Monday, August 12, 2013

TURISMO ALGARVE Crowned Copa del Rey King!

J/80 Turismo Algarve- Hugo Rocha winning Copa del Rey- Palma Mallorca, Spain (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.

J/80 Copa del Rey Audi Mapfre winners- Rocha on Turismo AlgarveAfter 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!

J/80 Deltastone- Carlos Martinez sailing in Copa del ReyNo 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