Spanish sailors as “not very adventurous” for not wanting to participate in the regatta (or for not daring, as they even came say some, for “risk and fear” ).

 

Illustration of the Discovery Regatta with sailboats and caravels

 

A regatta marked by the weather

The Discovery Regatta was set to start on June 28, 1972 from the historic Gulf of Las Flechas (named for the arrows launched by members of the Ciguayos tribe against the Spanish in what is considered the first incident against the European invasion in America), just as the Pinta had done on January 16, 1493, but for technical reasons they ended up setting sail a day later from the port of Hamilton.

 

Bermuda before departure (Photo courtesy of the Lagos family)

 

Ahead, the 500 participants aboard 48 boats from 35 clubs from 11 countries, had a journey of 3,200 nautical miles / 5,926 kilometers (according to the official route), although everyone expected it to be more (about 4,000 / 7,408 km) per the winds and currents that would influence their journey. And the truth is that the weather ended up affecting, and a lot, the test.

En route from New York to Bermuda for the start of the race, some boats were hit by a typhoon, forcing four of them to abandon the competition and delaying the start for a day so that the rest could make some repairs. Later, once the journey had begun, the poor state of the sea made navigation difficult. And a few days later, more problems. There were several days of calm that would cause a considerable delay in the completion of the test.

 

The Nieto Antúnez fishing nautical school produced a brochure on meteorological factors

 

The Discovery Regatta was the first international competition that forced the crews to give their situation every day, something that, in addition to generating security, facilitated the tasks of the regatta committee to control the fleet and the work of the press of the time to narrate the evolution of the test. But what initially worked smoothly soon went awry. The participants stopped complying with the requirement because they also provided information to their rivals and the test was carried out practically in its entirety, with few exceptions, without real and continuous monitoring of the sailboats.

It is known, from the data provided in the early days, that the sailboats took three different navigation routes. Some opted for the shortest and most direct route, others went north in search of more favorable winds and the rest sailed south. But when they really began to distance themselves from each other, the calm ones arrived and the crews were unable to establish important advantages, practically all remaining grouped in a platoon while the lack of wind lasted.

Four days into the test, the radiograms sent to New York announced Tom Clark’s Buccaneer (New Zealand) in the lead. On the island of Flores (Azores), the only record set on the regatta’s transatlantic route (850 miles / 1,574 km from the finish line), Charisma captained by Jessie Phillips (Dayton, Ohio) was first, followed by Carina of Richard S. Nye and the Jubilee III, of the United States Naval Academy, captained by Commander Howard Randall.

In mid-July, a Canadair CL-215 seaplane from the Search and Rescue Service arrived in Vigo to carry out its first exploration operation within a radius of action of some 200 miles / 370 km. Baiona, but the results were negative. On a second outing he managed to locate one of the participants, the Solution, 6 miles / 11 km from A Guarda, but the crew had lowered sails and headed for the port of Vigo, implying that they had withdrawn from the competition. Somewhat further away, a group of fishing boats sighted, off the Berlengas Islands (north of Lisbon), the bulk of the crews.

The Blackfin, first. The Carina, winner.

Although the Discovery Regatta boats were scheduled to arrive in Baiona on July 14, it was not until July 18, at 12:15 when the Blackfin (US-flagged, sail number 8910, 73 feet long / 22 , 25m and 16 adventurers on board), led by Kenneth W. DeMeuse, crossed the finish line, an imaginary line that left the Prince’s Tower (where some of the snipe boys and cruisers like the Fontán brothers stood guard , Quico Arbones, Humberto Cervera and others) at 180º magnetic. With the exception of the calm one that was found at the exit of Bermuda, the sailboat sailed practically the rest of the route without problems, taking advantage of a wind channel. He did it alone, investing a total of 453 hours, and upon arrival, the 15 crew members threw their captain overboard to celebrate the victory.

 

The Blackfin, designed by Bill Tripp for Ken DeMeuse of San Francisco

 

DeMeuse, exhausted and with his hair messed up from the dip, called his country to say that he had arrived, ordered a cubalibre with lots of ice and attended to the media. He commented that the regatta “was not as difficult as it was long”, he explained that it became complicated at times when crossing with very strong winds or with no wind, but that both the crew and the boat ( “which is good and fast” , he assured) they worked very well.

 

News published in La Voz De Galicia on July 19, 1972

 

Hours later, around eight in the afternoon, the second ship, the Jubilee III, of the United States Naval Academy, a 22.25-meter sailboat and the number 1800 on its sails, arrived on the old continent. It was manned by 17 people, skippered by Commander Howard Randall and, as had happened to the Blackfin, it also played against the basses of Carallones.

On July 21, three days after the first boats had crossed the finish line, there were still sailboats to finish the journey and among them were some of those that could be proclaimed absolute winners (due to the time compensation system that would be applied for level out the differences between large and small boats). The last yacht to arrive, the Tanatara, did so on the 22nd, and it was then that the final classification of the competition was revealed.

 

Alfredo Lagos after the arrival of the Discovery Regatta in 1972 (Photo courtesy of the Lagos Family)

 

The winner of the 1972 Bermuda-Bayonne Discovery Regatta was the Class B Carina, skippered by Richard “Dick” S. Nye, in 391 hours, 52 minutes and 39 seconds. They were followed in the table by Prim (Gibbons Neff Jr.), from class B, with 344 hours, 44 minutes, 19 seconds; and the Aura (Wallace Stenhouse), also in class B, with 395 hours, 27 minutes, 19 seconds. The Blackfin, the first to arrive in the waters of Baiona on the 18th, was finally in 42nd place in the general classification.

Richard S. Nye (1904-1988) found his love of the sea late and knew little of sailing when he bought the Carina in 1945, but he soon began sailing and ended up competing in long-distance regattas, which became in his passion. He participated in a large number of them and came to win 7 transatlantic races, including the Bermuda Baiona, in which he won with the first of his three Carinas.

The skipper attributed (he always did) the success in this regatta and many others he won to the good work of his crew, made up of his son Richard B. Nye, as first officer, and other members of his family and close friends.

Those who knew him say that he did not sail to win, but because he was truly passionate about the sea. To posterity he passed his phrase: “Okay, boys, you can let the ship sink!” , pronounced after finishing the Fasnet Race of 1957 in a Carina badly damaged by the hard competition.

 

Richard S. Nye – Patron of the Carina

 

His victory in the Discovery Regatta had a great worldwide echo and in the final broadcast of the event, everyone agreed on the great success that the event had brought.

The Discovery Regatta, much more than a regatta

In a meeting with journalists, the president of the Monte Real Yacht Club and vice president of the Spanish committee in charge of organizing the arrival, Carlos Zulueta, highlighted the four most significant aspects of the regatta: economic, tourist, historical and sporting.

The competition, sponsored by the Ministry of Information and Tourism (understanding that it would serve to promote tourism at the highest level and offer the Rías Gallegas a high-ranking international sporting competition), had become the one with the greatest participation up to that time and accommodation reservations made in Baiona had repercussions on hoteliers with a figure that exceeded one million pesetas. Restaurants, taxi drivers and other businesses also made cash during the Americans’ stay in the fishing village.

Alfredo Lagos, the only Spaniard in the competition, complained, once it was over, about the little attention the national press and television had devoted to it. blamed “a hidden force that tries to minimize everything in Galicia, which takes us back to times before the Catholic Monarchs. You already know -Lagos said in a special report for the magazine Pesca y Náutica- that when a drop of water falls in Estaca de Bares, although we have an ideal day in Baiona, the phrase is “It rains in Galicia”. For many Galicia is very far away, the roads are very bad, there are many cows and the women carry the load on their heads. Those who only think this, it is much better not to come”.

