The Club Nàutic S'Arenal opens registrations for the 60th Great Sailing Day - Bufete Frau

The Club Nàutic S'Arenal (CNA) has this week opened registration for the Gran Día de la Vela, which this year will once again be sponsored by the firm Bufete Frau. One of the flagship events of its annual regatta calendar, which this year celebrates its 60th anniversary, making it the club's longest running regatta.

This historic sporting event is very special for the club and for all sailing enthusiasts in the Balearic Islands. It will take place from the 24th of August to the 1st of September, with races for the Optimist, 420, Ilca 6, Ilca 4, Open IQ Foil, Techno 293, Formula Windsurf, Musto Skiff and, as a novelty, the adapted sailing class Acces, absent in recent editions due to organizational and scheduling issues.

Hundreds of local and national sailors will participate in the meeting, which brings together top-level athletes from the sailing scene, representing dozens of sailing clubs from all over Spain. Registrations, which will be open from Tuesday 7th of May at 10am, can be made using the online form available on the website www.grandiadelavela.com before 20th of August 2024.

Of course, the club is going to pull out all the stops to celebrate this anniversary in style, with surprises and special social events that will be unveiled in the coming weeks. In fact, in addition to the usual races for each class, a 60th Anniversary Commemorative Regatta will be held on 31st of August, in which all the classes will participate together, with a single start and scoring by means of a rating system that will take into account, by means of a scale, the characteristics of each class. "It will be a logistical challenge for the club, as we hope to have a similar participation to last year, in which 700 athletes and half a thousand boats took part", says Alex Duran, coordinator of sporting events at the CNA.

Of course, traditional sailing will also play a leading role in the meeting, as on the 31st of August there will be lateen sailing regattas, in Regatta, Llaüts and Open modalities. The more social side of sailing will also have its moment, with regattas on the same day in August for the cruiser class, which will compete in ORC.

The event will also feature other parallel activities, including the XXI Travesía Sa Milla CNA - Cala Blava, an emblematic open water swimming event that will also take place on the 31st of August on the beach of Es Caló, the proceeds of which will be donated to charity.

The Gran Día de la Vela - Bufete Frau is the oldest regatta organized by the CNA and without doubt one of the most eagerly awaited by sailing enthusiasts. It is one of the first regattas to be organized by the club, which sees it as a great celebration of the work carried out during the season. Every year, this great sporting and social event brings the summer competitions to a close and kicks off the new sporting season in the Balearic Islands.

The event, which is already an established part of the regatta calendar in the Bay of Palma, is made possible thanks to the collaboration of the Bufete Frau. A company whose founder, José Frau Greenfield, has a historic relationship with the club in which he was formed and in which he has sailed since he was a child, achieving a not inconsiderable track record, with titles such as Optimist world runner-up (1983), Spanish champion in the Europe Class in 1984 and world runner-up in the Europe Class in 1985. The family saga continued sailing in the CNA, which is why they are not only linked by a commercial relationship, but also by an emotional one.