Sail Racing PalmaVela a quintessential, multi-class event
by Sail Racing PalmaVela 24 Mar 11:22 GMT
2-6 May 2018
Sail Racing PalmaVela 2017 © María Muiña / Sail Racing PalmaVela
The 15th edition of Sail Racing PalmaVela, held from 2nd to 6th May on the Bay of Palma, reinforces its multi-class formula with the incorporation of the Melges 40, totalling seven one design classes. Close to one hundred teams from 22 countries, have confirmed their participation in the first great event of the Mediterranean season, which includes some brilliant world débuts, within an extremely varied fleet, and boats ranging from three to 32.5 metres in length.
Sail Racing PalmaVela is celebrating its 15th edition, a well-consolidated and truly referential event on the international multi-class racing calendar. The first great event of the Mediterranean season will be held from 2nd to 6th May, with an intense programme including four days of competition on the Bay of Palma, in both coastal and windward-leeward racing format.
Six weeks ahead of racing, close to one hundred teams from 22 countries have formally made their pre-registration in one of the 15 different classes. A novelty this year is the first time appearance of the Melges 40 class, a fast, 12-metre monohull, with a canting keel, sailed by nine crew. Five teams and four nationalities have confirmed their participation, although the fleet is expected to increase before the registration period is closed on 2nd April. The Melges 40 adds even greater value to the one design category, alongside the habitual ClubSwan 50, Swan 45, ClubSwan 42, J80, Flying Fifteen and Dragon classes.
"The incorporation of the Melges 40 demonstrates the commitment of the Real Club Náutico de Palma to real time competition, "explains Manu Fraga, the RCNP's Sport Director. "In this year's edition, we will have seven one design classes on the water, including the three Swan classes, which have once again confirmed their trust in our professional ability, and have included two RCNP events within their European circuit: Sail Racing PalmaVela and the Copa del Rey MAPFRE".
The seven one designs will share the Bay of Palma with the impressive Maxis, majestic Wallys and powerful TP52s (categorised within the Box Rule class), the massive number of IRC and ORCs (distributed by number to determine the division), the beautiful classics (categorised as Vintage, Classic and Spirit of tradition), and the competitive Hansa 303 for disabled sailing.
The multi-class vocational nature of this event is evident from the sheer diversity of the fleet, which includes boats ranging from the 3-metre Hansa 303s to the collosal WallyCentos measuring 30.5 metres in length.
World Debut
As a the first great event of the Mediterranean sailing calendar, Sail Racing PalmaVela is the perfect setting for teams to make their debut, and put their new boats to the test. This edition will see the world debut of several; generating great expectation across the board, including the impressive Wally 93 Nahita, or the five new TP52s competing for glory in the 52 SuperSeries 2018. Participation in Mallorca has been confirmed by: Andrés Soriano's British Alegre, the Italian-Argentian Azzurra owned by the Roemmers family, Harm Müller's Platoon from Germany, Hasso Platner's South-African Phoenix and Eduardo de Souza's Onda from Brazil.
Four full days of action
Racing will begin on Thursday 3rd May, at 12:00 h for all classes with the exception of the ORC, J80, Flying Fifteen, Dragón, Vintage, Classic and Spirit of Tradition classes, which will begin at 13:00h on Friday 4th May, and the Disabled Sailing from Saturday 5th May. Prize giving for all classes will be held at the Real Club Náutico de Palma on Saturday, 6th May, the last day of competition.
The IMA/Maxi and Wally classes will compete in up to six races, including two coastal races on the Bay of Palma. The IRC, Box Rule, ClubSwan 50, Swan 45, ClubSwan 42 and Melges 40 will celebrate up to seven races, including a coastal race. The J80, Flying Fifteen and Dragóns will be able to dispute a total of nine windward-leeward races. The ORC class will have a maximum of five races, including a coastal race, whilst participants in the Vintage, Classic and Spirit of Tradition classes will have three coastal races. There are four races scheduled for Disabled sailing.
The 15th Sail Racing PalmaVela features within the 2018 IMA Calendar (International Maxi Association), in the Official Wally class circuit, and the Nations Trophy Mediterranean League for the Swan One Design classes (including the ClubSwan 50, Swan 45 and ClubSwan 42).
The 15th Sail Racing PalmaVela is organised by the Real Club Náutico de Palma and the Real Federacion Española de Vela (Spanish Sailing Federation), and is sponsored by Sail Racing, with the institutional backing of the Govern de les Illes Balears (Balearic Islands Regional Government) and the Ajuntament de Palma (Palma Town Hall), with the collaboration of the Federación Balear de Vela (Baleares Sailing Federation), the Club Náutic S'Arenal (S'Arenal Yacht Club) and the Autoridad Portuaria de Baleares (Baleares Port Authority).