 

José Ramón Fontán handing out souvenirs to the Apollo on the pontoons of the Monte Real Yacht Club

 

The truth is that everyone welcomed the crews with open arms and the sailors were able to enjoy the culture, landscape and gastronomy of Galicia for several days. In Vigo, in the gardens of the Pazo Quiñones de León, a dinner was organized for them, enlivened by folk groups. In Baiona, another dinner and a big dance.

They also attended the famous Mougás gigs and ate grilled sardines, empanada and octopus in a mountain refuge. And at the end, many of them took part in a cruise along the Galician estuaries from Baiona to Fisterra, sailing through the most touristic points of coastal Galicia and taking a bus trip to Santiago de Compostela.

 

In the rally through the Rías Baixas after the Discovery Regatta

 

Postmarks, brochures, commemorative plates, flags… recall one of the most important regattas in the history of navigation. A regatta that served for several clubs on both sides of the Atlantic to strengthen ties and promote what ended up being the most massive nautical competition organized to date.

 

Postmarks, information brochures and commemorative plates of the Discovery Regatta

 

Half a century after its celebration, at the Monte Real Club de Yates de Baiona, the seed of the competition, they remember it as something historic, as one of those events worthy of having gone down in the history of world sailing along with other milestones of the club as the challenge to the America’s Sailing Cup.

And the same what “The noble town of Baiona, an ancient Celtic hedgehog, had the honor of being the first to announce, to the astonishment of the world, the miracle of the discovery of the Americas”, the Monte Real Club de Yates had the honor of being the first to organize a regatta in his honor, the most important of the time and one of those that will always remain in the memory.

It is a report by Rosana Calvo,
communication manager of the MRCYB

 

 

Boats of the Discovery Regatta at Monte Real Yacht Club – Tony Román File Photo
Jubilee III with seaplane arriving in Baiona – Discovery Regatta 1972 – Photo Archive Tony Román
The Dora IV back to America after the Discovery Regatta – Photo Archive Tony Román
The Buccaneer, the Etoile and other ships after their arrival in Baiona – Photo Archive Tony Román
The Dora IV in which Alfredo Lagos sailed in the Discovery Regatta in 1972 (Photo courtesy of the Lagos family)
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Quantum Racing takes the victory of the ABANCA 52 SUPER SERIES Baiona Sailing Week

 

· The first visit of the 52 SUPER SERIES to Galicia closed with a last day of show in the waters of the Vigo estuary that brought together a large crowd of people

· American Quantum Racing took the final victory after four excellent days of racing and claimed its first title since 2019

· The TP52 fleet leaves Baiona with a great taste in the mouth due to a perfect combination of conditions, surroundings and the excellent reception of the Monte Real Club de Yates

After five days of testing and one of training, this Saturday the ABANCA 52 SUPER SERIES · BAIONA SAILING WEEK, the great nautical event of the year in Galicia that the Monte Real Club de Yates organized with the sponsorship of ABANCA and Tourism, ended this Saturday of Galicia through the Xacobeo.

The TP52s said goodbye to Galicia with eight partials out of ten possible in the boxes of the nine teams that were able to sail every day and start the season testing their boats in a wide range of winds: from light breezes of 8-9 knots, at intensities well above 20 knots.

The combination of a magnificent regatta course located in front of the majestic Cíes Islands, with extraordinary weather and the warm welcome from the Monte Real Club de Yates de Baiona, venue of the event, convinced the 52 SUPER SERIES on their historic first visit to the Rías Baixas.
On the last day played this Saturday, the nine teams in contention went out on the water with a program of two tests on the agenda and a forecast of good conditions in the regatta field.

The TP52s once again gave a show in the Rías Baixas – Photo Nico Martínez

A hundred boats of spectators came to enjoy the choreography of the TP52 manned by a selection of the best sailors in the world, a historical image for sailing in Galicia.

After four days of northerly component winds, the fleet said goodbye to the Rías Baixas with a southwest breeze and intensities that varied between 17 knots in the first outing of the day and nine in the second, which had to be canceled by a radical wind roll.

Three teams went out on the water with mathematical chances of a title challenge, with Quantum Racing the strongest contender thanks to a four-point lead over Platoon and seven over Phoenix.

The eighth test of the week (after all, the last) presented excellent conditions for the sailing competition. Britain’s Gladiator, Turkey’s Provezza and Thailand’s Vayu all crossed the line early and had to re-start, reducing traffic for their six rivals in the opening stages of the event.

The last departure of the Baiona Sailing Week – Photo Nico Martinez

Once again, the tacticians were forced to resort to all their magic to read a field full of nuances and with no clear path. After an intense exchange of positions, the Alegre of the owner and helmsman Andy Soriano rounded the first buoy of the course in the lead, leading the rest of the race until scoring his first partial victory of the season.

After suffering for a good part of the route, Quantum Racing got a creditable second place that served to extend its advantage at the head of the provisional thanks to the third of the Phoenix and the fifth of Platoon, the only ones who could jeopardize their Galician victory.

Quantum Racing entered the final with a seven-point lead on the provisional table, a comfortable lead but not enough in such a competitive fleet, and an off-line made things very exciting.

With Phoenix leading the charge and Quantum Racing closing the field, at times the Baiona title seemed to go to the South African team, but a radical role of the wind in the middle of the course forced the main race official, María Torrijo, to cancel the test and send the fleet back to the pontoons of the Monte Real Club de Yates de Baiona.

Quantum Racing collecting the prizes for the winners of the Baiona Sailing Week – Photo Nico Martínez

Quantum Racing was officially proclaimed the first champion of the 52 SUPER SERIES in Galicia. The team led by the setter and helmsman Doug DeVos, the tactician Terry Hutchinson (patron of the American Magic team of the America’s Cup) and the strategist Luca Calabrese (bronze of 470 in London 2012) won their first title since June 2019 in Baiona.

The Quantum Racing crew celebrating victory in the water – Photo Nico Martínez

This is an important first step for the American team in its goal of achieving its fifth crown of circuit champions, after those achieved in 2013, 2014, 2016 and 2018. In Baiona they have been able to verify that their rivals will not make it easy for them.

The awards ceremony for this first appointment with the SUPER SERIES was held at the Monte Real Club de Yates with a large audience. The president of the club, José Luis Álvarez; the general director of the 52 SUPER SERIES, Agustín Zulueta; the director of Private Banking of ABANCA, Francisco Javier Rivero; the mayor of Baiona, Carlos Gómez; the Deputy for Sports of the Pontevedra Provincial Council, Gorka Gómez; and the delegate of the Xunta de Galicia in Vigo, Marta Fernández-Tapias. Awards were also presented by TP52 class manager Rob Weiland.

The next event of the 52 SUPER SERIES 2022 will be held in the Portuguese town of Cascais. Meanwhile, at the Monte Real Club de Yates they will continue with their usual sports program, which includes the celebration of the Galician Two-handed Championship, on June 11; the Rías Baixas Route, from July 4 to 9; and the Conde de Gondomar Trophy, from July 22 to 25. In September, the other two major events of the club will arrive in 2022, the Prince of Asturias Trophy, from September 2 to 4, with the usual delivery of the National Sailing Awards; and the Spanish J80 Championship, from September 15 to 18.

