Desafío crowned double winner at Copa del Rey

by Event media on 3 Aug 2008
The 27th Copa del Rey AUDI MAPFRE came to an end with a bang for the America’s Cup challenger Desafío. Not only did they manage to win in both the GP42 and TP52 classes, they also set a premiere by being the first team ever in the 27 years of the Med’s top event that gets the title in two classes.

In addition to Desafío, the new 'kings' of Palma are Aifos in IRC 1, Ngoni in IRC 2, Ícaro and Navantia in ORC 570 and 670, Cool Runnings in X-35 and DSK-Comifin en Swan 45.

The closing day of the Copa del Rey AUDI MAPFRE took place under challenging wind conditions, both in intensity and direction. After a long postponement, initially ashore and then on water, races started under 10 knots of wind that gradually shifted and died down, forcing the race committee to shorten the race course of the IRC and ORC classes.

With Terry Hutchinson at the helm, Desafío won the title in the TP52 class by two points over Bribón, helmed by Dean Barker. Showing a clear improvement in the second half of the week, Hutchinson gave Barker no options and also won the closing race of the event. Third overall was Platoon, helmed by Jochen Schuemann that on the contrary threw their chances away in the last three races of the Copa, always crossing the finish line in the bottom half of the fleet.

In the GP42 class the fight was even closer and more thrilling. Desafío had to finish ahead of Near Miss to guarantee overall leadership and the title of the 2008 edition and that’s what it did. Near Miss didn’t sail as well as it usually did, rounding the weather marks at the end of the fleet. Despite the comfortable advantage, Laureano Wizner played it safe and the second half of the last race was a match race between Desafío and Near Miss. The Spanish finished 6th and the Swiss dead last but that didn’t matter. Desafío got the title by one point. Another point behind finishes Roma GP42.2

It was a simple formality because they had the title in the pocket since yesterday. Aifos, the Spanish Navy’s former TP52 yacht, wins the IRC 1 class, with ten bullets in ten races. Sir Peter Ogden’s Spirit of Jethou and Philip Mecklenburg’s Moana finish their races in Palma respectively second and third overall.

As it was expected from yesterday, Tony Buckingham’s Ngoni won the Copa del Rey in the IRC 2 class. Give me five secured its second place overall with a bullet in the last race and Jesus Turrós’ Sercotel Hotels finished 3rd.

Danilo Salsi’s DSK-Comifin is crowned king of the SWAN 45 class, despite an 11th place in the last race. No Limits-Bolidt, owned by RW Bol, crossed the finish line 9th and as a result it was impossible to catch the Italians. Tea Ekengren-Sauren’s Blue Nights is third overall after a bullet in the last race.

In the X-35 class there were no upsets from yesterday in the top three. Thorckild Juncker’s Cool Runnings wins the event, despite a 19th place in the last race that was discarded thanks to her consistency throughout the week. Nic Bol’s Quantum Racing finishes 2nd overall and Carlo Brenco’s Tixelio remains third.

There was no change in the ORC 670 class from yesterday although Jesús Pintos’ Navantia almost gave her title away by scoring a 10th in the last race. Still, a point is a point, and they win the event. Vell Marí, the best-performing locals in this regatta, is second overall and Daniele Augusti’s Cometal-Ferrobeton third.

In the ORC 570 class, Icaro, owned by Carles Rodríguez, won the title but the real fight took place for 2nd and 3rd position between Eiken Alber’s Minnic and Gustavo Martínez Doreste’s Hempel-Power Plate. Finally, Minnic was second, one point ahead of Hempel-Power Plate.

Copa del Rey AUDI MAPFRE – Final standings

TP 52 (1 discard)
1. Desafío, Terry Hutchinson, 4-7-3-1-3-4-1-4-1, 21 points
2. Bribón, Dean Barker, 5-1-4-4-1-1-5-10-2, 23 points
3. Platoon, Jochen Schuemann, 1-3-1-6-2-2-6-9-7, 28 points
4. Mutua Madrileña, Vasco Vascotto, 2-8-2-2-4-6-7-1-6, 30 points
5. Matador, Alberto Roemmers, 3-4-7-8-5-3-3-6-3, 34 points

