The Club Nàutic S'Arenal puts the final touch on the 60th Gran Día de la Vela - Bufete Frau

After two intense weekends and a total of eight days of races, along with numerous social activities scheduled at a club that has been literally taken over by sailors, their families, and sea lovers, the Club Nàutic s’Arenal (CNA) has concluded this edition of the Gran Día de la Vela - Bufete Frau.

Its longest-standing race celebrated its sixtieth anniversary this year with a festive atmosphere, both on land and water, filled with emotion, friendship, and love for sailing.

In terms of sports, on this fourth and last day of the second assault of the 60th Gran Día de la Vela - Bufete Frau, the weather conditions were capricious and unstable, in line with the rest of the days of this edition. The first boats to take to the water were the ILCA 4, ILCA 6, and 420. The Race Committee for these classes tried to start the day at 10:30 am, to do as many tests as possible. However, the wind direction did not stabilize until 12 noon, when the 'embat' kicked in. Afterward, the conditions stabilized with a south wind of between 8 and 12 knots of intensity, which allowed the ILCA 4, ILCA 6, and 420 classes to hold 3 races each.

In the other race area, the Optimists were able to start after 1 pm, and the gold group contested 3 races, while the silver and bronze groups held 2 races.

CNA bid farewell to this 60th Gran Día de la Vela - Bufete Frau with a massive trophy presentation at the club's facilities, where many of the sailors who competed in this last weekend's races gathered with their families and friends.

The absolute winner of this 60th Gran Día de la Vela - Bufete Frau was Miguel García Prosper (CN Cambrils). As stated in the rules of the race instructions, the sailor competing in any of the classes with 25 or more participating boats, who have completed at least 3 races, participated in all the races of the class, and counted the 3 best races to obtain the lowest score, can be deserving of the Absolute Trophy of the Gran Día de la Vela. To be deserving in possession of the Absolute Trophy of the Gran Día de la Vela, it must be won 3 consecutive times or 5 alternately in the same class. Sailors who win it 7 times alternately in different classes can also be deserving of the trophy.

On the other hand, the Ricardo Arnau Memorial Trophy has gone to Francisco Truyols and Ignacio Martín (RCNP), for being the best novice crew in the 420 class.

As a special detail to celebrate this 60th anniversary, the winners have received a replica of the painting commissioned by the club from its member Miguel Sánchez-Cuenca for the occasion. Linked to the CNA since 1980, he defended the club's flag in all types of competitions in the 420 and 470 classes, achieving golds in national and international championships, and was a beginner instructor and coach of youth classes. He is currently a meteorologist specialized in race weather reports and has worked in the America’s Cup and the Olympic Games, providing weather reports for the Spanish Sailing Team at every Olympic event since Sydney 2000. Since 2019, he has also dedicated part of his time to painting. 'Capi' is part of the great CNA family, and on this special occasion, the CNA Board of Directors wanted him to design the logo for the 60th Gran Día de la Vela. The result is a beautiful painting dominated by sails and marine colors. The original painting will be displayed in the club, while the winners of each class have received reproductions of the work.

The regattas that the different classes of Optimist, 420, ILCA 6, ILCA 4, IQFoil, Techno 293, Vela Latina, B One, and ORC cruisers have carried out over the last two weekends are already in the memory, marked by the instability of the wind. A total of 670 local and national sailors participated in the event, gathering top-level athletes from the nautical scene, representing dozens of nautical clubs from nine autonomous communities (Balearic Islands, Catalonia, Murcia, Canary Islands, Andalusia, Cantabria, Valencian Community, Basque Country, and Galicia). The registered boats exceeded half a thousand.

Socially, in addition to the lively crowd that has been present at the club at all times these days, the 60th Anniversary Gala Dinner stood out, attended by the club's former presidents, the current Board of Directors, and all the athletes of honor of the CNA, i.e., those who throughout their careers have been national champions or have achieved a podium in international championships. Additionally, the classic llaüt 'Alzina' and the 'Sa Calma Boats' swallow boat, silver sponsor of the event, made respective outings with the parents of interested athletes to enjoy the races on the water.

In this 60th anniversary, the Gran Día de la Vela - Bufete Frau also paid a very special tribute to Nano Barceló, father of the Olympian Paula Barceló, a sailor closely linked to this event from its beginnings and the architect, as a Sailing Director of the CNA in the mid-2000s, of the relaunch of this regatta to achieve the current vigor.

Of course, all this would have been impossible without the team of 70 people who worked on land and sea to organize the entire logistics of the event and ensure that everything went smoothly and that from different areas such as seamanship, office, and regatta committees, marking teams, land logistics teams, coordination, communication, and catering worked day and night to ensure everything went perfectly and the organization was a success. An exceptional organization for the celebration of a historic regatta, which even had top local and national race officials. “Having a sponsor like Bufete Frau helps you give that extra to the regatta, and to bring great professionals to a social event like this,” explains one of the sports officials of the event, Alex Durán.

Indeed, adding editions to this traditional social and sporting event, already established in the regatta calendar of Palma Bay, is possible thanks to the collaboration of Bufete Frau, a sponsor for years of the event. A company whose founder, José Frau Greenfield, has a historical relationship with the club where he was trained and has sailed from an early age. The family saga continued his steps sailing at the CNA, so not only a commercial relationship unites them, but also an emotional one. “It is a pride that they bet so many years on the same event and that there is that link, it is a good collaboration and undoubtedly necessary,” assures Ferrán Muniesa, manager of the CNA. This emotional bond also makes this regatta so special. “Our marketing agency tells us not to be guided by passion, but turning our back on this event, for my family, is impossible, since the world of sailing and nautics is governed by passion, so here we are,” confesses Toni Frau, from Bufete Frau.

This year, Sa Calma Boats has also joined as a silversponsor, providing their boat so that parents could enjoy watching the races. Additionally, La Menorquina, which provides ice cream throughout the event, and Marine Pool, which supplies the technical t-shirts given to the sailors, and which are a different color every year—blue last year, red the year before, and white for this 60th edition—also sponsored the event. Many participating athletes, friends, and club members collect these t-shirts as if they were yet another trophy.

The Gran Día de la Vela - Bufete Frau is characterized each year as the event that marks the end of the summer competitions and kicks off the new sports season in the Balearic Islands. At CNA, the entire team is already working on another season full of success and dedication to sailing.