Rain of champagne to celebrate the victory – Photo Nico Martínez

Final Classification ABANCA 52 SUPER SERIES Baiona Sailing Week

1- QUANTUM RACING (USA), Doug DeVos, 4+5+1+2+3+1+1+2 = 19
2- PLATOON (GER), Harm Müller Spreer, 5+1+2+4+4+2+3+5= 26
3- PHOENIX (RSA), Hasso and Tina Plattner, 1+3+3+1+8+6+2+3 = 27
4- INTERLODGE (USA), Austin and Gwen Fragomen, 6+4+4+6+2+9+4+4 = 39
5- ALEGRE (GBR), Andy Soriano, 9+7+6+3+9+3+5+1 = 43
6- SLED (USA), Takashi Okura, 3+6+5+7+7+4+4.5+7 = 43.5
7- VAYU (THA), Whitcraft Family, 2+2+8+5+5+7+7+9 = 45
8- GLADIATOR (GBR), Tony Langley, 7+8+7+8+1+8+10 (DSQ)+8+3 (PEN) = 60
9- PROVEZZA (TUR), Ergin Imre, 8+10 (DNF)+10 (DNS)+10 (DNS)+6+5+6+6 = 61

 

Statements of the day

José Luis Álvarez, president of the Monte Real Yacht Club of Baiona:

“The event has been a complete success and I am very happy because it is the award that deserves the work and commitment of each and every one of the members of the Monte Real Club de Yates. From the first moment we understood the importance of this appointment for the international projection of our club, Baiona and the Rías Baixas, and I think we have fulfilled it. We have returned to the international circuits and have made it clear that Galicia is an ideal setting for holding this type of top-level events. In fact, next year we will host the J80 World Cup”

Agustín Zulueta (ESP), general director of the 52 SUPER SERIES:

“A magnificent event. I would tell you that for the first time we have come to Baiona, and on top of that at the beginning of the season, outstanding. Outstanding for the club and outstanding for all the people who have been part of this great team, both in the water and on land. If they give us the opportunity, we will return, of course”

Terry Hutchinson (USA), Tactician for Quantum Racing (USA):

“Our first experience in Baiona has been spectacular. The race course is impressive, being new to all the teams, it presented new challenges and opportunities, and you come ashore and everyone in the club and in the area welcomes us with open arms. I am looking forward to returning. It has been an excellent test, very difficult, quite a challenge for all the teams due to the subtleties of the route. We are very, very happy. For me this victory is super important, it reflects the work done by the team during the winter, but we still have a lot of room for improvement. There is a lot to compete this season, and the fleet is really competitive.”

Víctor Mariño (ESP), Platoon trimmer (GER):

“The week has exceeded expectations, and by far. The organization has been incredible, the Real Club de Yates de Baiona has surpassed itself. People have been delighted. The conditions have been exquisite, despite having been able to do only one regatta each of the last two days, I think the ones done have been perfect. Very open conditions. It has been shown that we have a great place to sail here, we have to try to bring level fleets, because they enjoy it. It was a great test for all the teams. The third day, with more than 25 knots, was impressive, the perfect day: what foreigners call ‘champagne sailing’”

María Torrijo (ESP), Principal Regatta Officer:

“Today I was left with a bit of a bad taste in my mouth. We had a weather report that said we were going to have a spectacular day with the southwest, and yes, it came in strong. We did the first very nice test, but then, it must be because of the heat, with so many islands and so much land, that as soon as you got a little closer to land, the wind killed it. It was very difficult. I moved, I tried to get away from one land, and I came close to another, I had a stable wind and it killed me. I had to cancel the last race because the wind had dropped completely and had changed more than a hundred degrees” / “The week has been spectacular: super fun regattas in which it was not clear who could win, whether the one on the right or the one on the the left. It wasn’t like in other places, where you know that whoever wins the start, wins the race; here, each test was different, even on the same day the conditions changed. All the sailors have told me that they have been super fun regattas”

 

 

 

 

 

 

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PHOTOS AND VIDEOS : ABANCA 52 SUPER SERIES BAIONA SAILING WEEK

 

FINAL SUMMARY ABANCA 52 SUPER SERIES BAIONA SAILING WEEK

RACE 5 (05/28/22)

FINAL REGATTA (28/05/22)

RACE 4 (05/27/22)

DAY 5 (05/27/22)

RACE 3 (05/26/22)

DAY 4 (05/26/22)

RACE 2 (05/25/22)

DAY 3 (05/25/22)

RACE 1 (05/24/22)

DAY 2 (05/24/22)

DAY 1 (05/23/22)

OFFICIAL PRESENTATION (05/20/22)

BAIONA WILL OPEN THE SEASON OF THE 52 SUPER SERIES (11/11/21)

TEASER ABANCA 52 SUPER SERIES BAIONA SAILING WEEK (04/05722)

TRAILER 52 SUPER SERIES IN BAIONA (05/13/22)

 

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Quantum Racing, embrace the win

 

· The American team won the only event held on the fourth and penultimate day of the ABANCA 52 SUPER SERIES · BAIONA SAILING WEEK

Quantum leads the provisional classification with four points ahead of Platoon, which is second, and seven points ahead of Phoenix, which is third

· A collision between the Gladiator and the Sled at the start ended with the withdrawal of both boats from the test leaving the fleet reduced to seven boats

· The competition organized by the Monte Real Yacht Club will experience its last day of tests tomorrow and will award the prizes to the winners

With the end of the competition just around the corner and only two more races pending, the Quantum Race is about to win the victory of the ABANCA 52 SUPER SERIES · Baiona Sailing Week, which since the past Monday is celebrated in the Rías Baixas under the organization of the Monte Real Yacht Club.

This Friday, on the fourth and penultimate day of the competition, the 52 SUPER SERIES fleet showed that they also know how to compete and create a show in light winds. With an intensity below ten knots and under the influence of unusual heat, the crews moved with the lightest breeze of the whole week and could only contest one race, since the second round of the day did not take place for lack of wind

The American Quantum Racing was the winner and will face the last day of competition at the head of the provisional classification, with a four-point advantage over the German Platoon, a minimum income among a fleet so evenly matched.

The crews go for it all in this final stretch of the Baiona Sailing Week – Photo © Nico Martínez

As in the previous day, the breeze delayed the first departure until after two in the afternoon, but this time it arrived with a range of 8-9 knots, the lowest of the week. An incident between Gladiator and Sled at the start caused the collision and subsequent withdrawal of both, resulting in a black flag for the British team, which scored ten points plus three penalties. The American received 4.5 repair points, but was left without enjoying this seventh round of the championship.

A great start by Quantum Racing to the left of the field allowed the leader to initially take the lead. It soon became clear that the pressure was on the right side of the pitch, and the entire climb to the first mark was concentrated in that area of the pitch. Platoon came in the lead at the first passing point of the course, followed closely by the intense battle between Quantum Racing and Phoenix.

Crossover between the Quantum and the Platoon in the only race held this Friday – Photo © Nico Martínez

The turning point of this seventh round was in the decision of where to start the first downwind section, and here Quantum Racing was right when they went to the left in search of better speed and angle to get ahead and dominate the rest of the Test.

After a brief wait in the water, and given the evidence that the minimum conditions to compete would no longer exist, the main regatta officer María Torrijo decided to end the day and sent the fleet back to the pontoons of Monte Real Bayonne Yacht Club.

The sun plummeted on this penultimate day and the wind blew lightly – Photo © Nico Martínez

There, at the facilities of the club that organizes the competition with the sponsorship of ABANCA and Turismo de Galicia through Xacobeo, the crews were able to enjoy a special dinner on an evening that included a live musical performance; and the tents set up by Terras Gauda, Martin Miller’s Gin, Estrella Galicia and Coren.

The ABANCA 52 SUPER SERIES · Baiona Sailing Week is decided this Saturday. The forecast indicates a wind that has not been seen all week, with a south-westerly component and intensities around 14-15 knots. This new scenario poses new challenges for the fleet and adds drama to the final day, scheduled for two rounds.

The Quantum Race crew getting closer to victory – Photo © Nico Martínez

Three teams start with mathematical options to share the positions on the first Galician podium in the history of the circuit: Quantum Racing, owned by Doug De Vos, leads with 17 points and a magnificent card that includes three partial victories and a fifth worst result, followed by four points behind Harm Müller Spreer’s Platoon and seven points behind Hasso Plattner’s Phoenix.

In a regatta without discards, the pressure is maximum between the crews to avoid mistakes that could ruin the work of the whole week. The identity of the winner of the first of the five events of the 52 SUPER SERIES 2022 will be revealed in an afternoon in which the trophies will also be presented to the winners. It will be at five in the afternoon.

