The 41 Copa del Rey MAPFRE begins at the Bay of Palma

The program of the competition 41 Copa del Rey MAPFRE starts this monday with the first six journeys of the contest which will make the bay of Palma the world sailing center this following Saturday, 5th of August.

The fleet of the 41 Copa del Rey MAPFRE is moored at the dock of the Real Club Náutico of Palma (RCNP) which will be its home until the next Saturday. A hundred teams of 16 nationalities will participate in eight categories, 4 of them competing at a real time and the rest at a compensated time. All of them will start to distribute the points on Monday, 31st of July, except for the category of Herbalife J70 and Sotheby’s Women’s Cup, which will debut on Tuesday, 1st of August. The majority will take advantage of the journey on the Sunday to add in training hours just before the competition, and in two categories (ClubSwan 42 and 50) will be celebrated the regattas of the official training.

The first journey of the competition will be located at the Bay of Palma of the four categories of Majorica ORC (1, 2, 3 and 4) and the monotypes ClubSwan 42 and ClubSwan 50. The class Majorica ORC take over more than half of the total fleet and present interesting battles for the title. At ORC1 stands out the attendance of “Aifos” of the Spanish Army, sponsored by the King Don Felipe, who have been training at the Bay of Palma with the goal of getting better than the fifth place obtained in 2022; and “Estrella Damm” of Nacho Montes, who seeks for its fourth Copa del Rey MAPFRE, the last one was accomplished IN 2019. AT ORC 2, “Teatro Soho Caixabank” of Javier Banderas will defend its title against a competitive fleet of 15 boats. Moreover, the champion of 2022 of ORC 3, the “Scugnizza”  the italian Enzo de Blasio. At ORC 4, stands out “Ybarra-Befesa” of Arturo Montes, the first paralympic skipper of the history of the Copa del Rey MAPFRE.

Among the monotypes ClubSwan 50, the “Hatari”  of the german Markus Brennecke, who will not have it easy against the winners of the past four editions and the current leader of the European leader of the category. At ClubSwan 42, the “Nadir” of Pedro Vaquer, the current champion of the world and leader of the circuit of The Nations League, will sail to the Bay of Palma to defend his 2022 title against seven strong opponents.

From Tuesday onwards the categories of Herbalife J70 and Sitheby’s Women’s Cup will be able to join in. The feminine category of the Copa del Rey MAPFRE will rely on the 2022 podium completely, including the champions of the “Team RCNP Balearia” sponsored by the local María Bover.

The format of the competition divides the week in two parts: At the Previous Series (until the 2nd of August) they will be disputed up to 6 races by categories which will define the number of points of which the boat will start at the Final Series of the 3rd of August. This day will have a maximum of six races for all the categories except Herbalife J70 and Sotheby’s Women’s Cup, which will be able to participate up to eight races. The ship with less points  in each category of the sixth race will be awarded with the title of champion of the 41 Copa del Rey MAPFRE.

Next to its sport phase, the 41 Copa del Rey MAPFRE will develop a complete social schedule which will include daily on ground activities. Between the events of the week stand out the Welcome Cocktail to the participants which will accommodate this monday at the Hotel Castillo Son Vida, the traditional ‘Cóctel de Armadores’, on thursday at the RCNP. The award ceremony will be celebrated on saturday, 5th of August, on the premises of Ses Voltes, near the Cathedral of Palma.