La Ruta de la Sal is revving up with more than 100 crews already registered

Scheduled to start on April 17, La Ruta de la Sal, one of the classic meetings during the Easter holiday weekend in Ibiza, already has 116 boats registered for this 37th edition.

The registrations, which already include 116 boats and 650 sailors, will remain open until April 4 or until the maximum quota is reached, determined by the number of berths available to accommodate the large fleet upon their arrival at the Port of Sant Antoni.

This offshore regatta remains true to its format of two versions: the Barcelona Version, spanning 140 nautical miles, starting from Port Ginesta, and the Denia Version, spanning 117 nautical miles, starting from the Real Club Náutico Dénia. Both fleets will converge at the same finish line in front of the Club Nàutic Sant Antoni, on the west coast of Ibiza.

The "Celeste di Mare", "Carabela 32" of Amador Magraner, the overall winner of the last edition in the Denia version, is already among those registered to try to defend his title. Meanwhile, the experienced Dutch team of the "Yellow Rose", "X-35" of Marten Jan Ringers, overall winner of the 2021 edition in the Barcelona version, has also confirmed their participation. Juan Antonio Sanchís, a historic skipper of the race with two victories to his name, will also be at the start line, leading the Ibizan team of the "Adrenalin, A-31" representing the Club Nàutic Sant Antoni.

On the other hand, the real-time winners of the last edition: the "Aviador", "First 53" of Gabriel Medem, for the Denia version, and the "Bandido", "Dehler 44" of Carlos Otamendi, for the Barcelona version, have also confirmed their participation to try to defend their victories. The task will not be easy, especially considering that, after last year's break, the "Pelotari Project", "Vismara Mills 68" of Andrés Varela, returns to La Ruta de la Sal aiming to beat its own record in the Denia version set in 2022, stopping the clock at 12 hours, 22 minutes, and 10 seconds.

The fleet includes the "Remolí", "First 27.7" of Miguel Fortea as the boat with the smallest length overall (8.3m) while the "Duende", "Contest 72" of Berend Nieuwenhuis is, at 22.8 meters, the largest boat registered so far in this edition. Among the larger vessels, the presence of the "Copernico Doblón", "Altech Marine 65" of 21 meters stands out. It is the flagship of the Alegría Marineros collective captained by Pedro Jiménez, who will link his recent adventure sailing in Antarctic waters with participation in La Ruta de la Sal Rumbo Ibiza.

Among the 50 clubs that will be represented in the regatta, the Real Club Náutico de Valencia and the Club Náutico de Vilanova stand out, with 9 teams each. They are followed by Marina de Valencia and Club de Mar Port Olímpic, with 7 teams, the Real Club Náutico de Dénia with 6, the Club Marítimo Port Ginesta and the Real Club de Regatas de Alicante with 5, the Real Club Náutico de Palma with 4, and the Club Náutico Sant Antoni with 3.

The origin of the registered sailors is very diverse. 20% of the skippers come from the province of Barcelona and a similar percentage from the province of Valencia. Alicante, with 10%, is the third province contributing the most skippers to the regatta, followed by Madrid (6%) and Mallorca (5%). Castellón, Murcia, Tarragona, and Ibiza each contribute 3% of the skippers. Foreign participation is around 30% of the total, with notable participation from French, Dutch, Belgian, German, English, Irish, and Italian teams.

With the current number of registered boats, at least one of the two versions of the regatta confirms the formation of special categories: the GlobeSailor Category for school and charter boats, the Salina Category for boats skippered by a woman and with a minimum of 50% female crew, and the A2 Category for boats skippered by 2 crew members.

One of the main novelties of this upcoming edition is the activation, through Rumbo Norte Ibiza, of the Accompanying Program, which will allow friends and relatives of the sailors, as well as any sea enthusiast, to follow the regatta by making the crossing to Ibiza aboard one of their comfortable catamarans.