 

Provisional classification ABANCA 52 SUPER SERIES Baiona Sailing Week

1- QUANTUM RACING (USA), Doug DeVos, 4+5+1+2+3+1+1 = 17
2- PLATOON (GER), Harm Müller Spreer, 5+1+2+4+4+2+3= 21
3- PHOENIX (RSA), Hasso and Tina Plattner, 1+3+3+1+8+6+2 = 24
4- INTERLODGE (USA), Austin and Gwen Fragomen, 6+4+4+6+2+9+4 = 35
5- VAYU (THA), Whitcraft Family, 2+2+8+5+5+7+7 = 36
6- SLED (USA), Takashi Okura, 3+6+5+7+7+4+4.5 = 36.5
7- ALEGRE (GBR), Andy Soriano, 9+7+6+3+9+3+5 = 42
8- GLADIATOR (GBR), Tony Langley, 7+8+7+8+1+8+10 (DSQ) +3 = 52
9- PROVEZZA (TUR), Ergin Imre, 8+10 (DNF)+10 (DNS)+10 (DNS)+6+5+6 = 55

Statements of the day

María Torrijo (ESP), Principal Regatta Officer:

“It was easier than I thought. The wind has always been the other way around: the first of the day was weaker and the second was good. Today I doubted at first whether to start at 2:00 p.m. or wait a bit thinking that the strongest wind could come, but my sixth sense told me: ‘girl, start, put one in your pocket, we never know what it can happen’, and indeed, I have been very lucky, because that regatta has been good. There were roles, but a little less than yesterday, and it wasn’t very intense but enough to compete. For the second, it simply died: four different winds entered and it was very easy to decide to return to land. Tomorrow the wind is forecast from the southwest and 14-15 knots early. We will start at 1:00 p.m. and we will try to do two heats”

Pedro Mas (ESP), Interlodge bow (USA):

“The southern part of the field was very calm today and calm was coming towards us, we saw it coming. Today we have had 8-9 knots, even a little more. From 7 knots we can sail. Each wind has its story: with more than 20 knots you have your problems and with less than ten you have your other problems. But we can adapt the boat to each condition: we have high and low wind mainsails, specific sails for each type of wind. The regatta field has been very complicated every day, the issue is to get out well and see the pressure quickly, before anyone else. Then there is the luck factor, that sometimes you go behind, you play it to one side and it hits you, and sometimes it doesn’t. The key is to always start well and ride in the top three.”

 

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Quantum Racing, new leader at Baiona Sailing Week

 

· The American team rose to the top of the provisional classification of the ABANCA 52 SUPER SERIES · Baiona Sailing Week after chaining a new day with the best results in the fleet

· The Quantum Racing crew will face the last two stages of the competition, scheduled for this Friday and Saturday, with a two-point advantage over the German Platoon and six over the South African Phoenix

The ABANCA 52 SUPER SERIES · Baiona Sailing Week crossed its equator this Thursday with a day in which two new tests were held in a regatta field located in front of the Cíes Islands. The American team Quantum Racing was the clear winner of the day after taking both heats and moving to the top of the provisional standings.

After completing three days and six races, and with the last two stages of the competition organized by the Monte Real Club de Yates remaining, the American Quantum Racing will face the second part of the regatta with two points ahead of the German Platoon and six over the South African Phoenix, who are second and third respectively.

The TP52 fleet off the coast of Vigo – Photo Nico Martínez

In the third phase played this Wednesday, the wind was slow to establish itself in the Vigo estuary and the fleet had to wait until almost three in the afternoon to take to the pitch. El Alegre crossed the line early and was forced to repeat the start while his rivals began to spread out on the field.

The Gladiator owned by the British owner Tony Langley, who this week has the Spaniard Xabi Fernández on board, soon showed the bow by betting on the right of the field, but it was the Thai Vayu who came in first at the first buoy pass, and the Gladiator who finally finished first. They were followed at the finish line by the Americans Interlodge and Quantum Racing.

Gladiator winner of the first round – Photo Nico Martinez

For the second leg of the day, the wind rose above 15 knots. The Gladiator attempted to repeat the choreography of the previous test, but was kicked off the start line by the Interlodge and had to return to start the course from the tail of the pack.

The best on the climb to the first buoy was Quantum Racing and the rest of the race ended up being a recital by the American boat, skippered in Baiona by its owner Doug DeVos and with the tactics of the America’s Cup expert, Terry Hutchinson.

A change of route in the middle of the test did not affect the performance of the quadruple champion of the 52 SUPER SERIES, who signed a resounding victory to consolidate a well-deserved leadership. They were followed on arrival by the Platoon and the Alegre.

Quantum Race leader of the Baiona Sailing Week – Photo Nico Martinez

Looking ahead to the fourth day of competition of the 52 SUPER SERIES in the waters of Galicia, Quantum Racing leads the provisional with two points ahead of the German Platoon and six over Phoenix, which lost two positions in the most discreet day of the week (8+6).

The ABANCA 52 SUPER SERIES · Baiona Sailing Week is held at the Monte Real Club de Yates with the sponsorship of ABANCA and Turismo de Galicia through the Xacobeo until Saturday. Before the awards ceremony scheduled for that final day, the crews will be able to enjoy a dinner offered by the organizing club in the regatta village, where Terras Gauda, Martin Miller’s Gin, Estrella Galicia and Coren tents are set up. among other.

 

Provisional classification ABANCA 52 SUPER SERIES Baiona Sailing Week

1- QUANTUM RACING (USA), Doug DeVos, 4+5+1+2+3+1 = 16
2- PLATOON (GER), Harm Müller Spreer, 5+1+2+4+4+2= 18
3- PHOENIX (RSA), Hasso and Tina Plattner, 1+3+3+1+8+6 = 22
4- VAYU (THA), Whitcraft Family, 2+2+8+5+5+7 = 29
5- INTERLODGE (USA), Austin and Gwen Fragomen, 6+4+4+6+2+9 = 31
6- SLED (USA), Takashi Okura, 3+6+5+7+7+4 = 32
7- ALEGRE (GBR), Andy Soriano, 9+7+6+3+9+3 = 37
8- GLADIATOR (GBR), Tony Langley, 7+8+7+8+1+8 = 39
9- PROVEZZA (TUR), Ergin Imre, 8+10 (DNF)+10 (DNS)+10 (DNS)+6+5 =49

 

Statements of the day

Xabi Fernández (ESP), Gladiator crew member (USA):

“The day has been much better. We know that no two days are the same, and although we haven’t made any changes, the truth is that the boat has been better today. We make the training of the week profitable, I think that the owners sail so little that they improve day by day. Today was a slightly easier day. Paul (Goodison, tactician) wanted to fight a little more on the right than we had in the previous days, and we made a great start on the good side. When you go ahead, everything is much easier. In the second round we wanted to do the same but we couldn’t, because Interlodge closed the place for us and we left late, but without going to a comfortable place we managed to go with the fleet and fight. We have made an eighth, which is not a good result, but the positive part is that we have been in the fight “

Luca Calabrese (USA), Quantum Racing (USA) strategist:

“A difficult day, with little wind. Luckily we were able to read the conditions well before the first regatta and know what we had to do, so we’re happy to get to the top of the standings. But this bay is very difficult. In the second we had the discussion on board about which side of the line to exit from, and in the end we decided to try to jump over the pin, over the fleet, and it ended up working. But nervous all the way to the right side of the field. The route was quite flawed until reaching the right side of the field, because everyone wanted to do the same “

Santiago Lange (ARG), helmsman of Provezza (TUR):

“The ship is a barge, very nice to steer, to feel and coordinate with the crew. The regattas are super entertaining, as I always experienced as a tactician and in any position. The fact of having broken the boat and today running without being able to reach the maximum gross tension is not easy. With my new job as helmsman I have adapted very easily: I don’t feel that we are making bad starts, we are doing well. It is not easy, because we have a tension limit, but we will continue working on the trim of the mast and the mainsail to be able to navigate better in these conditions”

 

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The Phoenix strikes again at the Baiona Sailing Week

 

· The second day of the ABANCA 52 SUPER SERIES · Baiona Sailing Week allowed the TP52 fleet to unleash its full potential and offer a magnificent sailing show of the highest level in the Vigo estuary

Two fast and exciting tests were held in ideal weather conditions and the South African Phoenix returned to the Monte Real Club de Yates with a reaffirmed leadership and a four-point lead over the second

· A growing fleet of spectator boats enjoyed live the magic of the best international monohull circuit, which throughout the week turns the Rías Baixas into the world center of sailing

Second and intense day in the waters of the Vigo estuary for the spectacular TP52. The fleet of the ABANCA 52 Super Series · Baiona Sailing Week, organized by the Monte Real Club de Yates, completed two new tests this Wednesday at the regatta course located in front of the Cíes Islands, and it did so quickly as it had some unbeatable wind conditions.

