Gonzalo Botín`s F15 takes a comfortable victory in the Big Boats class, which for the first time has brought together seven yachts over 24 metres. Chinook (Cangreja Era), Comet (Bermudian Era), Argos (Classics) and Happy Forever (Spirit of Tradition) completed the honour roll.

‘Classic sailing is a growing hobby; once you start to like it, it's a poison for ever’. Gonzalo Botín, skipper of The Lady Anne, has declared himself in love with historic sailing after being proclaimed winner of the XX Copa del Rey Repsol de Barcos de Epoca in the Big Boats class this afternoon. The experienced Spanish sailor has praised the expertise of his crew and the excellent conservation work on the boat, an F15 designed and built by William Fife III in 1912, which has reached our days in perfect condition, as if it had just left the shipyard. Her last restoration dates back to 1999 and since then she has only required minor maintenance.

BIG BOATS

It had been 11 years since the Lady Anne had competed in the waters of Mahón. She did so in the F15 class and also won. Her performance this year has been almost perfect, if perfection exists in a sport subject to as many variables as sailing. She has won all three races sailed (on different courses and in different winds), sailing at all times at the forefront of the fleet of the seven Big Boats gathered at the Club Marítimo de Mahón. The Lady Anne's supremacy was only threatened at very specific moments by her twin, Mariska (1908), skippered by Dan Pojsak, who had to settle for the runner-up position. Keith Mills' Viveka, which today sailed an excellent race on the 17-mile course along the north coast of Menorca and crossed the finish line in second place, completed the podium of the Big Boats.

GAFF RIG

Another of the protagonists of the XX Copa del Rey Repsol was the Chinook, winner of the Época Cangreja class. Its three partial victories are not, however, the reflection of an overwhelming superiority. Its on-board duel with Rowdy was one of the most exciting ever seen in the history of the Mahón competition. Both boats were designed and built by Herreshoff in 1916 for the legendary NY40 series, but they had never met in the Copa del Rey because Rowdy was sailing a Bermudian sail until two years ago. Now that the two offer to the viewer's eye the characteristic trapezoidal rigging of the early 20th century, the differences are minimal, and the real time result of today's race is proof of this, in which the Chinook won by seven seconds after a crossing of almost 14 miles, although the time compensation has extended the advantage to two minutes.

BERMUDIAN RIG

The Comet (1946) has revalidated the victory achieved last year in Bermudian Rig after winning the three races of the Copa del Rey Repsol. Sparkman & Stephens skippered by Marc Marciano has always sailed on the bow of its main adversary, Sonata (1937), skippered by Jordi Cabau, thanks to its greater speed, although it has also been able to defend its rating very well. Today, it was eleven minutes ahead in real time and five minutes ahead in corrected. Tara Getty's Baruma (1938), which has just been recently refitted after a seven-year restoration, has finally climbed up to the third step of the podium.   

CLASSICS

The news of the day in Classics was the seventh consecutive victory of Argos in the Copa del Rey Repsol de Barcos de Epoca. Barbara Trilling's crew came second in the final race and finished the competition with four points, one less than Crivizza (1966), skippered by Gigi Rolandi. It is not often that the boat designed by Holman & Pie in 1964 and built in the Carabela shipyard gives up the lead, even in a partial race, so the Crivizza team must be credited with having shown that the Argos can be beaten.  The third place, six points behind the champion, went to Clarionet, a 1966 Sparkman & Stephens skippered by David Miles and which has shown to have a solvent crew.

SPIRIT OF TRADITION

Happy Forever (2008) finally stood in the way of the defeat of Calima (1970), which will have to wait for another opportunity to win its fifteenth victory in the Copa del Rey Repsol de Barcos de Epoca. Both have not had their best day today. Happy Forever, armed and skippered by Christian Oldendorff, was third in the 14-mile race along the north coast of Mallorca, whilst Pachi Rivero's Calima crossed the finish line in fifth position. This is the first time that Oldendorff's crew has been crowned champion of the Copa del Rey Repsol in the Spirit of Tradition category, followed by Calima, second, and Amador Magraner's Celeste di Mare (1971), which completes the podium thanks to its victory in the last leg.