The second day of the 44th MAPFRE King’s Cup saw changes in four of the six overall classifications and confirmed the high level of competition in an edition characterized by the closeness of the races. The ORC divisions tackled a coastal race around the Bay of Palma, with courses of just over 30 nautical miles for ORC 0 and ORC A, and 25 miles for ORC B and ORC C. The offshore wind made another appearance, although with less intensity than on the first day, which allowed the scheduled program to be completed in all categories, except for the women’s category, which completed 11 of the 12 scheduled races.
At the end of the second day, the provisional leaders are the Italian yacht Vudu in the Abanca ORC 0 class, the Estonian yacht Nola in the Sail Racing ORC A class, the Spanish yacht Máximo in the Uber ORC B class, the German yacht Earlybird in the Azulmarino ORC C class, the Spanish yacht Nadir in the ClubSwan 42, and the Baleària Team RCNP in the Baleària Women’s Cup.
Vudu takes the initiative at ORC 0
The Wallyrocket 51 Kilara II, skippered by Swiss sailor Jeremy Weir, delivered the best performance of the day in the Abanca ORC 0 class, winning both in real time and corrected time after completing the 30.5 miles in just over three hours and 55 minutes. However, the consistent performance of the Italian yacht Vudu, skippered by Mauro Gestri, has allowed it to take the provisional lead of the class. The Felipe VI Hispania finished fifth in the coastal race and holds second place in the overall standings, tied on points with the Kilara II and two points behind the leader.
Jamie Scott-Hopkins, skipper of Kilara II, explained: “At first we were in the top two or three, but we managed to make up ground at Illetes, and that made all the difference. Ours is a new boat and this is only its fourth regatta; it’s the first time we’ve won.”
Nola replaces Rán on ORC A
The victory of the Estonian Nola in the coastal regatta also resulted in a change at the top of the Sail Racing ORC A standings. Taavet Hinrikus’s Carkeek 40 completed the course in four hours and twenty minutes, finishing ahead of Christian Plump’s Elena Nova and Óscar Chaves’s HM Hospitales Hydra.
The result drops Niklas Zennström’s Rán to second place in the overall standings, three points behind the new leader. Aksel Magdahl, navigator of Nola, summed up the tactical decision that marked the regatta: “The first beat was a bit tricky; we didn’t know if it would be better to go right or left, but I told Hugo (Rocha, the tactician), who made the call, that if the right worked, it would be a big prize, and that’s exactly what happened. We liked seeing that the majority was heading to the left and, as often happens in Palma, it’s difficult to cross because the wind starts to blow harder on that side.”
Màximo takes the lead in the ORC B.
The standings also changed in the Uber ORC B class. Argentina’s Katara won the coastal race, but the big winner of the day was Máximo, helmed by Maribel Cadenas, who, with her second-place finish, moves to the top of the category.
The X-41 is half a point ahead of Javier Banderas’s Teatro del Soho San Miguel, which finished seventh in the long course. After securing the stage victory, Julián Somodi, skipper of the Katara, praised his crew’s work: “To be honest, today went well for us. The team was very tactical and very precise; the maneuvers came off perfectly and we managed to keep up with the pace of these X-41s, which have two highly professional crews. So I’m very happy with everything. We started with ten knots and then it dropped to eight and seven knots at the end. Palma has always been my favorite place, but now it is in this championship as well.”
Earlybird leads a tight contest in ORC C.
Azulmarino’s ORC C class also has a new leader. The German yacht Earlybird heads the overall standings, tied on points with the Italian yacht Django, after a close coastal race between the two Cape 31s. The race was decided by a margin of just two seconds after more than four hours of sailing. The regatta victory went to Antonio Porres’s Project Work, a result that propels the Cantabrian team to third place in the provisional standings.
Hendrik Brandis highlighted how tight the race was: “The most important thing was to beat them by two seconds on corrected time after more than four hours. In fact, we gave them some time and had a 19-second advantage on the water. We managed the first upwind leg well, lost many positions around the island, and then regained positions to cross the finish line in first place.
Nadir remains undefeated in the ClubSwan 42 class.
In the ClubSwan 42 class, Pedro Vaquer’s Nadir continues to dominate. The Mallorcan team has once again won both races of the day and is the only competitor in this edition to have won every race so far. After four races and one discard, it leads by four points over José María Meseguer’s Pez de Abril and Massimo de Campo’s Selene Alifax, who are tied for second place.
Vaquer downplayed any sense of superiority despite the excellent start: “We’re in the lead, but we haven’t achieved anything yet; all of this could turn around at any moment. It all comes down to critical maneuvers decided by a simple boat length or half a boat length. Just as they’ve gone in our favor, they could just as easily turn against us. We’ve tried some new sails and changed our sailing style from last year, and it seems to be working.”
The Baleària RCNP team begins the title defense
The Baleària Women’s Cup completed 11 of the 12 races scheduled for its inaugural season. The Baleària RCNP team began its title defense with four wins and a second-place finish, results that put them at the top of the competition.
María Bover gave a positive assessment of the team’s debut: “It took us a little while to get the hang of the boat, but as the day went on we adapted and felt very comfortable and, above all, we had a good time: there’s a great atmosphere on board. That said, it’s only the first day and there’s still a lot to do. We’ve already seen today that there are many teams that are clearly capable of leading, which I think is a new thing this year.”
The third day of racing will complete the Preliminary Series for the ORC and ClubSwan 42 classes. Thursday’s first race will trigger the discard of the worst result for the four ORC divisions, a factor that could significantly alter the standings before the start of the Final Series on Friday and Saturday, where races will be scored at 1.5 points and no further discards will be allowed.
The Women’s Balearic Cup will continue using the round-robin format to determine the six teams that will compete in Saturday’s Medal Race. The first start is scheduled for 1:00 PM for all classes, except the women’s class, which will begin its program at 12:00 PM.