With a total of four tests accumulated in the pigeonholes, Phoenix continues to lead the standings, now followed by Quantum Racing, which has significantly improved its results from the first day, and Platoon, which occupies the third place on the provisional podium.

The new ration of two races held this Wednesday allowed the crews to enjoy a wind that at times exceeded 20 knots of intensity, combined with little waves and a sun that cut out the silhouette of the boats on the magnificent background of the islands Cies.

The Turkish Provezza, who suffered a broken stay on the first day of racing, was unable to recover from her injuries and reduced the fleet to eight boats.

The crew of the Phoenix gave it their all on the water today – Photo © Rosana Calvo

After two days and four disputed races, the provisional of the first event of the 52 SUPER SERIES 2022 is still headed by the South African Phoenix of Hasso Plattner, with four points ahead of the tie between the American Quantum Racing of Doug DeVos and the German Platoon by Harm Muller Spreer.

A growing fleet of spectator boats enjoyed live the magic of the best international monohull circuit, which throughout the week turns the Rías Baixas into the world center of sailing.

The dispute is maximum between the crews – Photo Nico Martínez

Hard-fought victory for Quantum Racing

The third scoring test of the week, the first this Wednesday, began with 16-17 knots of northwest wind and a wind direction that varied up to 20 degrees in its little more than 50 minutes of duration. An unstable environment that put the skill of the crews to the test and allowed interesting changes of position throughout the test.

The best at the start was the American Interlodge, who managed to lead the fleet in the first half of the course. But in the second section against the wind, Quantum Racing took advantage of a role of the wind to take the lead and did not give up the lead until achieving its first partial victory of the season. Second on the finish line was Platoon, followed by a Phoenix that staged a spectacular comeback from the last position with which he mounted the first buoy on the course.

The Phoenix passing the buoy first – Photo © Rosana Calvo

New Phoenix Demo

The second test of the day started with winds well above 20 knots. On this occasion, the Briton Alegre made the best start from the far left of the line, staying in the lead until Quantum Racing came from the right to take the lead at the first mark. The fast stern was taken advantage of by Phoenix to overtake the American boat and take the lead in passing through the equator of the course, a position that it would not abandon until signing its second partial victory of the week. The South African boat has earned the status of rival to beat in Galician waters, and seems to have extra speed in all kinds of conditions. They were followed at the finish line by Quantum Racing and Alegre.

ABANCA 52 SUPER SERIES – Baiona Sailing Week – Photo © Rosana Calvo

Quantum Racing, the best of the day

A first and a second allowed Quantum Racing to return to Baiona with the best card of the day and rise from fifth to second place in the provisional standings. In his debut in Galician waters, the quadruple champion of the 52 SUPER SERIES could not get past the middle of the table on the opening day (4+5), but the rise in wind intensity seemed to suit the armed and helmed boat by Doug DeVos, who is assisted on board by tactician Terry Huchinson, skipper of the American America’s Cup team. Hutchinson is recognized as a lover of the environment that hosts this week the 52 SUPER SERIES: “This race course is impressive. I came here many, many years ago to train with the illbruck round-the-world program and I remember how beautiful it was. It’s an awesome place to haggle.”.

The most controversial moment of the day with extremely tight maneuvers in close proximity – Photo © Rosana Calvo

The village of Monte Real enlivens the afternoons of the Baiona Sailing Week

Every afternoon the village of Monte Real brings together participants, shipowners, sponsors and collaborators in the nerve center of the social activity of the regatta, where attendees can enjoy music and tastings by Coren, Estrella Galicia, Terras Gauda and Martin Miller .

This Wednesday, in addition, the Board of Directors of the Baiona club invited the owners of the nine participating teams to a dinner with typical products of the land, while on Friday, at the end of the penultimate day of regatta, the long-awaited crew dinner will be held .

The final touch of the social agenda of the ABANCA 52 SUPER SERIES · Baiona Sailing Week, organized by the Monte Real Club de Yates with the sponsorship of ABANCA and Turismo de Galicia through the Xacobeo, will be the delivery of trophies, scheduled for this next Saturday afternoon.

Spectators by boat and from the nearby mountains enjoyed the beauty of the competition – Photo © Rosana Calvo

Provisional classification ABANCA 52 SUPER SERIES Baiona Sailing Week

1- PHOENIX (RSA), Hasso and Tina Plattner, 1+3+3+1 = 8
2- QUANTUM RACING (USA), Doug DeVos, 4+5+1+2 = 12
3- PLATOON (GER), Harm Müller Spreer, 5+1+2+4= 12
4- VAYU (THA), Whitcraft Family, 2+2+8+5 = 17
5- INTERLODGE (USA), Austin and Gwen Fragomen, 6+4+4+6 = 20
6- SLED (USA), Takashi Okura, 3+6+5+7 = 21
7- ALEGRE (GBR), Andy Soriano, 9+7+6+3 = 25
8- GLADIATOR (GBR), Tony Langley, 7+8+7+8 = 30
9- PROVEZZA (TUR), Ergin Imre, 8+10 (DNF)+10 (DNS)+10 (DNS) = 38

The fleet on the last leg of the day – Photo © Rosana Calvo

Statements of the day

Cameron Dunn (NZL), Phoenix (RSA) Tactician:

“We made a lot of mistakes in the first half of the first race, but then we got it right in the second and that’s how it all worked out. The second race was really impressive: the boat was going really fast, and once we got into the lead we managed to break away. We have confidence in ourselves, our crew work is good, and we know that three very difficult days await us, with little wind, and in this fleet that can be very hard”

Javier Plaza (ESP), Platoon trimmer (GER):

“It was a good day for us, with a second and a fourth: I think that if we finish in the top four in all the races, we have a good chance of winning the championship. Today we had a bit of luck on the second beat of the first regatta, with a left hand roll. In the second we did not go very well, we rode the first passage through the buoy sixth, but in the end we were fourth. I hope we get a few days with a little less wind, because I think the boat goes a little better with less intensity. But this is a long-distance race: we are scoring points for the end of the season, to try to win the league and the world championship”

Joan Vila (ESP), Interlodge navigator (USA):

“It was a day of typical north wind from the bay of Vigo, excellent conditions, very beautiful. In the second regatta we had about 20 knots on average, with gusts of 22, sometimes going down to 17. Perfect conditions for sailing. The key is to do the little things well, not to fail at anything, and the most important thing is consistency in the results; It seems that at the moment Phoenix has it, it is going very fast and they are doing things very well. In the first two days of the regatta, the field has not had a clear side, and that is very good because it gives you opportunities, it gives you possibilities to pass other boats at any stern and upwind. It is not a place where a caravan is formed and everyone goes to the same place because there is a geographical role”

Francesco Bruni (ITA), Sled tactician (USA):

“Today’s conditions have served as training for Cascais. For our team the most important thing is to learn what works for you in Cascais in strong winds. An interesting route, it does not have a clearly favored side. It is also interesting to see how Phoenix have stepped up this week and understand what they have done again, because they have impressive performance.

