(Palma Mallorca, Spain)- The Copa Del Rey Audi Mapfre is sailed in
Spain's most famous sailing venue- that glorious mountain island of the
international sailing jet set- Palma Mallorca. Hosted by the gracious
members of the Real Club Náutico de Palma, Prince Felipe and King Juan
Carlos of Spain (Europe's most prominent sailing royalty) and sponsored
by AUDI/ MAPFRE, the 38th edition of the event promised great racing and
gorgeous weather and that's exactly what the sailors got.
After
the first day or two of unusual northerlies, the wind settled into the
classic sea-breeze scenario with onshore winds of 10-15 kts from the SSW
building every day with spectacular sun-lit seas. Fresh off their win
in the recent J/80 World Championships in Marseilles, France, the
TURISMO DE ALGARVE J/80 team led by top Portuguese sailor Hugo Rocha
(and sailing under the St Petersburg YC flag from Russia!), simply had
all the best cards to play in their hand-- showing great speed and smart
sailing to simply dominate the J/80 class with ten 1sts in twelve
races! Yes, it does bring up the amusing anecdote when the Queen of
England was asked "who was in second" in the first 100 Guinea Cup Race
around the Isle of Wight (a.k.a. what is now known as the America's
Cup)-- she was reportedly told, "Your Majesty, there was no second!"
Indeed, Rocha's team won by the enormous margin of 13 pts with an
average score of 1.16 pts per race! 
No
matter how hard they tried, famous sailors like Carlos Martinez on
DELTASTONE (skipper on Volvo 70 TELEFONICA and 49er World Champion with
his brother) and José María Van der Ploeg on FACTOR ENERGIA (2012 J/80
World Champion and Finn Olympic medallist), simply could not match the
remarkable performance by Rocha's champion team-mates. In fact, after
twelve races, it was clear the battle was for second place between these
two famous Spanish sailors. Getting the upper hand in the last race
was Martinez's team on DELTASTONE, taking second in the race and ending
up with 27 pts net. Van der Ploeg's FACTOR ENERGIA took third with 37
pts net. They were followed by Leonardo Armas Lasso sailing HERBALIFE
in fourth with 49 pts net and taking fifth was Marc Patino skippering
OPERA SEASON with 55 pts. Many thanks to Prince Felipe of Spain, who presided over the prize-giving ceremony of the 32nd Copa del Rey MAPFRE held in the cultural center of "Ses Voltes" in Palma. Fantastic sailing photos courtesy of Jesus Renedo- SailingStock.com. For more Audi Mapfre Copa del Rey sailing information
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