Once again this year, Palma is the world capital of classic sailing. Club de Mar-Mallorca is hosting the 31st edition of the Illes Balears Clàssics Regatta from last Tuesday through Saturday, August 15. Sponsored by Marinepool and Allianz, the event brings together 39 boats in the Classics, Vintage —Gaff-Rigged and Bermuda-Rigged—, RI Classics, Spirit of Tradition, and Large Yachts, in addition to the “Presence” section, reserved for unique sailboats participating in the event outside of the races.
The competition began on Tuesday with the Marinepool Regatta, an official training race that does not count toward the overall standings and allowed the crews to get acquainted with the Bay of Palma. With a southwest wind of between 6 and 7 knots, 13 of the 39 registered boats completed an 8.2-nautical-mile double-loop course between the starting line off Ciudad Jardín Beach and the markers at Es Carnatge, the center of the bay, and s’Arenal. The winners of this preliminary race were the Mowgli 1965, skippered by Patrick Harris, in the Classics class; the Argyll, skippered by Griff Rhys Jones, in the Bermudian Era class; the Rowdy, skippered by Donna Dyer, in the Square-Rigged Era class; the Hallowe’en, skippered by Iñigo Strez, in the Big Boats class; and the Barlovento-Senda Azul, skippered by Ricardo Zabell, in the Spirit of Tradition class.
The official competition began the following day with a 14.25-mile coastal race featuring 28 boats. The Race Committee delayed the start, originally scheduled for 12:00 p.m., while waiting for the Embat—the southwesterly thermal wind—to pick up; it finally began blowing at 9 knots and gradually strengthened to 12 knots. The fastest boat of the day was the Hallowe’en, from the Real Club Náutico de Barcelona, which completed the course in 2 hours and 58 seconds, while Luis Sancho Moragues’ Scheherazade crossed the finish line in last place after taking 5 hours and 43 minutes.
This first scoring race established the top five leaders of the regatta. In the Classics class, the Clarionet—skippered by Andrew Harvey and owned by David Miles—leads the pack, ahead of Barbara Trilling’s Argos and the Mowgli 1965, owned by brothers Patrick and Vincent Harris. In the Bermudian Era class, Rhys Jones’s Argyll took the lead, followed by Ricardo Albiñana’s Islander and Germán Frers’s Recluta. Albiñana particularly praised his crew’s performance: “Our boat isn’t really built for racing, but we’ve been lucky with the corrected time. There was a very good wind and the sea was very calm—favorable conditions for our boat.”
In the Cangreja Class, Donna Dyer’s Rowdy leads the pack, ahead of the Gipsy, owned by the Spanish Classic Sailing Foundation, and the Scheherazade. The Long-Hulled Class is led by the Hallowe’en, followed by the Eilean—skippered by Stefano Valiente—and the Cariad, owned by Tim Hartnoll. Strez, owner and skipper of Hallowe’en, highlighted the day’s conditions: “We had about 10 knots of wind, the sea was completely flat—perfect for these vintage boats—and it turned out to be a very good race.” The victory holds special significance because Hallowe’en is celebrating its centennial this year, a legacy that Strez wants to preserve: “Our mission is to continue this good work so that, in the future, someone else can enjoy what we have built.” Finally, in the “Spirit of Tradition” category, the Barlovento-Senda Azul, helmed by Ricardo Zabell, took the lead, ahead of the Galaxie, from the Fundació Joves Navegants, and the Veritas Dolç, skippered by José Luis Roses.
Among the vessels in this edition, the Eilean stands out in particular—the legendary Bermudian ketch, 22 meters long and 4.5 meters wide, launched in 1936 at the Scottish shipyard Fife of Fairlie based on a design by William Fife III. Owned by the watchmaker Panerai, which rescued her in 2006 after finding her abandoned in Antigua and subjected her to a restoration lasting several years in Italy, the boat will celebrate the 90th anniversary of her launch in 2026. Its history includes an unusual episode: in 1982, the band Duran Duran chartered it to shoot the music video for “Rio,” one of their best-known songs. After its last appearance on the international circuit in 2018, the Eilean has returned to competition this year, with the Illes Balears Clàssics serving as one of the stops on a season that began in May in Viareggio and has also taken it through France and Italy.
