Friday, March 1, 2019

NOTICIA V Wins Vigo J/70 Winter Series IV

J/70 sailing off Vigo, SpainLAGUARDIA & MOREIRA Crowned Winter Series Champions
(Vigo, Spain)- The Trofeo Bosch Service Solutions J/70 Winter Series, hosted by the Real Club Náutico de Vigo, brought together the best sailors from across Spain to race in the spectacular waters of the Vigo estuary.

This past weekend, the fourth and final event of the winter long series 2018/2019, saw the two-time J/80 World Champion and runner-up in the 2018 J/70 Europeans- Jose Maria “Pichu” Torcida- take the win against some of the toughest competition he has faced in years. Torcida’s Real Club Maritimo Santander team on NOTICIA V was as formidable as it gets, his crew consisted of Pablo Santurde del Arco, Luis Martin Cabiedes, and none other than Rayco Tabares (himself a J/80 World Champion from the Canary Islands).

On Saturday, with a spectacular sun and temperature, the “virazón” (an onshore thermal wind from the West) arrived punctually after finishing a duel with the early morning "bocana-terral" (Northeast winds) that lasted longer than normal. As a result, the RCN Vigo PRO managed to run three good races in the classic and stable virazón.

J/70 Sogacsa team sailing off Vigo, SpainLeading after the first day was the SOGACSA team (Pablo Iglesias, Sancho Paramo, Javier Porto, and Iago Carrera); they posted a consistent 3-5-2 for 10 pts. Two teams were tied for second; the series leader LAGUARDIA & MOREIRA (Alfredo Gonzalez and Gonzalo Araujo) posting a 11-1-1 and Torcida’s NOTICIA team with a 1-6-6, for 13 pts each.

On Sunday, it took a long time for the south wind to gain sufficient strength for racing; it finally filled in around 1200 hrs.  However, due to the 1400 hrs time limit, only two more races were completed.  Splitting the two races, each with a 1-2, were Torcida’s NOTICIA and Enrique Freire and Manuel Cunha’s MARNATURA (with crew of Gerardo Prego Menor, Luis Bugallo Arriola, Alberto Basadre López, Jorge Lorenzo Roman).  As a result, NOTICA won the fourth event with just 16 pts after five races, followed by SOGACSA in 2nd with 19 pts and MARNATURA in 3rd with 21 pts.

The balance of the top five was determined on a tie-breaker between LAGUARDIA & MOREIRA and PAZO DE CEA (Pablo Martinez Abad, Ramón Ojea, Guago Mosquera, Rodrigo Ojea, Pancho Tourón, & Ángel Tourón).  Winning that countback was L&M.

J/70s sailing off Vigo, SpainThe results of the final weekend showed that LAGUARDIA & MOREIRA was the great dominator, winning the 21 race Trofeo Bosch Services Solutions Winter Series Regatta by an enormous margin of 42 points! The series consisted of four weekends, one per month, from November to February.  Completing the podium in 2nd was ABRIL VERDE (Luis Perez Canal, Carlos San Martin, Juan De Cominges Carvallo, Rafael Martínez-Almeida, & Edu Reguera) and in 3rd was SOGACSA. It was an impressive showing for the local hosts, as the top three teams were all from RCN Vigo, a proud moment for their club members!

Rounding out the top five was Torcida’s NOTICIA in 4th place (having missed the first regatta in November) and Luis Albert Solano’s PATAKIN in 5th place from Club Maritimo Mallorca.  For more Trofeo Bosch Service Solutions J/70 Winter Series sailing information Add to Flipboard Magazine.