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The Thai Vayu surprises at the premiere of the ABANCA 52 SUPER SERIES Baiona Sailing Week

 

· The last team to join the circuit of the prestigious 52 SUPER SERIES gave a surprise this Tuesday by placing second tied with the leader

Hasso Platner’s South African Phoenix is first in the provisional classification thanks to some risky decisions that led him to take different paths from the rest of the fleet

Despite the fact that the start of the tests had to be delayed for an hour due to lack of wind, the Rías Baixas finally offered the fleet splendid conditions for sailing

Spectacular start of the ABANCA 52 SUPER SERIES · Baiona Sailing Week. The Galician Rías Baixas lived this afternoon with great expectation the first tests of the competition that arrived in Galicia at the hands of the Monte Real Club de Yates and thanks to the sponsorship of ABANCA and Turismo de Galicia through the Xacobeo.

Start of the first test of the day in the Rías Baixas – Photo © Rosana Calvo

After the official practices on Monday, the appointment with the TP52 took a more serious turn this Tuesday with the entry into play of the first scores and the surprise of the day was given by the Thai boat Vayu, debutant on the circuit. The Thais had an exceptional performance in Galician waters and left much more experienced teams behind.

Led by Don Whitcraft and with the tactics of the British Olympic medalist Nick Rogers, the team reinforced its crew in Baiona with the incorporation of Antonio “Ñeti” Cuervas-Mons, who lives in Vigo.

“The key today has been that we have had a couple of very good starts that have allowed us to be in the leading group at the first mark, and from then on it is easier to maintain that position. The tactician has read the course very well, especially in the first sterns, always going to the right, but above all it should be noted that Don, the helmsman, has handled the boat like a true professional. Today he has had nothing to envy the other skippers, he has taken the boat that gives pleasure”, explained Cuervas-Mons at the end of the regatta.

The TP52s fought hard for victory – Photo Nico Martínez

The debut of the 52 SUPER SERIES in Galician waters was a complete success. The regatta area located at the entrance to the Vigo estuary presented very good northwesterly wind conditions that made it possible to hold the first two races of the ten that make up the program in Baiona. The contest began with winds of 8-9 knots at the start of the first heat of the day and increased to 13-14 at the start of the second, always with practically flat seas, ideal conditions for the TP52 competition.

Despite Vayu’s surprise, the first test of the season was quite a show of strength for Hasso Platner’s Phoenix. Olympic champion Tom Slingsby, tactician for the South African boat, knew how to read a race course unprecedented on the circuit better than his rivals when he pointed to the right side of the course against the decision of the rest of the fleet to go to the left.

The TP52 fleet sailing past the Cíes Islands – Photo © Rosana Calvo

After an initial few minutes led by Interlodge at the head of the bulk of the field, Phoenix emerged from the opposite end of the field and took the lead midway through the first stage to start a rare breakout in the 52 SUPER SERIES arena. More than two minutes of advantage in the finish line confirmed the candidacy of the Phoenix to the group of favorites in this start of the season.

Second came the Vayu of the Whitcraft family, the great surprise in Baiona. The Thai boat was at the head of the chasing group from the first pass through the buoy and knew how to defend itself from the attacks of rivals with more experience in the circuit, signing a solid second ahead of the winner of the 52 SUPER SERIES 2021 and current world champion of TP52, the American Sled, who today recovered his owner Takashi Okura at the helm.

Despite having to postpone the start of the competition for an hour, the conditions were finally very good – Photo © Rosana Calvo

The second round of the day went to Harm Müller-Spreer’s Platoon, who opted for the right side of the field, an area that was once again the winning bet of the day, although not as decisive as in the previous test. The tandem formed by the American tactician John Kostecki and the Mallorcan strategist Jordi Calafat managed to make up for the discreet fifth of the first assault with a valuable victory that allowed him to rise to third place in the provisional standings.

Behind the German boat, Phoenix and Vayu staged an exciting duel for second place, which opted for the Thai boat by only three seconds at the finish line. The sum of the two partials of the day allowed Phoenix (1+3) to return to Monte Real Club de Yates de Baiona (MRCYB) as the first leader of the season, tied on points with Vayu (2+2).

The action of the ABANCA 52 SUPER SERIES Baiona Sailing Week returns tomorrow, Wednesday, Wednesday, starting at one in the afternoon, with the first tests. Prior to the competition, moments of relaxation in the village of Monte Real, with breakfasts and meetings of the crews and technical teams; and in the afternoon, at the end of the tests, the village opens again for tastings of Terras Gauda, Martin Miller’s Gin, Estrella Galicia and Coren, among others.

The boats that opted for the right side of the field, such as the Platoon, benefited most – Photo © Rosana Calvo

Provisional classification ABANCA 52 SUPER SERIES Baiona Sailing Week

1- PHOENIX (RSA), Hasso and Tina Plattner, 1+3=4
2- VAYU (THA), Whitcraft Family, 2+2 = 4
3- PLATOON (GER), Harm Müller Spreer, 5+1= 6
4- SLED (USA), Takashi Okura, 3+6=9
5- QUANTUM RACING (USA), Doug DeVos, 4+5=9
6- INTERLODGE (USA), Austin and Gwen Fragomen, 6+4=10
7- GLADIATOR (GBR), Tony Langley, 7+8=15
8- ALEGRE (GBR), Andy Soriano, 9+7=16
9- PROVEZZA (TUR), Ergin Imre, 8+10=18

Statements of the day

Antonio Cuervas Mons (ESP), Vayu grinder (THA):

“It is a complex course that does not usually host regattas, but it is really spectacular: With conditions like those of today’s second regatta, it is a regatta course that is difficult to improve, with about 15 knots, flat sea, and above all in an environment as incredible as the Cíes Islands and the Vigo estuary. On days like today, there are few places in the world that can beat it.”

Víctor Mariño (ESP), Platoon trimmer (GER):

“The first one didn’t go well, they squashed us quickly, in the first two decisions we weren’t right and we had to come back. It is a difficult course, in all these races the first quarter of the race is everything, you have to make the decision where to go, the course is very open and even for the locals it is not easy. It all depends on that first room. In the first one we were a little scared because it was the beginning of the day, and sometimes the right doesn’t pay that much, but by the time we wanted to change to the right it was too late. In the second, with the wind already established, we had a very clear right and we were right, but we had to fight a lot. A little strange days, but that’s the beauty of this place.

Paul Wilcox (RSA), Phoenix (RSA) mainsail trimmer:

“I think we’re picking up where we left off last year, which is good. The boat is running well and this new keel fin seems to be doing what it is supposed to. And we have some new candles, which always helps. Today was all about linking up the roles, there was a very gusty breeze and Tom (Slingsby, tactician) did a good job. I think we have a little confidence. We know that we can do well, that we have good boat speed. We have been practicing maneuvers, penalties, spinnaker changes. We have confidence in him (Slingsby) and he has confidence in us. This is very important, people make an effort and do their job very well”.

Terry Hutchinson (USA), tactician for Quantum Racing (USA):

“It has been quite a challenge. Today we did a fourth and a fifth. It is a difficult place to navigate. At the first mark of the second regatta we were third, halfway through the course we were last and we were fifth again. The disappointing thing about the second race is that we started pretty well and failed on the first stern, but we weren’t the only ones so you feel better about that. But you want to be perfect in all your decisions. In that sense, it is a very complicated course, with many challenges and we were not aggressive enough. Our room is representative that we play it too safe. Phoenix has played well, they bet on the right and that’s where they left. We didn’t come out of the water with a good feeling, but we probably didn’t lose the race today and there is a lot to play for on that race course. It’s complicated and very subtle.”

