The Pro-Rigging Trophy crowns the best sailors of Optimist, ILCA, Snipe, and OK Dinghy.

The regatta organized by the Real Club Náutico de Palma has brought together 272 sailors from the Optimist, ILCA, Snipe, and OK Dinghy classes.

The sailor from the Real Club Náutico de Palma (RCNP), Jan Palou, 12 years old, was proclaimed yesterday, February 23, the absolute winner and under 13 of the Pro-Rigging Regatta in the Optimist class. The competition, which brought together 272 boats, was held last weekend under the organization of the Real Club Náutico de Palma and consisted of five races for all classes, except for the beginner's category Optimist D, which completed two races. The day of February 23 was marked by rain and north wind, which blew with an average of 15 knots.

Palou, winner of the last edition of the Trofeo Ciutat de Palma, won four of the five races and beat his closest rival, Adrián Rodríguez from Club Marítimo San Antonio de la Plata, by five points. Dani Capa from Club Nàutic Estanyol occupied the third step of the absolute Optimist podium.

In the female category, the victory was taken by the sailor from Club de Vela Andratx Nerea García, followed by Clara Garcia Ollé and Sibila Busquets, both from the Real Club Náutico de Palma.

The winner in Optimist D, the category where the generally youngest sailors compete, freshly out of the initiation schools, was Álvaro Sanz, from the RCNP. He was joined on the podium by Telmo Tienza, from Club Nàutic Arenal, and Heros Pons, representing Club Marítimo de Mahón. The three were awarded the Timoncito prize granted by Gaceta Náutica.

The Pro-Rigging Regatta also brought together a significant fleet of Lasers, which competed divided into the ILCA 4 and ILCA 6 classes, with an official trophy for the male and female categories. The best boy of the ILCA 4 was Toni Truyols, from Club Nàutic Sa Ràpita (CNR), who managed to overcome Nikko Palou (RCNP) on the last day. The third position was for Joan Mas (CNR). The female ranking was headed by Marina Garau, from Club Nàutic Arenal, followed by Raquel Conde (RCNP) and Lucía Salas, who competes for the Clun Nàutic Cala Gamba.

Juan Bennàssar won in ILCA 6 male, with the representative from Reial Club Nàutic Port de Pollença Ismael Aish in the second place and Luis Álvarez (RCNP) in third, while the female podium was formed by Aina Garau (CNA), in first position; María Rosselló (RCNP), second, and Lucía Cardona (CNA), as the bronze medal.

The senior classes also carried out a program of five races. Tom Baylis was the victor in OK Dinghy, a boat with which the Real Club Náutico de Palma has managed to attract numerous adult sailors to light sailing competitions. Malte Petersen and Fabian Rossbacher formed the rest of the podium.

In Snipe, Víctor Pérez and Rafael Benítez, from Club Marítimo San Antonio de la Playa, managed to maintain the leadership obtained on the first day and won a tight victory ahead of Enric Noguera and Cristian Vidal, from Club Marítimo de Mahón, and Kai Dost and Ignacio Peguero, from Nàutico de Palma.

Pedro Marí, technical director of sailing at the Real Club Náutico de Palma, expressed great satisfaction with the development of the regatta. 'It has been two days with very different conditions. On Saturday we had to wait for the wind to come in, which eventually blew from the SW but was not enough to complete the program. Therefore, on Sunday we decided to go out to sea earlier, anticipating that the rain could complicate things. However, although it has rained lightly for almost the entire day, the NE wind has remained quite stable.'

The trophy ceremony, held on February 23 at 18:00 hours in the Sala Magna of the Real Club Náutico de Palma, was attended by Cati Darder, president of the Balearic Sailing Federation (FBV); Jorge Forteza, commodore of the RCNP; Hugo Ramón, sailing member of the RCNP, Rodrigo Sanz, general director of Pro-Rigging, and Elena Pipó, director of Gaceta Náutica.