(Santander, Spain)- The first day of racing for the Trofeo Avega in Santander, Spain could not have counted on a better day to start. Sunny afternoon, wind about 12 knots average foam the northeast and Santander Bay at high tide greeted the 25 J/80s. Presented with such spectacular conditions, the Race Committee ordered two excellent windward-leeward courses three times around in the area of the moors-- a spectacular, if not challenging part of the Bay to go sailing.
The early regatta leader was Pichu Torcida on ECC VIVIENDAS, putting an early bid to be one of the winners of the ginormous 60" SHAPR LED TV set that goes to the overall regatta winner. However, not too far behind are Javier Lopez-Vazquez on BANCAJA-AVIVA and Cesar Obregon on LUPA, both also race winners for the day.
In the first race, it was a real battle for first between Obregon on LUPA and Torcida on ECC VIVIENDAS. LUPA rounded first at the windward mark, proceeded to lose ground, fall back into third, then played a few strong shifts on the last windward leg on the right side of the course to pass Torcida to win the race. Finishing third was Jaime Piris on FONESTAR, fourth was Santi Lopez-Vazquez on CENTRALE OPTICA and fifth Ignacio Camino on NEXTEL ENGINEERING.
In the second race, four boats were left out of the game as they were Black-flagged right at the start. As in the first race, the right hand side of the course was clearly favored as in the northeast wind on Santander Bay often sees large puffs filter down from the beach, both velocity and a shift right. First around the mark was MABLE, then BANCAJA-AVIVA, ECC VIVIENDAS, SLAM RACING and RAITA. This group stuck together for most of the race and in a thrilling finish with many boats overlapped, BANCAJA-AVIVA just won followed by the clever, hard-charging Torcida on ECC VIVIENDAS, MABLE, SLAM RACING and RAITA.
Overall, Pichu's ECC VIVIENDAS is winning with 4 pts, followed by Javier on BANCAJA-AVIVA with 8 pts, third is Madrazo's LUPA with 9 pts, 4th in a tie are Perez's CENTRALE OPTICA with 11 pts and Jesus Amailach's RAITA with 11 pts. For more Trofeo Avega J/80 sailing information