“Caph” the only boat to complete de Ruta de la Seda

The “Caph” has been the only boat of the Ruta de la Seda that has completed the route from Valencia to Sant Antoni de Portmany from the 23 ships that have participated in a regatta marked by the absence of the wind and that made 22 vessels withdraw from the competition.

The wind has been a big part of the regatta organized by the Real Club Náutico de Valencia, with the collaboration of Sant Antoni de Portamny and Es Náutic, from the departure and even though after a light breeze, after the sun went down, it disappeared completely, which started the chain of retirements in the race.

This way the ship “Caph”, a Sun Odyssey 409 D of the Conrado Borrego, was the only one out of the 23 boats to cross the finish line in Ibiza, when the night arrived the rest withdrew from the competition, but mostly from the morning from the Saturday to Sunday, as they could see that they would not make it in their limited time.

The departure from the RCN of Valencia was already complicated, with 45 minutes of delay and a very light wind that would not reach 5 knots of intensity, the regatta committee launched the challenge, with the fleet in direction to Sant Antoni, with about 77 miles ahead.

The fleet started with difficulty in direction to the South, towards Cullera to then head to Es Nàutic. That moment was the best for the 23 vessels, with a somewhat happy wind of 8 knots of intensity, this meant that, even if it was short, it was not going to make the race an ordeal for the crews.

But when the sun set and when it was not even halfway through the race the wind disappeared completely. The fleet held on as best as they could in the situation, but many of them seeing the null wind conditions and their limited time, each boat's rating was to take the finish in a specific time, so the drop-outs began.

The trickle of communications to the retiring race committee was the general tone at night, in the early hours of the morning and in the early hours of Sunday, except for "Caph" whose time limit was the longest of the fleet. Its arrival was set for 18:03:42 hours at the latest, and with the addition of the 45 minute delay from the start, Borrego's boat could have arrived at 18:45 hours, although in the end it officially did so at 16:50 hours.

Thus Conrado Borrego's "Caph" was proclaimed champion of the Silk Road 2023 in class A Two after spending a total of 29:05:51 hours to complete the 76.3 nautical mile course.