 

 

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“With the arrival of the SUPER SERIES, Monte Real returns to the path of international circuits”

“We will see who wins the competition. The best will win, for sure. But those of us who have already won with the arrival of the 52 SUPER SERIES are the club, Baiona and Galicia”

“Bringing Baiona to the TP52s means fulfilling one of the most important commitments I made to the partners I represent. It is a dream come true”

“We are a club with small facilities but we have a very good human team, with long and proven experience in organizing events”

 

Alejandro Retolaza (left), vice president; and José Luis Álvarez (right), president of the MRCYB – Photo © Rosana Calvo

 

One of José Luis Álvarez’s commitments to the members of the Monte Real Club de Yates de Baiona when he assumed the presidency of the club was to once again organize an international regatta at the highest level. The Baionese club, one of the most prolific in terms of sports on the Spanish nautical scene, had been organizing all kinds of competitions practically since its creation, but international events had been significantly reduced in its program of events.

This changed in 2020, in the midst of the COVID pandemic, when in a press conference with masks and safety distances, the club announced that it had managed to become the venue for the 52 SUPER SERIES. After months of negotiations and hard work to meet all the requirements demanded by the organization, Monte Real finally achieved the goal of bringing Baiona to the prestigious TP52.

The date of the event was set for the summer of 2021, but the complications derived from the coronavirus forced it to be postponed for a year, a period that the club took advantage of to seek financial support. He found them in two regular collaborators of Monte Real, the financial entity ABANCA and Turismo de Galicia through Xacobeo, who decided to join the adventure.

 

The ABANCA 52 SUPER SERIES – BAIONA SAILING WEEK will be held from May 23 to 28 – Photo © Rosana Calvo

 

Thus, the ABANCA 52 SUPER SERIES – BAIONA SAILING WEEK was born, destined to put Galicia back in the spotlight of world attention, in which it had not stood out since the start of the Sailing Tour of the World from Vigo, in 2005.

Today, 17 years after that milestone, Galicia once again writes a new page in the history of sailing with the celebration of the Super Series, something that fills the president of Monte Real with pride, with whom we spoke a few hours after the start the competition.

 

What does the arrival of the 52 SUPER SERIES mean for the club in general and for you in particular?

For the Club it represents returning to the path of the great international circuits. For me in particular, fulfilling one of the most important commitments with the partners I represent. Of course, with the invaluable work of my colleagues on the Board of Directors.

The club has been organizing multiple regattas throughout its history, its calendar is today one of the most complete of the Spanish clubs, but the truth is that it has been a long time since they organized a competition at this level. How do you take on this challenge?

With great enthusiasm and optimism. Organizing an event of these characteristics is complex. And it also requires significant resources. We must not forget that we have gone through a series of years of economic crisis and that the priorities were different.

What do you expect from Baiona Sailing Week? What are we going to find at the event?

I expect a great event for the world of sailing. The fact of having among us the best sailors in the world with the best boats in their category, will make all fans and non-fans of this sport enjoy a few unparalleled days.

The president of the Monte Real Yacht Club of Baiona, José Luis Álvarez, together with the TP52 – Photo © Rosana Calvo

Organizing a competition of this type involves great organizational, economic, logistical, personnel complications… Was Monte Real prepared for the arrival of the SUPER SERIES or did they have to make a special effort? What have been the biggest difficulties?

That’s right, I’m sure we all understand how complex it is to organize this type of competition. It is also true that the MRCYB human team has a long and accredited experience in organizing events of the highest level. As you know, we are a Club with small facilities. Space is a handicap that we find ourselves with, but we use everything we have to the millimeter. Regarding the economic section, we have the collaboration of the sponsors. They make these events possible. From here, my thanks on behalf of all the members of the Club.

It is not the first time that ABANCA and the Xunta de Galicia support them in their initiatives. They have been collaborating hand in hand for years, in a period in which getting sponsorships is not as easy as it used to be. What does the club offer its collaborators so that they continue betting on it?

Both ABANCA and the Xunta de Galicia (Galician Tourism through Xacobeo), as well as the Pontevedra Provincial Council and the Baiona City Council have been and are a very important support throughout these years. When the MRCYB organizes events of these characteristics, we think of the enormous repercussion that projecting our companies abroad has. There is no doubt that putting our Galician community and the Rias Baixas in particular in the international spotlight has a very direct impact on tourism with high purchasing power. This benefits us all.

Along with you, one of the key figures in the organization of the event has been, without a doubt, the club’s vice president, Alejandro Retolaza, who has been involved from the greatest to the smallest details. Tell us, how does the Álvarez-Retolaza tandem work?

I would not have enough space to express what the figure of Vice President Retolaza represents not only for me, but for the Club. The communication and communion of ideas with him is so fluid that sometimes we are surprised. It seems that we think the same things at the same moment. He knows the Club down to the last corner and in matters of logistics, he is always ahead of all of us. Every day I learn something new with him. In this sense, I also want to highlight the sincere commitment that the Board of Directors has with the Club. A team that dedicates many hours and many days of the year to develop the different areas as much as possible. I think I have people by my side who give their best and I always say that they make everything flow with great professionalism. For me a gift.

In recent days there has been a lot of talk about the astronomical figures on which the event revolves, in which boats of 2.5 million euros participate with sports campaigns that exceed one million euros… but we are more interested in knowing the economic impact that going to have in Baiona and its region. There is talk of more than 2 million euros. Is it a realistic figure?

So is. From my point of view and knowing the figures that we usually manage for each person who in one way or another participates in the event, that figure will probably be exceeded.

To finish, we would like you to “get wet” and tell us which team or teams are your favorites and who you think will win in Baiona. Do you dare?

I, like everyone else, have my favourites, but the level of the sailors is so high that I don’t dare to make a prediction. Any of them could be, but in the world of sailing nothing is predictable. The sea, the wind etc… gives many surprises. I’m sure the best will win.

The TP52s that will compete in the Baiona Sailing Week on the pontoons of Monte Real – Photo © Rosana Calvo

 

It is an interview with Rosana Calvo, head of communication at the MRCYB

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The 52 SUPER SERIES hoist the sails of their tenth anniversary in Baiona

 

· The Monte Real Club de Yates hosted this Friday the official presentation of the ABANCA 52 SUPER SERIES · BAIONA SAILING WEEK that will be held in the Rías Baixas for a whole week starting this Saturday

· Three American teams, two English, one German, one Turkish, one South African and a ninth Thai will compete in the first round of the season of the most important monohull circuit in the world

· The nine sailboats valued at more than 22 million euros are waiting in the waters of the bay of Baiona for the crews to take them out this weekend to carry out the first training sessions prior to the regattas

· Some of the teams have recruited the most outstanding strategists of the Galician nautical scene to help them better understand the navigation area, the winds and conditions that can be found

· The economic impact that this sporting event sponsored by ABANCA and Turismo de Galicia through the Xacobeo will have in the Val Miñor region is valued at more than two million euros

Two years after the announcement that Galicia would be the new venue for the circuit and after having overcome the worst moments of the COVID pandemic, which forced its celebration to be postponed for a year, the most important monohull circuit in the world, the prestigious 52 SUPER SERIES , hoists its sails in Baiona.

Starting tomorrow, Saturday and for a whole week, the ABANCA 52 SUPER SERIES · Baiona Sailing Week, organized and officially presented this Friday by the Monte Real Club de Yates, will bring together nine international teams : three North Americans (Sled, Quantum Racing and Interlodge), two English (Alegre and Gladiator), one German (Platoon), one Turkish (Provezza) and one Thai (Team Vayu).

The nine sailboats that will enter the competition, each valued at more than two and a half million euros, will be led by their millionaire owners, businessmen from different sectors united by their love for sailing and top competition. They are Doug DeVos, Austin and Gwen Fragomen, Takashi Okura, Andy Soriano, Tom Langley, Ergin Imre, Hasso Platner, and Tom and Kevin Whitcraft.

