32nd Copa del Rey MAPFRE - Day 4

Aifos at the 32nd Copa del Rey MAPFRE © Jesus Renedo / 32nd Copa del Rey MAPFRE

'Aifos' skippered by the Prince of Spain wins the last race

The fourth day of competition of the 32nd Copa del Rey MAPFRE completed two windward/leeward races in all classes except for G.H. Mumm ORC 1 and ORC 2, which sailed a coastal race (not possible to discard) around the Bay of Palma. The Soto 40, X-35 as well as the J80 class have accomplished eight races already, so their worst result can be discarded.

With only two days left until the end of the regatta, the provisional overall results are headed by British "Alegre" in the Hublot IRC 0 class, Italian "B2" in Hublot IRC 1, American "Quantum Racing" in Gaastra IRC 52, Spanish "Rats on Fire "in G.H. Mumm ORC 1, "Movistar" in G.H. Mumm ORC 2, and "Vamos Spain" in Nespresso Soto 40, Italian "Margherita" in La Caixa X-35 and Spanish "Turismo do Algarve" in Mahou J80.

Hublot IRC 0

Andres Soriano's British "Alegre" finally broke today the three-way tie at the top of the Hublot IRC 0 fleet. Soriano's team took two bullets today and is for the first time leading its class. Following "Alegre" there is fellow Sir Peter Ogden's "Jethou" (3-2 today) and Alessandro Rombelli's Italian "Stig" (2-3), tied both at 17 points.

Hublot IRC 1: Victory for "Aifos"

The Hublot IRC 1 class sailed two races today. French "Team Vision Future" won the first race of the day, ahead of the class leader Italian "B2". In the second race, "Aifos" skippered by Prince Felipe took the victory, by only three seconds over German "Speedy". Their first win of the week allows the Spanish Navy's boat to climb up from fifth to fourth in the class provisional overall.

Gaastra IRC 52

Today it has been the perfect day for Ed Baird's "Quantum Racing", who won both races and is holding on to the front of the Gaastra IRC 52 class, now 5.5 points ahead of Niklas Zennström's Swedish "Rán" (2-3). Alberto Roemmers's Italian "Azzurra" (7-2), who had to take a penalty at the start of the first race, completes the overall podium.

G.H. Mumm ORC 1 and ORC 2 (coastal race)

Both fleets G.H. Mumm ORC shared a 28-mile coastal race course along the bay of Palma.

In G.H. Mumm ORC 1, Rafael Carbonell's "Rats on Fire" took the victory by less than a minute over Romanian "Natalia" after more than three hours of racing. The Spanish boat maintains the lead in its class, now with 13 points ahead of Axel Rodger's "Grupo Clínico Dr. Luis Senis", sixth today.

In G.H. Mumm ORC 2, today's victory went to Ignacio Campos' "Tanit IV", ahead of Pedro Campos' "Movistar" and Iñaki Castañer's "X-Spain". After six races, "Movistar" continues leading the provisional overall, five points ahead of "X-Spain".

Nespresso Soto 40

Pichu Torcida's "Vamos Spain" remains leader in the Nespresso Soto 40 class despite finishing fourth in both races today. His nearest rival is Juan Reid's Chilean "Mitsubishi Motors", who benefits from the discard by deleting a painful seventh scored in the second race of the day. They are both now separated by five points on a podium completed by French "Antares". Victories today went to German "Earlybird" and Britain's "Cutting Edge".

La Caixa X-35

The Italian teams managed to oust out of the provisional podium Ignacio Camino's Spanish "Red Eléctrica de España", fourth after applying the discard. Victories today have gone to Alessandro Solerio's "Lelagain" and Andrea Bruschi's "XSuntleones". Roberto Mazzucato's "Margherita" (2-2) leads the overall with a three-point margin over "Lelagain" (1-3) and seven over "XSuntleones" (4-1).

Mahou J80

It seems like Hugo Rocha's "Turismo do Algarve" is not too worried about the discards since it continues unbeatable: eight wins in eight races. In the first race of the day, Giacomo Loro's "Atila" enjoyed a momentary lead but finished second, followed by Marc Patiño's "Opera Season". In the second race, Rocha won again followed by Carlos Martinez's "Deltastone" and Leonardo Armas' "Herbalife". The provisional overall, once applied the discard, confirms the power of "Turismo do Algarve", 12 points ahead of "Deltastone" and 17 over José María Van der Ploeg's "Factor Energía".

Tomorrow, more races

The regatta program for the 32nd Copa del Rey MAPFRE continues tomorrow on its fifth day of competition. The entire fleet will compete in windward/leeward races, with the first start scheduled at 13h00. The regatta will finish on Saturday.

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