Optiorange Regatta 2026 at Real Club Náutico de Valencia - Day 2
by Pep Portas 27 Feb 11:19 PST
26 February - 1 March 2026
The Optiorange completed its second day, finishing the necessary races to close the qualifying round and move on to the final series, which will be held this Saturday and Sunday.
This second day was marked by light winds, although it allowed the third race to be completed yesterday for the blue, red and green groups.
After completing the third race in the four groups, only the yellow group managed to finish yesterday. The committee began a new chapter, with the aim of completing the necessary races to end the qualifying round. Today, two races were completed, allowing the qualifying series to be concluded with five races. Added to these is the discard: after the fourth race, the fleet was able to eliminate its worst result.
With all these adjustments to the table, the groups have been defined: Gold, which includes the top 102 ranked sailors, as well as the corresponding Silver, Bronze and Emerald groups. Discards have played a key role, as have the scores of the main contenders.
In this regard, Turkey's Cengiz Eren Güvenç (Yalikavak SC) remains the leader for another day. He does so with 7 points and partial scores of 2-2-4. Today he finished his third race yesterday in the red group and, after that, he sailed in the yellow fleet.
Behind him is Finland's Sisu Elio (Brando Seglare) with 11 points, highlighting a partial victory in the third race. Local sailor Pablo López (RCN Valencia) finishes this qualifying round in third place with 12 points. Today he entered the red fleet, starting with a partial victory, his second in Valencia in these five completed races.
As for the women, one of the big favourites for the podium reaffirmed her status as favourite. María Antonia Peñalver (CN Mar Menor) from Alcázar de Henares topped the table, while also occupying 5th place in the overall standings. She is followed by Puerto Rican Inés Menéndez-Larminaux (CN San Juan) and Irishwoman Maeve Donagh (RSGYC) with 21 points. In the U13 category, American Manso Lim is in first place with 21 points, while Hong Kong's Alix Nguyen-Minh is in first place with 50 points.
The programme remains unchanged, with the top sailors starting the first race of the day at 11.30am. The results are provisional.