In each of the SUPER SERIES campaigns in which they participate, these owners They invest close to two million euros , which they allocate to research and development of technologies for their boats and to hire the best sailors, including Olympic medalists, world champions and America’s Cup winners.

Among this select group of athletes there is a small but outstanding number of Spanish sailors . People like Xabi Fernández (Gladiator), Joan Vila and Pedro Mas (Interlodge), Juan Meseguer, Joan Fullana and Nacho Postigo (Provezza), and Jordi Calafat, Javier Plaza, Víctor Mariño and Pablo Torrado (Platoon). These last two, Mariño and Torrado, will act as ambassadors in their land, since they are both Galician.

Galicia will be present in the competition through them and also thanks to the signing, by certain teams, of some of the best regatta strategists in the Galician estuaries , such as Pablo Iglesias, Gonzalo Araujo or Antonio Otero, among others. They will be in charge of giving the teams that have hired them the keys to better understand the navigation area, the winds and the conditions that can be found in the Cíes Islands anchorage.

The Atlantic Islands National Park will be the main venue for the tests, which will last from next Tuesday the 24th to Saturday the 28th, after the free practice sessions on Saturday the 21st and Sunday the 22nd; and the official training on Monday 23.

The nine boats in competition will compete in windward-leeward tasks between buoys , with four sections (two upwind and two downwind), and a total distance that will move between one and a half miles and two nautical miles.

There is also the possibility that one day the windward-leeward will be changed for a coastal regatta through the Rías Baixas, with a route yet to be determined. Both in one type of test and in the other, the boat that completes them first wins, without any type of time compensation.

This real-time competition , without any type of final adjustment, is the one that most attracts the crews and the one that will make the regattas more attractive and exciting for the public. With practically identical boats, which follow fixed measurement rules (sail area, length, beam, displacement, draft, mast height and weight), the innovations that have been applied to the boats and the expertise of the crews will be the ones that mark the differences, although these will be practically minimal and the victories will be very disputed.

The ABANCA 52 SUPER SERIES · Baiona Sailing Week, presented this Friday at the Monte Real Club de Yates, will be theThe first of the five TP52 events in 2022 : Baiona in May, Cascais (Portugal) in June, Puerto Portals in July, Scarlino (Italy) in September and Barcelona in October. It will also be the first time that the competition has landed in Galician waters, and it will do so in a very special year, a decade after its creation, in 2012.

The sporting event, sponsored by ABANCA and Turismo de Galicia through Xacobeo , and supported by the Pontevedra Provincial Council and the Baiona City Council, will leave an economic impact on the Val Miñor region valued at 2 million euros. Accommodation, restaurants, facilities, transport, logistics, nautical or design companies are some of the sectors that have benefited from the arrival of the 52 SUPER SERIES in Galicia.

“When I was chosen to preside over Monte Real, I assumed with our partners the commitment to rewrite a new chapter in the history of Spanish sailing, and that is precisely what we are doing here today, bringing to Galicia one of the most important circuits of the world. Organizing the ABANCA 52 SUPER SERIES · BAIONA SAILING WEEK has been a challenge for the club. Our people have been doing their best for months so that everything turns out perfect, and we have no doubt that it will. The responsibility and commitment that characterize Monte Real, and the unique environment that Baiona, the Rías Baixas and Galicia will offer are, without a doubt, guarantees of success. We’ll see it in a few days and I’m sure we’ll remember it for years to come.”

José Luis Álvarez President of the Monte Real Yacht Club

“Baiona is a very attractive place for the owners of the SUPER SERIES because it is a new place in which they have not competed and because the area is spectacularly beautiful. Those were two of the main reasons why we chose the Monte Real proposal to celebrate one of the circuit’s phases here, the inaugural stage of our tenth anniversary. The logistics have not been easy, but we are sure that it will be a great show. Sailing conditions at this time of year are good and the crews are ready to give everything on the water”

“From ABANCA we have been collaborating with the Monte Real Yacht Club for years and this time, with this great event, it was not going to be less. The tenacity, professionalism and rigor with which they always do things in this club will allow us to transmit the best image of Galicia to the whole world. We understand the sport in a transversal way, from the grassroots to top-level competitions like this one, and we are proud of them. This occasion is even more special, if possible, because we will not only spread the sporting potential of our country, but also the rest of the wonders of our land”

Gabriel González Eiroa Executive Director ABANCA Commercial Network

“Sailors from all over the world, from the five continents, participate in this event and will be great ambassadors of the Xacobeo, of the Camino de Santiago and of our land in their countries of origin and in the ports where they sail. Many visit us for the first time and I have no doubt that they will soon return to Galicia accompanied by their family and friends”

Marta Fernández-Tapias Delegate in Vigo of the XUNTA DE GALICIA

“The Monte Real is now a benchmark not only at a national level but also worldwide and the Pontevedra Provincial Council could not fail to support it, as we have always done. Our commitment to sport is constant and with this type of event we not only position ourselves at the world epicenter of sailing, but we also project the best image of Galicia”

Gorka Gómez Deputy for Sports of the PONTEVEDRA COUNCIL

“Thanks to the 52 SUPER SERIES for having trusted the Monte Real Club de Yates and for having opted for Baiona, the most beautiful town in the world. This competition is a great challenge for the club and also for Baiona and we will be up to it. The future is up to us to write it ourselves, and we will do it together”

Carlos Gómez · Mayor of the CITY COUNCIL OF BAIONA

“Anyone who wants to can enjoy the competition because there will be a large screen installed in the area of La Palma to see the end of the SUPER SERIES in virtual reality and a shipping company that will offer the possibility of going out to sea to watch the regattas . What we want is everyone to have the opportunity to see this event that is unique in the world”

Ignacio Sánchez Otaegui Commodore of the MRCYB

((( Photos: Antía Martínez )))

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How to follow the 52 SUPER SERIES?

(Photo: Nico Martinez)

All those who wish to follow the development of the ABANCA 52 SUPER SERIES – BAIONA SAILING WEEK , from May 23 to 28, know that you will have several options.

FROM THE MOBILE, TABLET OR COMPUTER: VIRTUAL REALITY

Through the website of the 52 SUPER SERIES ( www.52superseries.com ) and thanks to a virtual reality system, you will be able to follow each and every one of the tests live, every day of competition from the start of the same (scheduled for 12:30)

FROM GROUND: GIANT SCREEN

As of Friday 27 there will be a village installed in the area of La Palma, in Baiona, so that anyone who wishes can see the outcome of the competition through a large screen that will reproduce the latest tests in virtual reality.

FROM THE SEA: CATAMARAN

A Naviera Nabia catamaran will follow the test from the sea on May 26, 27 and 28. The boat will leave from the Baiona maritime station and will approach the regatta area. It will be in the water for approximately 4 hours and passengers will be able to follow the tests with live comments. The price of the tickets is 15 euros for adults and 10 euros for children.

FROM THE SEA: PRIVATE BOATS

People who have their own boat and want to approach the regatta area must meet a series of requirements. It must be located more than 200 meters from the starting line or more than 100 meters from the windward buoy. Those who want to position themselves between one point and another must always stand outside the lay line, at least 200 meters away.

 

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The container unloading operation of the 52 SUPER SERIES begins

 

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.

Operation of unloading and placement of the containers of the Super Series in the MRCYB – Photo © Jacobo Bastos

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.

Each crew has a container and the organization has several – Photo © Jacobo Bastos

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.

Aerial view of the Monte Real Yacht Club with the Super Series container unloading operation – Photo © Jacobo Bastos
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Countdown to 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 TP52 in action – Photo © Nico Martínez

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 TP52 ready to go into play in less than a week – Photo © Rosana Calvo

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 in regatta – Photo © Max Ranchi

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.

José Luis Álvarez president of the Monte Real Yacht Club – Photo © Rosana Calvo

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.

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