The Mahón Maritime Club wraps up the season with a large-scale event

The terrace of the Mahón Maritime Club hosted an event that marked the end of the season, with the awarding of pending sailing trophies, recognitions in canoeing, special mentions, and a tribute to the outgoing president, Antonio Hernández.

The Mahón Maritime Club concluded the 2023-24 season with the Grand End-of-Season Gala, held on Saturday, September 14, on the Club's terrace, where around 400 people gathered for a great evening. In addition to presenting all the sailing trophies and canoeing recognitions, the event honored members with over 50 years of membership with silver insignias, while the outgoing president, Antonio Hernández, received a gold insignia. The event closed with a tribute to the most outstanding athletes of the year, followed by dinner, ice cream from La Menorquina, and dancing well into the night.

The Club's president, Basilio Ferrer, opened the event by thanking the administrations, businesses, athletes, Club staff, and families for their support, which has helped the Club experience one of its best moments in its 124-year history. The event was attended by several notable figures, including the Vice President of the Insular Council, Carmen Reynés; the First Deputy Mayor of the Maó City Council, Elena Costa; the Balearic Government's Minister, Juan Manuel Lafuente; the Menorca representative of the Port Authority, Vicente Fullana; the Naval Commander of Mahón, Federico Pérez; the President of the Balearic Canoeing Federation, Juan Carlos Fuentes; the President of the Villacarlos Nautical Club, Jesús Pons Espineta; a board member of the Ciutadella Nautical Club, Xavi Cardell; the CEO of Artiem, Pepe Díaz Montañés; the Communications Director of La Menorquina, Lalo Agustina; and Carlos Sintes, representing the company Marea.

The Club awarded the Silver Insignia to members who reached 50 years of membership in 2024: Joan Mario Gomila Pons, Carlos Coll Pons, and José Gomila Vila. A well-deserved round of applause and heartfelt tribute was given to the outgoing president, Antonio Hernández, who also received the Gold Insignia. Before the Optimist, Ilca, Snipe, Cruiser, and Canoeing trophies were awarded, an emotional video summarizing the Club's year was shown.

After the individual and team titles, the Junior, Senior, and Master Canoeing teams, who were crowned Balearic champions, received the biggest applause. The same applause went to the Benjamin, Alevín, Infantil, and Cadet teams, who achieved the same title, making it a historic double victory for the Club.

Individually, special recognition was given to Damián Borrás, Sara Franceschi, Laia García, María Correa, Teresa Sánchez-Casas, Roser Gregorio, Caterina Labiano, and Claudia Vidal Morales, who was named ‘Outstanding Canoeing Athlete of the Season’. Additionally, the Board of Directors awarded the title of 'Honorary Member' to Enric Noguera and Sara Franceschi.

The final applause of the night went to the European Snipe champions, Jordi Triay and Enric Noguera, who posed with their title. They will be one of four teams from the Club participating in the World Championships in Buenos Aires between October and November.