Copa del Rey
Barcos de Época Repsol
The favorites take the lead at the start of the King’s Cup of Repsol Vintage Boats
Yanira, Marigan, F Jord III and Calima are in front of the general classification after a regatta marked by good conditions at the start and a strong calming down in the last stage.
»Yanira (1954), leader in the Classics category.
The XVII King’s Cup of Repsol Vintage Boats, organized by the Club Marítimo de Mahón, cast off this midday with good wind, a Llebeig (SW) of between 13 and 16 knots that, however, gradually diminished and forced to the Race Committee to shorten the route and discard the initial idea of setting up the finish line inside the natural port of Mahón. The 14-nautical-mile trip, in the shape of a triangle, was shortened to 12.9 miles. The fleet headed for Isla del Aire, which it took to port, and from there to a mark off S’Algar. The last section, until the arrival, was played with very little wind pressure and caused a regrouping of the boats. Galvana (1976), Amazón (1972) and Yanira (1954), all belonging to the Classics category, practically reached the end of the test together.
CLASSICS
Yanira, a Norwegian-built Bjarne Ass design, skippered in this edition by Valerie de Marotte, took victory among the Classics (boats built between 1950 and the late 70s) and is placed as the provisional leader of its class with an advantage in compensating for just over six minutes on the Argos (1964), second overall. New York shipowner Barbara Trilling’s boat is looking for her eighth victory in the King’s Cup of Repsol Vintage Boats, while the Yanira has set course for what could be her seventh victory. The rookie Rossina di Mare, a Sparkman & Stephens from 1961 based in the Port of Pollença (Mallorca), was penalized less than her employer suspected and is provisional third. Amador Magraner confessed yesterday that, despite the competitive spirit of the crew, he did not trust in being at the head of the fleet as it was his first participation and having the boat ready for cruise. The reality is that it starts in third position, ahead of such powerful units as the Galvana, by the Pella brothers, or the Amazon, by Olivier Pecoux.
BERMUDIAN TIME
Two German Frers designs were put at the helm of the Epoca Bermudiana class (pre-1950 ships with triangular sail rigging). The first position is for the Fjord III (1947), the Uruguayan Yacht Club boat armed and skippered by Scott Perry, which obtained a rent of almost six minutes in corrected on the Recruit, the yola recently built by Germán Frers II on some plans of his father’s 1944. Frers himself is at the helm of this imposing 20-meter boat whose launch has been the culmination of a family dream and has inspired a book by his daughter, Zelmira Frers. The always competitive Rowdy (1916), one of the five centenarians who come together in the Copa del Rey de Boats de Period de Mahón, occupies third place in the provisional general, a very short distance (less than a minute) from the Recruit . The Argyll (1948), by popular Welsh actor Griff Rhys Jones, has been pushing hard from fourth place.
BERMUDIAN PERIOD
Tim Liesenhoff and his team from the Marigan (1898), the oldest ship in the fleet gathered these days in Menorca, lead the classification of the Época Cangreja class (boats launched before 1950 with auric rigging). The Spartan (1913), the fastest in real time, is on his heels. The offset between the two is 45 seconds, despite the fact that the ship owned by the shipyard NHG Restoration, 22 meters long, crossed the finish line 35 minutes early. The provisional bronze goes to Viola (1908), from Belkin Kostia, the only William Fife III who participates this year in the Mayonnaise regatta, which he visits for the first time.
SPIRIT OF TRADITION
El Calima (1970), by Javier Pujol, already points to her thirteenth victory in the King’s Cup of Repsol Vintage Boats in the Spirit of Tradition category. Today he took the lead with a two-minute lead over Lohegfrin (1974), skippered by Jordi del Tarre, and almost three over Legolas (1996), by Jens Ricke. The boat with the best record in the history of the regatta was also one of the fastest in real time. This year marks the twentieth anniversary of her triumph in the Fastnet Race.
