(Sotogrande, Spain)- The IX Campeonato de Espana for J/80s took place
off the gorgeous seaside resort of Sotogrande from June 3rd to 6th. The
event was hosted by Club Nautico Bevelle for the nineteen-boat fleet
with teams that represented every major fleet across Spain, including
Andalusia, the Balearic Islands, Cantabria, Catalonia, Galicia, Murcia
and the Basque Country.The Race Committee, chaired by the Andalusian Arianne Mainemare and his team, plans to have at least nine windward-leeward races over the three-day weekend and came within one race, managing to run eight races in that time period.
The
winner of this year’s Campeonato de Espana was a surprise to most of
Spain’s top competitors, but hardly a surprise to the incredibly
talented team of DA BRUNO, led by skipper Juan Luiz Paez sailing for CN
Sevilla from Seville, Spain. While they did not start out in the lead,
and were clearly not the favorites, this resilient team pounded out good
solid finishes over the three days to win the regatta by one point over
Mikel Vazquez’s GOLD SAILING team from CN Hondarribia.Starting on the first day, it was GOLD SAILING that took the lead with just 5 pts as a result of their unassailable 1-1-3 record. Regatta favorite Carlos Martinez on AKEWELE posted a 4-2-2 to secure second after the first day of sailing and Javier Chacartegui sailed HM-HOTELS into third based on a 2-3-7 tally.
The weather of the first day of sailing could not have been nicer. Sunny, 8-12 kts of breeze and in the 70s F. The wind favored the left hand side of the course since in allowed the wind to shift left along the beach of Torreguadiaro all day long. In the early stages, the fleet dispersed trying their luck by going into the middle or right, but the best was always staying on starboard into the beach before making a late layline call to the weather mark.
The
second day of sailing saw the level of anxiety rise as several boats
had BFD’s or simply bad races. Plus, there were three different winners
of all three races. The winds again were from the east at 8-12 kts,
which again favored the long starboard tack into the beach. As a
result, the fleet soon learned this and the fleet became very tightly
packed at the start as most boats hoped to lead the fleet into the
beach; this led to several general recalls and black flag for the
unfortunate few.Vazquez’s team on GOLD SAILING continued to sail consistently, posting a 7-3-1 to hang onto their lead with just 9 pts. Chacartegui’s HM-HOTELS sailed well, posting the best score of the day with a 1-4-3 to leapfrog into second overall. At this point, Paez’s DA BRUNO had taken a page out of the “go left” strategy and simply sailed well to post a 6-1-4 for the day to jump into third overall. The big hit in the standings was taken by Martinez’s AKEWELE, dropping from second overall to seventh due to a 16-BFD-11 tally.
The stage was now set for the last three races of the regatta on Sunday. At this juncture, it was anybody’s guess who would win overall. Some teams were struggling in the very even conditions while others were not. In the end, “the new kids on the block”, Paez’s DA BRUNO team, took the title of J/80 Spanish Champion for their first time ever. DA BRUNO posted a blistering 2-1 on the last day to just win by one point over Vazquez’s world dominator team on GOLD SAILING. While starting out a bit slow, it was Marc Antonio’s BRIBON-MOVISTAR that closed fast and won a tie-break over Chacartegui’s HM-HOTELS to grab the bronze on the podium. Taking fifth was Pablo Villar’s VERTIGO, the top boat from the host club. For more J/80 Campeonato de Espana sailing information
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