The ‘Nàutic Café del Mar’ stands out at the Copa del Rey for having the youngest crew at the regatta

The 41st edition of the Copa del Rey of sailing, has crowned its winners. A leading competition of the sailing calendar in which the Club Nàutic Sant Antoni has participated in for the first time in its history, with the renewed ship ‘Nàutic Café del Mar-Neobookings-Rumbo Norte’ and the youngest crew of the competition, made up of sailors between the ages of 12 and 16, of ILCA and CNSA, and the technicians Javier Rabelo and Felipe Cornet.

At this Copa del Rey it has been attended by hundreds of teams of 16 nationalities, distributed in eight categories: Majorica ORC (1, 2, 3 and 4), Herbalife J70, Sotheby’s Women’s Cup, and the monotypes ClubSwan 42 and 50. The ‘Nàutic Café del Mar’ has confronted 20 boats, accomplishing the 17th position and feels very positive, according to the technicians, after six intense days of races they finished in 12th place in one of the races, the best results yet obtained by the CNSA, which was facing the opponent crew which were very experiences and totally fine-tuned vessels.

“The team has clearly gone from less to more. There has been an evolution as for the crew and for the boat, which we accomplished to optimize, and we feel very happy. In the last journey we sailed between 12 to 18 knots, with some gusts of wind, and we have achieved the 12th position, that with the level that there is at the Copa del Rey it is very good. Such as Felipe Cornet, the other technician, and I are really satisfied with the experience and the progression. We thank the sponsors and the club for making it possible for this opportunity” , explains Javier Rabelo.

The crew of ‘Nàutic Café del Mar’ has been formed by Laura Cardona, Julia Ramón, Javier Marí, Joan López, Jaume Llorens and Víctor Boned, all of the sailors of ILCA of CNSA, next to the Felipe Cornet and Javier Rabelo. Moreover the ‘Nàutic Café del Mar-Neobookings-Rumbo Norte’ has won two sponsors to participate  for the first time in this race (Neobookings and Rumbo Norte) and its equipment has been modified to optimize its performance at the competition. The past months before the date at Palma, they made tests of altitude and circuit, to optimize the rating and hull tuning, rig and sails. With this goal, they made an important investment to renovate the sails, thanks to the collaboration of the sponsors. These were redesigned and adapted, after a long process of valuing at the tests and the experience in the last regattas.

The ‘Nàutic Café del Mar’ is a fast and light vessel, baptized originally with the name of ‘Espada 34’. It was designed by Marcelino Botín, constructed at the shipyards of Polisyer of Santander and acquired by the Club Nàutic Sant Antoni in 2015. The phase of success accomplished by from the beginning created a training education. At a first phase, the boat was led by Juan Carlos Sanchís and then by the trainers of CNSA, Felipe Cornet and Javier Rabelo.