GP 42 (1 discard)
1. Desafío, Laureano Wizner, 2-2-5-6-5-2-2-1-1-2-6, 28 points
2. Near Miss, Bertrand Pacé, 6-1-1-1-1-6-3-3-3-4-7, 29 points
3. Roma GP42.2, Paolo Cian, 4-5-3-5-6-3-1-4-2-1-2, 30 points
4. AIRIS, Sandro Montefusco, 1-7-2-7-2-1-4-2-4-6-3, 32 points
5. Caser Quum, Sergio Llorca, 3-6-7-4-4-4-6-5-5-5-1, 43 points

IRC 1 (1 discard)
1 Aifos, Jaime Rodríguez Toubes, 1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1, 9 points
2 Spirit of Jethou, Sir Peter Ogden, 2-3-3-2-2-2-2-3-3-2, 21 points
3 Moana, Philippe Mecklenburg, 3-2-7-3-3-4-4-5-5-3, 32 points
4 CAM, SAR Felipe de Borbón, 4-4-4-6-7-5-3-6-2-6, 40 points
5 Aegir, Benjamin Brian, 6-8-8-4-4-3-5-4-11-4, 46 points

IRC 2 (1 discard)
1. Ngoni, Tony Buckingham, 5-1-5-1-1-1-2-1-2-2, 16 points
2. Give me five, Arya Yatchs Venezia, 2-2-1-5-2-5-5-4-3-1, 25 points
3. Sercotel Hotels, Román Turró, 4-3-4-4-3-3-1-5-6-7, 33 points
4. Itaca IX, Manuel Gallego, 3-6-3-2-6-2-11-2-7-3, 34 points
5. Item Power Sport, Sebastian López, 6-4-9-3-4-4-3-3-4-4, 35 points

ORC 570 (1 discard)
1. Ícaro, Carles Rodríguez, 1-8-2-1-1-6-1-3-6-2, 23 points
2. Minnic, Eiken Albers, 15-2-10-2-2-2-2-1-5-6, 32 points
3. Hempel-Power Plate, Gustavo Martínez Doreste, 2-6-3-3-5-3-5-2-4-8, 33 points
4. Pasión x Caestellón, Tono Sanchez, 4-12-1-5-7-1-4-8-7-1, 38 points
5. Luso-Roux, Jose Manuel Mesquita, 3-4-5-15-3-7-3-5.3-3-5, 38.3 points

ORC 670 (1 discard)
1. Navantia, Jesús Pintos, 2-2-1-7-2-1-1-4-7-10, 27 points
2. Vell Marí, Teo Matheu, 1-7-4-1-5-2-3-7-2-3, 28 points
3. Cometal-Ferrobeton, Daniele Augusti, 6-1-2-2-11-8-2-1-6-6, 34 points
4. Vertigo Dos, Antonio Guasch, 5-5-10-10-1-9-16-2-1-2, 45 points
5. Aquasonic, Daniel Maestre, 4-8-8-3-12-3-5-6-3-7, 47 points

X-35 (1 discard)
1. Cool Runnings, Thorkild Juncker, 1-3-4-1-2-6-1-4-3-5-6-19, 36 points
2. Quantum Racing, Nic Bol, 2-2-19-5-5-7-2-2-1-9-4-6, 45 points
3. Tixelio, 11-7-26-8-3-2-5-1-5-4-2-3, 51 points
4. X-Trifix, Stefano Trifiro, 9-1-3-7-4-4-6-10-17-2-7-15, 68 points
5. Just 4 Fun, Albert Kooijman, 3-12-11-4-9-5-8-6-2-11-3-7, 69 points

SWAN 45 (1 discard)
1. DSK-Comifin, Danilo Salsi, 2-5-5-5-5-1-11-1-1-1-2-11, 39 points
2. No Limits-Bolidt, RW BOL, 9-6-4-2-2-2-2-3-4-5-14-9, 48 points
3. Blue Nights, Tea Ekengren-Sauren, 1-4-6-17-3-5-5-7-10-6-9-1, 57 points
4. Jeroboam Ca’Nova, Codecasa / Battistella, 5-2-3-4-4-12-4-8-6-13-7-4, 59 points
5. Talj, Vittorio Ruggiero, 6-3-1-7-11-3-6-11-8-4-10-2, 61 points

Media website: http://prensa.rcnp.es/coparey2008/principal_uk.php