The Copa del Rey MAPFRE Kicks Off in the Bay of Palma

The opening day of the 42nd Copa del Rey MAPFRE allowed the competition program to be fulfilled and opened the battle for the title in six of the eight participating classes. In the highly competitive Watches of Switzerland ORC 0, the Aifos helmed by King Felipe and the Teatro Soho Altavista of Javier Banderas shared the day's victories, positioning themselves as contenders for the title.

The first day of competition saw six of the eight classes and 79 of the 123 teams that will compete for the 42nd Copa del Rey MAPFRE until next Saturday gathering in the Bay of Palma. Good wind conditions allowed for the two scheduled races in each category to be held.

The initial leaders of this edition are the Spaniards Pez de Abril in ClubSwan 42, Teatro del Soho – Altavista in Watches of Switzerland ORC 0, and Limmens – Laplaza Assessors in Altavista ORC 2; the Germans Earlybird in ClubSwan 50 and Meerblick in Balearia ORC 3; and the Estonian Katarina II in Odilo ORC 1.

In the Watches of Switzerland ORC 0 class, King Felipe resumed his role as helmsman of the Aifos. The Spanish Navy's boat started the week strong by winning the opening race, marking the first victory for the King since the last day of the 2022 edition, signaling their intentions after finishing as runners-up in 2023. In the second race, the Aifos finished third, dropping to second place overall. The initial class leader is Teatro del Soho Altavista, owned by Javier Banderas and helmed by Daniel Cuevas (champion of the last three ORC 2 editions), who finished with a second and a first, returning to RCNP with a narrow lead over Aifos.

In Odilo ORC 1, the leaderboard is topped by Katarina II of Aivar Tuulberg, thanks to the best class scores (1+3). The Estonian boat leads by one point over HM Hospitales Hydra of Óscar Chaves (3+2) and by two points over the defending champion, Elena Nova of Christian Plump, who paid dearly for a false start in the first race (5+1).

In Altavista ORC 2, the provisional leaderboard shows a tie at the top between leader Limmens – Laplaza Assessors of Alexandre Laplaza (champion of 2018 and 2019) and Katara of Argentine Julián Somodi.

In Balearia ORC 3, Meerblick of German Otto Pohlmann had a perfect day, returning to land with the best scorecard in all classes and a solid three-point lead over the Huelva-based Varicentro D6 of Manuel Sanz (3+2).

Earlybird is the initial leader in the competitive ClubSwan 50 class. The boat of owner-helmsman Hendrik Brandis and tactician Nic Asher, champion of 2016, 2017, and 2018, won the first race and was second in the next, leading by three points over the defending champion, Hatari of fellow German Marcus Brennecke (5+1). Third is Moonlight of Graeme Peterson (2+5).

In ClubSwan 42, the battle for the title began with a tie at the top between leader Pez de Abril of Murcian José María Meseguer (champion in 2017 and 2018) and Canopo of Italian Adriano Majolino, who shared the day's race victories. Nadir of Mallorcan Pedro Vaquer, champion of the last two editions, is third, two points behind.

The social program of the day began early at the RCNP and included the launch of the three boats of the regatta's sustainability fleet. After returning to land post-competition, crews enjoyed live music and gastronomy on the club's terrace. The day concluded with the Owners' Dinner at the Castillo Hotel Son Vida.

Today, Wednesday, the fleet of the 42nd Copa del Rey MAPFRE will be completed with the addition of 30 Sandberg Estates J70 teams and 14 Women's Cup Class teams. The first starting signal is scheduled for 12:00 PM.