The debut of the Copa del Rey Repsol de Barcos de Epoca will have to wait due to the lack of wind on the opening day. The anemometer registered 0.5 knots. The situation is set to improve considerably over the remaining three days, according to the weather forecast.
The opening of the XX Copa del Rey Repsol de Barcos de Epoca will have to wait. The wind decided not to make an appearance today at the Mahón regatta course after a light breeze inside the harbour gave the organising committee a fleeting glimmer of hope, as they lowered the postponement flag on land at 12.00 noon. At that moment, 7 knots of north wind were blowing, a very fair intensity but sufficient to try to start what would have been the first race of the Cup. However, a cloud just above the mouth of the natural harbour of Mahón remained immovable and prevented the wind from picking up.
At 14.33 hours, Ariane Mainemare, chief race officer, decided to send the fleet back to port. The anemometer was reading 0.5 knots from the NNE and the sea surface was what in Menorcan is called ‘una bassa d'oli’. Impossible conditions for sailing.
Mainemare pointed out that the forecasts were already announcing ‘a complicated day’ with little wind. ‘We have decided to postpone on shore based on this forecast. The committee went out to sea to check the real situation and when we saw that we had 6-7 knots of light breeze, we lifted the postponement. Unfortunately, it fell again in the time it took the boats to get to the race course. After two and a half hours on the water, we have decided to call off the race scheduled for today. Conditions for tomorrow are forecast to be better with a NE wind from 11am. In those conditions, we should be able to organise a good race,’ he explained.
The high resolution models are indeed forecasting winds of between 8 and 10 knots for Thursday, an intensity that, according to Nacho Marra, director of the Club Marítimo de Mahón and the Copa del Rey Repsol, and a good connoisseur of the weather dynamics of the Mahón coast, could be reinforced if, as forecast, the sun warms up and the temperatures rise. ‘We will have to wait, but we are confident that we will be able to complete three good days at the end of the competition, given that the forecast for Friday and Saturday is quite good, with medium easterly winds, ideal for classic and vintage boats’.
The fleet of the XX Copa del Rey de Barcos de Época is made up of 43 boats from 10 countries, most of them belonging to the Classics category (boats launched between 1950 and 1975), where the Argos (1968) will be looking for its sixth consecutive victory. In this edition, seven large yachts will compete in the Big Boats class, reserved for lengths equal to or greater than 24 metres. Three of them were present in last year's regatta (Viveka, Hallowe'en and Mariska), three others had not been in Mahón for some time (Tuiga, The Lady Anne and Mariette) and the last one is a first. This is the Orianda (1937), an impressive schooner of almost 26 metres designed by Oscar W. Dahlstrom, built in Denmarc and which today sails under the British flag.
In the Cangreja Epoch category (boats launched before 1950 with trapezoidal rig) a spectacular ‘combat’ is on the horizon between two of the few survivors of the NY40 saga designed and built by Herreshoff. The Rowdy (three times winner of the Copa del Rey Repsol) and the Chinook (twice champion) will face each other for the first time in Mahón after the former, with the help of her owner Donna Dye, decided to modify her rig to Cangreja to recover the original configuration of the boat.
The competition in Bermudian Era (boats launched before 1950 with trapezoidal rig) also promises strong emotions. The fleet, made up of ten boats, this year includes top level units such as the Argyll (1948), Varuna (1938), Sonata (1937), Manitou (1937) or Comet (1946), all of them regulars on the international Mediterranean classics circuit.
The ten entries in the Spirit of Tradition (modified classics or modern boats with an antique look) will experience a very close competition. The great favourite is Calima (1970), which has won the Copa del Rey Repsol 14 times. However, its skipper and owner, Pachi Rivero, affirms that no regatta is won before it starts and that many of its rivals are of a very high level.
