Ten crews from the Balearic Islands will compete in the 48th Palamós Christmas Race

The 48th Palamós Christmas Race, an international sailing regatta, is gearing up for a new edition. This Wednesday, December 18, will be the day for registration and the opening ceremony at 6:30 PM. From Thursday, December 19 to Sunday, December 22, the competition will take place on the water.

The regatta will involve a total of 239 crews made up of 382 sailors and 60 coaches, spread across 8 categories: ILCA 6 Male (36), ILCA 6 Female (27), ILCA 4 Male (20), ILCA 4 Female (9), 420 Male/Mixed (89), 420 Female (21), 29er Male/Mixed (25), 29er Female (12).

Participants come from 16 countries: Germany (2), Argentina (1), Belgium (3), Bermuda (1), Spain (98), United States (1), France (45), Finland (3), Great Britain (33), Italy (45), Netherlands (12), Poland (26), Switzerland (8), Sweden (2), Turkey (3), and Ukraine (9).

Up to twenty sailors from the Balearic Islands will participate. Starting with the 420 Female class, participants include Neus Fernández along with Martina Gomila Darder, both from Club Nàutic s’Arenal, Mercedes Borrás, from Real Club Nàutic del Port de Pollença, with Laia Mattos, from Club Marítimo de San Antonio de la Playa, and Nicola Sadler, from Club Nàutic s’Arenal, with Susana Bestard, from Real Club Náutico de Palma.

From the 420 Male/Mixed class, participants include Aaron Lucas Montoya Porland with Nicholas Montoya Porland, Bernardo Cávaco Torres with Carlos Martínez, Asier Jaudenes with José Terrasa and Sean Dylan Sadler Keen with Fermín Jaume Villanueva, all from Club Nàutic s'Arenal. Also competing are Hugo Rodríguez Pascual, from Club Nàutic s'Arenal, with Juan Benítez, from Real Club Nàutic del Port de Pollença, and Hugo Valor, from Club Marítimo de San Antonio de la Playa, with Bea Quintana, from Club Nàutic Cala Gamba.

Lastly, from the 29ER Male class, participants include Francisco Tuyols Tur with Ignacio Martín García-Marcos, both from Real Club Náutico de Palma.

For many decades, the Christmas Race was part of the Eurolymp circuit of Olympic classes organized by EUROSAF (European Sailing Federation). Hence, from the start, both World Sailing and EUROSAF have considered the Palamós Christmas Race as the first regatta of the following year.

For years, the regatta has combined some Olympic classes. In this edition, the ILCA 6 Female class will be featured. Also solidified are the ILCA 4 Male and Female, ILCA 6 Male, the 420 Male/Mixed, and 420 Female.

From CN Costa Brava/Vela Palamós, there is a commitment to continue promoting these promotional classes, as, except for the Trofeo Princesa Sofía, it is the only one in Spain that currently includes all Olympic classes. The rest have to find alternatives, and in Palamós, they reinvent themselves each year to complete participation with classes that bet on the regatta for its organizational level, tradition, and media dissemination.

A major novelty in this year's edition is that all land activity will be concentrated on the Platja Gran de Palamós, as is already the case with the Palamós Optimist Trophy, where a large natural space with exits from the same beach is available, and where the contact of the participants and the public and fans is more direct, thus bringing the competition closer to the population.

Anna Cuxart, the new director of the regatta, explains that "we maintain a very important international participation, which shows the interest of the Palamós Christmas Race beyond our borders."

This edition will also have two race courses, one for the single classes ILCA 6 and ILCA 4 and the other for the doubles with the 420 and 29er.

Conscious of the environment and the preservation of the seas, the regatta has carried out various sustainability-related actions, such as PaperLess, Be One With the Sea, No Plastics, Green Regatta, and Sailors for the Sea. Additionally, in recent editions, plastic has been completely eliminated, and there is a commitment to the use of refillable bottles through water fountains placed in various locations around the club.

The Palamós Christmas Race is organized by the Club Nàutic Costa Brava - Vela Palamós, with the support of the Spanish and Catalan Sailing Federations, as well as institutional support from the Generalitat de Catalunya, the Diputació de Girona, and the Ajuntament de Palamós.