The XX Repsol King’s Cup for Vintage Boats started with a very light wind from the Levant and a coastal course of only 6.5 nautical miles. The waters of Mahon were once again under the influence of an anticyclone which forced the crews to evacuate at the slightest gust. The Race Committee also had to do everything possible to complete the inaugural race, after the first day was suspended due to lack of wind.
The departure was two hours late. As the day progressed and the wind decreased, with the highest gust being seven knots, the need to shorten the journey became apparent. Ariane Mainemare, racing director, decided to set the finish line on Isla del Airea point which, under normal circumstances, would have marked the equator of the route. The predictions were correct in direction, but not in intensity.
Comet at the Época Bermudiana and Argos at the Clásicos, both champions of the last edition, They were able to adapt to the difficult weather conditions of the day and they are already vying for victory at the top of their respective classes. The Chinook comfortably won the Rowdy in the Epoca Cangreja class twins duel, the Calima headed for what could be her fifteenth victory in Spirit of Tradition and the Lady Anne left no option to her rivals in Big Boats.
The F15 class sailboats, with their sleek lines and colossal trapezoidal rigging, They took the podium in the Big Boats class against opponents who need much stronger winds. to deliver maximum performance. The Lady Anne (1912), skippered by Gonzalo Botinwas at the head of the fleet from the start, taking advantage of every moment of wind to gain metres on his two main rivals, Mariska (1908), second, and Tuiga (1909), third. The leader spent one hour and twenty-three minutes and obtained a comfortable advantage of almost four minutes over his immediate pursuer. Viveka (1929), Hallowe’en (1926), Mariette (1915) and Orianda (1937), who made her debut in the Copa del Rey Repsol, crossed the finish line in that order. It is the first time in 20 years that the regatta organized by the Mahón Maritime Club has brought together seven units of more than 24 meters in length.
The long-awaited “fight” between the NY40 Rowdy and the Chinook, both designed by Herreshoff and launched in 1916, ended with the victory of the latter, owned by Paolo Zanoni, whose crew has been able to better adapt to low wind conditions and ended up giving his rival an advantage of almost 5 minutes, which is long considering that both are measuring each other almost in real time. Although both boats have participated in many editions of the Copa del Rey Repsol, It was the first time they did it in the same category, after the owner of the Rowdy, Donna Dyerdecided to recover the original configuration of his sailboat, replacing his Bermuda sail with a crab sail. The Chinook demonstrated greater experience in the complex handling of the trapezoidal rig.
The Comet, a 1949 Olin Stephens skippered by Marc Marcianowinner of the Copa del Rey Repsol 2023, took the lead in the overall classification of the Época Bermudiana class ahead of Sonata (1929), the sailboat designed by John Alden which was recovered more than ten years ago by Jordi Cabau in Mallorca. Both boats sailed at a good level, adapting to the complicated conditions of the race, and They are postulated as the boats to beatcourtesy of Varuna (Sparkman & Stephens, 1939), Jehs Kellinhuseenwho crossed the line a few seconds behind the leader but was relegated to third place after time compensation.
The Argos, from the shipowner Barbara Trillinga Holman & Pie design built at the Carabela shipyards, set a course for what could be his seventh consecutive victory in the Repsol King’s Cup for Vintage Boats in the Classics category, which lists boats launched between 1950 and 1975, the crew led by the Spaniard. Eduardo Mendez took four minutes in corrected time from the second, Crivizza (1966), of Alan Buchananand seven to the third, the ojala II (1973), created by Susan Carol Holland demonstrating once again its mastery of the Mahon regatta course even in the most complex situations. Argos has just won the Illes Balears Clàssics at Club de Mar.
In Spirit of Tradition, the Calima (1970), skippered by Pachi Rivero, one of the great references of Spanish ocean navigation, also seeks expands his legend in the Repsol King’s Cup at Marítimo de Mahón, regatta that has won no less than 14 awards. Yesterday, he won the regatta by just over three and a half minutes on Happy Forever, owned by the owner and skipper. Christian Oldendorffwho was the fastest in real time. The provisional third place goes to Legolas, Jens Ricke.
