Alba Alba Wins the Trofeo Virgen del Carmen Regatta

The sailboat ‘Alba Alba’ captained by Luis Mata narrowly defeated ‘Posidonia’ captained by Ramón Balanzat (by just 19 seconds after time compensation) in the Trofeo Virgen del Carmen regatta for the RI Cruiser class, held this Saturday under the organization of the Club Náutico de Ibiza.

The regatta featured eight crews, seven from the host club and one from CN Santa Eulalia. The crews faced challenging conditions initially due to swell, with wind from the SW ranging between 14 and 6 knots throughout the 18.2-mile course, which included navigating around islets near Ibiza and several buoys, allowing for sailing in all directions before reaching the finish line.

After the start, the boat ‘Insotel-Blue Brothers’ captained by Javier Marí took the lead with a stellar start. However, as the wind intensity increased, faster and larger boats gained speed. About two miles into the race, the boat ‘ADV’ captained by Jaume Serra took the lead in real-time. Following a long downwind stretch, it crossed the finish line in Talamanca Bay in first place in real-time.

Ultimately, after applying compensated times, ‘Alba Alba’ (CN Ibiza) captained by Luis Mata won the Trofeo Virgen del Carmen 2024 by 19 seconds, followed by ‘Posidonia’ captained by Ramón Balanzat (also from CN Ibiza). The third place went to ‘Atlant del Vent’ (CN Ibiza), which was the fastest in real-time, taking 2 hours and 56 minutes to complete the course.

Following this annual event organized by Club Náutico Ibiza, the club is now preparing for the 35th edition of the Pitiusas Nautical Days regatta, to be held in the waters of Ibiza and Formentera on October 11, 12, and 13, aiming to gather around 300 sailors from both the islands and other national and international locations.