J/80 Copa de Espana features Olympic and World Champions

by Stuart Johnstone on 5 May 2011 This weekend's Copa de Espana for the J/80 class in Spain is nearly as competitive as a J/80 World championship, especially since many of the top J/80 teams worldwide come from Spain.

Hosted by the Real Club Nautico de Palma, the thirty teams will be competing on Palma's gorgeous bay, with spectacular green mountains as a backdrop and the famous Cathedral La Seu along the waterfront, it will surely create a memorable and beautiful canvas for those sailing this weekend in Palma.

As a reflection of the fact that the J/80 has grown into the most important one-design racing boat in Spain, there will be many highly competitive teams taking part in this year's regatta, including many top Olympic and World-class sailors. Featuring amongst them will be Hotel Princesa Yaiza skippered by ex-J/80 World Champion Rayco Tabares Alvarez from the Canary Islands. Also sailing is another J/80 World Champion, Nextel Engineering, skippered by Ignacio Camino and Armando Gutierrez.

Rounding out some of the potential leaders will be local Palma team Portcall Composites led by Jose Carlos Frau Greenfield, the recent PalmaVela winners Mapfre with Carlos Martinez and crew hoping to repeat their performance; Barcelona 1992 Gold Medallist Jose María van der Ploeg will take the helm of the J/80 Great Sailing; Montreal 1976 Silver Medallist Toño Gorostegui will be onboard Cantabria Infinita; and Portuguese sailor Hugo Rocha, Bronze Medallist in Atlanta 1996, will skipper Turismo do Algarve.

For more Copa de Espana J/80 sailing information click here
For more J/80 one-design sailboat information click here