SLAM RACING Wins First Spanish Regatta of 2011!(Santander, Spain)- While his brother is out amongst the leaders of the Barcelona World Race on IMOCA 60s, Jaime Piris was taking the upper hand amongst the local J/80 fleet in their first regatta of the year- the World Cantabria Trophy. An excellent turnout of 29 boats assured everyone of a highly competitive and fun sailing regatta.
For the first weekend of racing, the Race Committee set up a course in light wind from the west in the bay and managed to get off a good series of races. Jaime's FONESTAR was leading after the first weekend, followed by MABLE sailed by Alberto Padron, third is SLAM RACING with Tono Gorostegui sailing very fast downwind. Past J/80 World Champion Ignacio Camino on NEXTEL ENGINEERING is fourth and fifth is MERCEDES BENZ sailed by Alvaro Elorza. Current J/80 World Champion Pichu Torcida had a bad second race, finishing an uncharacteristic 17th in his local fleet to knock him out of the top 10 for now.
For the second weekend of racing, the standings amongst the fleet leaders changed a lot! Two straight days of racing were scheduled to complete the first regatta of the year. The Committee decided to set up the race course off Cape Minor. The wind was blowing about 10 knots from the west to northwest. It was very cold with wind chill close to 0 degrees C (32 degrees F). The wind was very shifty and contributed to the huge changes in the standings. Those who went left on the first beats did a lot better than those who went right. A surprise leader at the first mark on the first race was COMPESCA with Olympic Gold Medalist Fernando Echavarri at the helm. Chasing him fast was NEXTEL, MAQUECHE and RAITA. After a disastrous spinnaker takedown, COMPESCA dropped back allowing MABLE, RAITA and Pichu on ECC VIVIENDAS to round out the top three, respectively. After a good series of races, the Race Committee was careful to provide the fleet reasonably "fair" racing conditions. However, the wind dropped a lot and veered in direction, so the PRO Perez-Sanchez decided it was better to conclude the racing and head for the clubhouse.
At the end of the day, Tono Gorostegui on SLAM RACING counted a 3-2-1 to win the first Spanish regatta of the year. Second was Alberto Padron sailing MABLE with 9 points, third was Ignacio Camino on NEXTEL ENGINEERING with 12 points, fourth was Adiran Zamacona's LUPA, one of his better finishes to date in the J/80 fleet. Fifth was Jaime Piris on FONESTAR, the early regatta leader falling from grace with the sea- the last weekend was very tough on their team. Again rising like a "phoenix from the ashes" was Pichu Torcida, salvaging an 8th to finish with 22 points on ECC VIVIENDAS. For more J/80 Spain sailing information. For more J/80 one-design sailboat information. Sailing photo credit- Chapifoto.com