- The south-west (garbí) wind and a coastal course along the beaches favored the unbeatable sailing conditions
- Both tourists and locals gathered in several emblematic points, such as the Port Vell, the Barceloneta beaches and Sant Miquel to admire this unique show which brings together art and sports
- Guia, Argos, Moonbeam of Fife, Marigold, and Cippino prevailed in the first day of the Puig Vela Clàssica regatta
The Puig Vela Clàssica regatta, one of the main events in the Mediterranean for classic and vintage sailing, started today at the Real Club Náutico de Barcelona (RCNB). Over 500 yachtsmen in 44 vessels are taking part in one of the most breathtaking shows of international navigation.
The debut of the 12th edition of the Puig Vela Clàssica regatta will be hard to forget, thanks to the excellent sailing conditions and to the wise choice of the race committee with the regatta’s course.
At 1:00 pm, the starting signal got the two Classic fleet under way; followed by the Vintage graff-rigged, the Vintage Bermudian and the Big Boats with three other starts. The established course had four legs, starting right off the Port Olímpic towards an outer mark across from the Barceloneta beach, a long running stretch until Masnou, and back to the Barceloneta mark in close-haul, plus a short final leg running back to the start zone. The five categories sailed an identical 18-mile course, which made for an easy follow-up of the race an offered some memorable moments as the different fleet got mixed.
If the course was beautiful and technically demanding, the conditions in the Barcelona regatta field were also superb. The south-west thermal wind was blowing at 16 knots at the start, gradually increasing to an intensity of 21-22 knots. But, fortunately for the small and medium lengths, waves were small considering the strength of the wind, which prevented the close-haul from Masnou to Barceloneta from becoming a nightmare.
Marigold, Cippino, Guia, Argos, and Moonbeam of Fife lead the race on the first day of the overall classification
Suspense on the contested category of Cassic 1 began right from the start line, when the favorites Guia and Emeraude made an early start and were forced to go back to start afresh, beginning the maneuver a little late and, thus, falling considerably behind.
But this initial setback served them as a spur to charge back and become the leaders of the race. As it turns out, the Emeraude crossed first the finish line and scored third after time compensation, while the Guia crossed second but achieved the victory after the handicaps correction. Between the two, the Outlaw slipped in the second position.
In the Classic 2 fleet, the Argos had no rival, dominating the final classification with an advantage of more than 6 minutes over the Ojalá I, and more that 13 minutes over the Madrifa.
As if it were a Vintage Bermudian match race, the Argentinian Cippino and the Uruguayan Fjord competed and controlled one another unflaggingly over the near three hours it took them to complete the course. Crossing the finish line with a 17-second difference, the Cippino raised the chrono to 33 seconds after time compensation. The third position on the podium was for the Argyll.
The Vintage gaff-rigged boats, had the Marigold as the winner of the day, after keeping the Veronique at bay, with an advantage of 1’30”, while the Marigan scored third.
The four Big Boats participating in the 12th Puig Vela Clàssica regatta had a clear leader in the Moonbeam of Fife, which knew how to take advantage of today’s strong wind to clearly beat the Halloween, while the Black Swan and the Nordwind didn’t finish the race.
Results and classifications at the end of the first day
Ranking of the day:
Classic 1
Classic 2
Big boats
Vintage Bermudian
Vintage gaff-rigged
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