Copa del Rey - Decision to be made tomorrow

by Icarus Sailing Media on 3 Aug 2013

32 Copa del Rey Mapfre: Day 5 MartinezStudio/SofiaMapfre

Today, the Bay of Palma provided the best sailing conditions of the week. A very intense journey that allowed completing the two races scheduled in all categories, except for G.H. Mumm ORC I and ORC II, who were able to sail three.

The top contenders in each class have taken their positions with a view towards the last day, and are aware that the options are running out. The 32nd Copa del Rey Mapfre will finish tomorrow, and the race committee has scheduled two races in each class starting at 13h00.

The second-to-last day of competition of the 32nd Copa del Rey Mapfre has seen the best racing conditions of the week, with winds that reached up to 18 knots. All classes have now completed more than eight races, so they can all apply one discard except the Nespresso Soto 40, who doesn’t have that option-.

The provisional overall results before the final day are headed by British 'Alegre' in the Hublot IRC 0 class, Italian 'B2' in Hublot IRC I, American 'Quantum Racing' in Gaastra IRC 52, Spanish 'Rats on Fire 'in G.H. Mumm ORC I, 'Movistar' in G.H. Mumm ORC II, and 'Vamos Spain' in Nespresso Soto 40, Italian 'Margherita' in La Caixa X-35 and Spanish 'Turismo do Algarve' in Mahou J80.

Hublot IRC 0 and IRC I
Andres Soriano’s 'Alegre' completed another perfect day and has scored five back to back victories. The British team’s performance allows him to start the final day with a six-point lead over his nearest rival, Sir Peter Ogden’s 'Jethou' (2-3 today). 'Stig' completes the provisional podium after scoring two fourth places.

In the class Hublot IRC I, Michele Galli’s 'B2' took both victories of the day, who has won six out of nine possible wins and is a solid class leader, 10 points ahead of French 'Team Vision Future' (2-2 today) and 14 over German 'Speedy' (3-5). Spanish Navy’s 'Aifos', skippered by Prince Felipe, finished sixth in both races and is sixth overall.

Gaastra IRC 52
The fight for the victory in the class Gaastra IRC 52 is getting more intense. 'Quantum Racing' achieved in the first race of the day his fifth victory in a row, but stumbled in the second race finishing fifth. After applying the discards, the advantage of Ed Baird’s boat over Niklas Zennström’s Swedish 'Rán' (who scored two second places today) has been reduced to only three points. Italian 'Azzurra', who today won his first race of the week, remains third overall.

G.H. Mumm ORC I and ORC II
The Race Committee made the most of today’s excellent conditions and scheduled three races in the G.H. Mumm ORC 1 and ORC 2 classes, who have now sailed a total of nine races. In both classes they are now applying the discards.

In G.H. Mumm ORC I, the star of the day was Natalia Brailou’s Romanian 'Natalia', who despite being fifth in the first race, won both following races climbing up to the second place overall, ahead of Axel Rodger’s 'Grupo Clínico Dr. Luis Senís', who is now third. Rafael Carbonell’s 'Rats on Fire' is still leading the class, who scored 1-5-3 today. Only nine points separate the top three classified.

In G.H. Mumm ORCII, Pedro Campos’ 'Movistar' won all three races held today and reinforces its leadership with only two races left. Campos’ boat is nine points ahead of his closest rival, Iñaki Castañer’s 'X-Spain', who couldn’t sail the last race of the day due to a problem with their spinnaker. 'Airlan-Aermec' (8,5-4-2 today) and 'Tanit IV' (2-6-4) remain entangled in an interesting battle for third place, separated by just two points.

Nespresso Soto 40
The two wins of the day in the class Nespresso Soto 40 went to French 'Antares' (third victory this week) and German 'Earlybird' (second). After ten races sailed, the provisional overall is led by Pichu Torcida’s 'Vamos Spain', with a total of 27 points, ahead of 'Antares' (35 points) and Chilean 'Mitsubishi Motors' (36 points). The Chilean boat, who had a great start of the week, today only managed to score a fifth and fourth place. But the race for the trophy is still open.

La Caixa X-35
In the class La Caixa X-35 the two victories today went to 'Who`s Next' (NED) and 'Lelagain' (ITA), in that order. In both races, second place went to Roberto Mazzucato’s 'Margherita', who remains leader after ten races, four points ahead of 'Lelagain'. Palma`s 'Red Eléctrica de España' (6-8 today) is the best Spanish team in fourth position, two points behind third classified.

Mahou J80
Surprisingly, after eight victories this week 'Turismo do Algarve' finished with a result other than a victory in the ninth race. Hugo Rocha’s team was over the line in the first start breaking their winning streak and finishing 12. Carlos Martinez’s 'Deltastone' took the opportunity to score his first victory, ahead of Leonardo Armas’ 'Herbalife' and Jose Maria Van Der Ploeg’s 'Factor Energía'. On the second race of the day, Martinez repeated the result, this time followed by 'Factor Energía' and 'Herbalife'. Despite his two irregular results, 'Turismo do Algarve' is still nine points ahead of 'Deltastone' and 17 over 'Factor Energía'. Given what we have seen today, even in this class the fight for the trophy remains open.

Last Chance
Tomorrow is the last day of competition of the 32nd Copa del Rey Mapfre. The program will consist of two races in each class, with the first start at 13h00. According to the sailing instructions, there won’t be any warning signals after 15h45.

The prize giving ceremony of the 32nd Copa del Rey Mapfre will be held tomorrow Saturday at 21h00 at the cultural center Ses Voltes in Palma.

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