The ‘Nàutic Café del Mar’ started its major challenge, of the 41 Copa del Rey MAPFRE

The ‘Nàutic Café del Mar-Neobookings-Rumbo Norte’, vessel of the Club Nàutic Sant Antoni (CNSA), has been at the Bay of Palma since friday, where this monday there will be races of the 41 Copa del Rey de Vela MAPFRE.

The ‘Nàutic Café del Mar’ competed in the ORC 3 class and relied on a very young crew, formed by the youth sailors of ILCA of Es Nàutic. It involves Laura Cardona, Julia Ramón, Javier Marí, Joan López, Jaume Llorens and Víctor Boned, next to the technicians Felipe Cornet and Javier Rabelo.

In this Copa del Rey there are a hundred teams participating, among them there are 16 nationalities, distributed in eight classes. Four of them will compete in real time and the rest will compete on compensated time. Today all the classes will start, except Herbalife J70 and Sotheby’s Women’s Cup, which will debut tomorrow, 1st of August. The majority of the teams, including ‘Nàutic Café del Mar’, took advantage of the sunday to train at the bay.

Today the bay will have 4 Majorica ORC categories  (1, 2, 3 and 4) and the two monotypes Club Swan 42 and ClubSwan 50. During the week the competition is divided in two series: The Previous Series (until the 2nd of August) which will be contested in six races by categories which will be defined by the number of points of each boat that starts the Final Series, the 3rd of August. This will consist of a maximum of six races, except for Herbalife J70 and Sotheby’s Women’s Cup, in which they will be able to compete up to 8 races. The ship with fewer points in each category in terms of the sixth journey of the sailing competition will receive a champion title of the 41 Copa del Rey.

The new ‘Nàutic Café del Mar-Neobookings-Rumbo Norte’ is the result of a plan that consisted  in preparing the boat and its young crew. During these previous months they have been doing tests of height and of circuit, with the goal of optimizing the rating, hull, rig and sails. With this objective, they have invested in the renovation of the sails, thanks to the contributions of the sponsors Neobookings and Rumbo Norte. They have been redesigned and adapted, after a long process of evaluating tests and experiences of the last races and the foreseeable conditions that the CNSA team could find at the Bay of Palma.

The ‘Nàutic Café del Mar’ is a fast and light ship, baptized originally with the name ‘Espada 34’. It was designed by Marcelino Botín, constructed at the shipyards of Poliser of Santander and acquired by the Club Nàutic Sant Antoni in 2015. The period of success accomplished from the beginning has generated an inertia that consolidated the project, adding the competitive side to the other training vision. In the first stage, the boat was led by Juan Carlos Sanchís, who contributed his great experience to the project in terms of tunning, clothing, trimming and all the factors that interfere in the performance and optimisation of its rating.

To this technical work, the trainers of the CNSA Felipe Cornet and Javier Rabelo have worked there and have trained its crew. To participate in an event of this category requires a great effort and dedication that is not accomplished in a month. The CNSA has planned the Copa del Rey with the intention of defending and playing out a good role, and having a clear mind that they have worked hard for the preparatory phase with the maximum intensity. The goal, without counting the end result, is to acquire experience and training.