The Superyacht Cup Palma

Swedish-flagged Svea maintained their dominance in the J Class crew category by defeating newcomers Rainbow at the prestigious The Superyacht Cup Palma Richard Mille. Despite their victory in all but one race, there are clear indications that activity is building, and Svea will face more challenges in the near future.

Svea established a strong lead early in today’s 26 nautical mile coastal course, which traversed the entire width and depth of the bay and crossed the transitional zones separating two opposing sea breezes at least three times. With wind speeds ranging from six to 20 knots, the crews had ample opportunities to stay engaged, particularly during the brisk final upwind leg and the fast run back to the finish.

From a downwind start in a gentle 6-7knots breeze Svea and Rainbow were very, very even until the first mark rounding. Svea were more or less faultless in the execution of their spinnaker drop when Rainbow held theirs late and overran the buoy rounding leaving Svea to stretch away to an immediate lead which they could not close down.

Svea retain the title they won here in 2024 when the J Class were building up to the J Class Barcelona Regatta at the America’s Cup – which the Swedish boat won. Competing at their first regatta as a team Rainbow, with new owner Peter Harrison on the helm, have shown great promise but have been narrowly overshadowed by Svea.

The Swedish team have been slicker but, speaking for the team, winning navigator Steve Hayles was more excited to be back racing J Class yachts again than glorying in any kind of victory. And he remains as proud as ever that the Svea team stick to their key philosophies of bringing on and developing new, young talent, female and male. And there have also been a few changes to the Svea afterguard since Barcelona, with Tony Rey joining as tactician.

The next J Class event will be Les Voiles de Saint Tropez 26th September to October 4th.

St. Regis Mardavall Mallorca Coastal:

1 Svea corrected time 2hrs 59mins 56 secs
2 Rainbow 3hrs 04mins 22secs (+4 mins 32 secs)

Superyacht Cup Palma Richard Mille J Class Series Results:

1 Svea 1,1,3 (DNS), 1,1 7pts
2 Rainbow 2,2,1,2,2 9pts