The Lady Anne (1912), Chinook (1916), Comet (1946) and Argos (1964) leave the regatta practically sealed in their classes. Calima and Happy Forever will play it all out on the last day. The wind blew generously today on the Mahón race course.

The Mahón race course today offered its best version for the third day of the Copa del Rey Repsol de Barcos de Época. After the suspension of the first day of competition and the wind that yesterday barely allowed a 6.5 mile course to be completed, Eolo was generous with the fleet of 43 historic boats that are fighting these days in Menorca for the most prized trophy in Spanish classic sailing. All the starts were on schedule, the north-easterly breeze did not drop below 8 knots - with some gusts of 12 on the southern leg - and the finishing line could be set up inside the port of Mahón, with the Isla del Rey and the fortress of La Mola in the background. ‘In the words of Nacho Marra, director of the Club Marítimo de Mahón and of the Copa del Rey Repsol, it was an almost perfect day.

GAFF RIG

The day left spectacular scenes in all classes, and in particular in the Gaff category, where, today, the duel between the twins Rowdy and Chinook, both designed by Herreshoff and launched in 1916, offered truly vibrant moments. The two boats sailed evenly throughout the 19.2 nautical mile course and crossed the finish line just 23 seconds apart. Many witnesses to the ‘fight’ thought that Rowdy, with its new Gaff rig, had won the race, as it was the ‘winner’ in real time, but the time compensation gave its adversary an advantage of three minutes and twenty-five seconds. How could this be? Very easy: although they look identical, there are notable differences in their configuration. Chinook is the virtual winner of the XX Copa del Rey Repsol, with two first places in as many races.

BIG BOATS

The competition in the Big Boat class, where for the first time in history seven boats over 24 metres in length meet, consisted for yet another day in the exhibition of the three F15s designed by William Fife, motorboats conceived to devour miles at the beginning of the 20th century that today, more than a century later, conserve all their performance and beauty. Gonzalo Botín and his crew of The Lady Anne (1912) added a new partial victory and tomorrow they will be able to limit themselves - if they so decide - to mark their adversaries: Mariska (1908) and Tuiga (1909). Among the rest of the giants gathered in Mahón, Viveka (1929), winner in 2022 and today a contender for fourth place, stood out as a privileged witness to the dance of the F15s.     

BERMUDIAN

Comet (Sparkman & Stephens, 1946) set course for what tomorrow could be its second consecutive victory in the Copa del Rey Repsol.

Marc Marciano's crew once again sailed at a very high level, and won with authority over their two main rivals, Sonata (1937), skippered by Jordi Cabau, and Varuna (1939), skippered by Jens Kellinghusen.The leader gained a comfortable lead of four minutes over the second placed yacht and will only need to control his rivals on tomorrow's final day to secure the victory.Comet was built at the Henry Grebes shipyard and sailed its first years on the Great Lakes.In the 1970s, she completed a round-the-world race.After her restoration at the Gweek shipyard in Cornwall, she became a regular in classic regattas.CLASSICSWhat to say about the Argos?The last time she did not win a regatta is lost in the mists of time.Bárbara Trilling's crew has been victorious in the last six editions of the Copa del Rey Repsol, and it is not expected to do so for the seventh time tomorrow. Is it an invincible boat and an invincible team?If we look at their most recent record, there is no doubt about it.If we look at the details of each race, there is no doubt either.Today, they were eleven minutes ahead of second-placed Crivizza, a beautiful Alan Buchanan design from ‘66, and seventeen minutes ahead of third-placed Clarionet, a Sparkman & Stephens from the same year.In the Argos, two decisive factors came together: a boat that defends its rating very well and a crew that is handling it wonderfully, although today it went really badly. No success over such a long period can be the result of chance.    

SPIRIT OF TRADITION

With the Cup decided in the remaining classes, Christian Oldendorff's Happy Forever and Calima have decided to keep the excitement going until the last board in Spirit of Tradition. Both boats go into tomorrow's final round tied on three points. The winner of the final race will win the Copa del Rey Repsol. Calima (1970), skippered by Pachi Rivero, has done so on fourteen occasions. In other words, it has only lost five times since the Club Marítimo de Mahón launched this competition in 2003. They are boats with very different speeds that barely coincide on the starting line, but today it was clear that Happy Forever, much faster in real time, can also win in compensated conditions, in normal conditions, with average winds and over a distance of 20 miles. Legolas (1996) remains vigilant in third.