Trofeo Ciutat De Palma
A rather disappointing end to the 63rd Trofeo Ciutat de Palma as rare weather conditions scupper all but two of the scheduled races for each of the fleets racing, 420, Optimist, Laser 4.7, Laser Radial.
Manu Fraga, technical director of the host club, Real Club Nautico de Palma, explained how rare these weather conditions have been for this national holiday in the Bay of Palma, which have predominated throughout the trophy, the oldest competition of the Balearic Islands.
“We have suffered an anti cyclonic totally unusual for these times of the year. We have sailed the minimum races required to valid the championship, but we certainly would have liked to have more wind and sail more races, the nine ones programmed for each class. I would like to specially thank the coaches and the sailors for their patience, throughout the event. Unfortunately this sport depends a lot on the weather conditions, this is what sailing is all about.”
An all Spanish line-up of thirty-eight 420 teams were entered, and their nerves and patience were certainly tested over the three scheduled race days.
No racing for the 420s on Friday, despite a long and patient 5 hours waiting and hoping for the wind to kick in. On Saturday, a soft and light wind from the south-west allowed one race to take place, with the wind going to Franciso Araña/Guillermo Lopez from Gran Canaria. Onto Sunday and the lull returned, with just one race possible which was won by Enric Noguera/Rafael Vallespir from a local club in Andratx. The wind was dropping so the Race Committee shortened the course, but it was still a very slow and difficult race, but with two races held the event could be validated.
However, inconsistency for the two race winners in their other races gave overall victory to Elias Aretz/Helenio Hoyous who scored a 2,2.
Top 10 Results Overall
Pos | Sail # | Helm | Crew | Club | R1 | R2 | Pts |
1 | ESP53075 | ELIAS ARETZ | HELENIO HOYOS | RCN GRAN CANARIA | 2 | 2 | 4 |
2 | ESP54989 | ENRIC NOGUERA | RAFAEL VALLESPIR | CVP ANDRATX / CM MOLINAR | 4 | 1 | 5 |
3 | ESP53992 | FRANCISCO ARAÑA | GUILLERMO LOPEZ | RCNG CANARIA | 1 | 13 | 14 |
4 | ESP52782 | CATA HOMAR ESTARELLAS | MARIA LLABRES MORRO | CN ARENAL | 3 | 11 | 14 |
5 | ESP54986 | MARTA GARRIDO | MARTA RODRIGUEZ | RCMT PUNTA UMBRIA | 13 | 3 | 16 |
6 | ESP54315 | PATRI MEDINA | LARA MARTINEZ | RCN GRAN CANARIA | 12 | 4 | 16 |
7 | ESP54697 | MARIA BOVER | MARIE GEHRIG | RCN PALMA | 11 | 7 | 18 |
8 | ESP5 | IÑIGO BASTERRETXEA | MARIUS MADRENAS | RCN PALMA | 7 | 14 | 21 |
9 | ESP53398 | TOMEU BORRAS BARCELO | XESC MULET ESPINA | C.N.ARENAL | 8 | 15 | 23 |
10 | ESP52231 | INES SASTRE | ADRIAN BARCELO | CN ARENAL | 16 | 8 | 24 |