TP52 Regatta Breitling at Puerto Portals, Mallorca - Preview

Who'd pick the winner?

It will be the biggest Breitling MedCup TP52 circuit of the year. The Regatta Breitling, which is hosted from Puerto Portals and raced on the Bay of Palma, has drawn a maximum entry of 24 TP52s.

While one and sometimes two boats of the active Med Fleet TP52's have, or will miss the one of the five circuit events this season, the four day Breitling Regatta, which starts Thursday, has drawn a full house.

In itself that could make it probably the hardest fought regatta we have seen yet, but factor in the return of the various crew members who were unavailable in Alicante due to America's Cup commitments, and the optimising and tuning work that will have been completed between that curtain raiser and the start of Breitling, and this promises to be the hottest TP52 regatta yet.

Ask around the owners and crews and no one will predict a winner of this intense, four day series which starts Thursday, finishes Sunday and will comprise three days of windward-leeward racing and one day of coastal racing.

Alicante proved that Russell Coutts has immediately established the new Judel-Vroljik designed Artemis as one of the boats to beat. Had one error in reading or executing the course for the coastal race not cost them dearly, there is little doubt Artemis would have triumphed at their maiden regatta outing.

The return to Valle Romano Mean Machine of Ray Davies, Stu Bettany and the ETNZ team who were fully engaged in their Cup preparations during Alicante, may add the edge that cost them at the start of Alicante. Peter de Ridder's crew proved strong on the coastal races but their opening day cost them overall victory.

From afterguard crew-mates on Emirates Team New Zealand to TP52 rivals – just as they were last year, ETNZ's tactician Terry Hutchinson will be at the back of Doug de Vos' Windquest (familiar to him as Warpath) – where he will be looking to get the better of Valle Romano Mean Machine. Terry will sail on Bribon at the Copa del Rey.

And ETNZ's Ian Moore takes up his role on Eamon Conneely's new Patches. Skippered by Ian Walker, Patches had their own teething problem – just one – which dropped them from contention on the Coastal Race.

Bribon, Jose Cusi's new boat, won the Trofeo Alicante and leads the series, but can they maintain that winning momentum? SM Juan Carlos will be on board Bribon for both Breitling and for the Copa del Rey, and it is understood he will be on the helm, so it will be interesting to see if he can keep Bribon in the winning groove.

Many of the new boats – reports from the yards suggest Bribon, Artemis, Caixa Galicia and Stay Calm - have made alterations to their keel bulbs, a relatively standard process whereby the 'galleries' are filled to maximise VCG and the bulbs re-milled to reduce wetted surface. The net effect should be a speed gain.

"For us it will be tough to win again in Portals." Says the Troefo Alicante winning Bribon's project manager Ignacio Triay, "I think that Artemis is the boat to beat. I think that we will see Caixa Galicia and Mutua Madrilena better than they were in Alicante, but so also Patches can win and Mean Machine can win. Anyone can win."

Triay points out that while there have been great sea breeze conditions for the past week off his native Bay of Palma, it is not always the one sided track that it is sometimes portrayed.

"For example when the you see the easterly and the SW'ly sea breeze fighting it is never that cleat what will happen."

It is all on for the Regatta Breitling.