Please select your home edition
Edition
Selden 2020 - LEADERBOARD

Sandberg PalmaVela Offshore Race to feature top ORC A2 in the Mediterranean

by Sandberg PalmaVela 10 Mar 18:13 GMT 25-29 April 2025
A2 Fleet - PalmaVela 2023 © Laura G. Guerra / PalmaVela

The offshore leg of the Sandberg PalmaVela, La Larga, is set to start on April 26th, bringing a rematch of the intense ORC A2 battle witnessed at the recent 200 Millas A Dos de Altea.

The duel featured Eduardo Horrach's "Azuree" (RCN Palma) and "Guaguanco IV" (CN Altea), sailed by father-and-son duo Juan and Thierry Lallemand. Horrach, owner of "Azuree", remarked, "La Larga is cementing itself as a future classic among Mediterranean offshore races. The multiple routing options between our islands make it uniquely attractive. The key difference compared to other races is the ability to adapt the course based on the weather forecast."

Just two weeks ago, the "Guaguanco IV" team claimed victory over "Azuree" by a narrow 20-minute margin after nearly 28 hours of racing, securing both the overall and ORC B class win. However, this time around, "Azuree" will be racing on home waters in the Balearic archipelago.

"The Altea race," Horrach continued, "was the perfect warm-up for us in terms of optimizing and refining our campaign. The friendly rivalry with Guaguanco—and many other competitive A2 teams—keeps pushing us to improve. Their boat is a great benchmark since it shares many characteristics with our Azuree."

The Other A2 Contenders

Beyond this battle between the smaller yachts, the Sandberg PalmaVela offshore race will also see competition among the larger ORC A2 entries. Felix Comas' "Modul" (CN Santa Ponsa), which dominated the ORC A class in Altea with a comfortable margin, will be one to watch. "Personally, I'm a huge advocate of short-handed sailing, whether A2 or A3. These formats create a deep connection with both the boat and your co-skipper," Comas explained.

The Mallorcan skipper sees a bright future for offshore racing: "Adding an offshore leg to Sandberg PalmaVela was a necessary move. The event is growing, as seen by the increasing number of top boats and high-caliber crews." Among them is "Smerit" (CN Blanes) skippered by Tito Moure, who finished just behind the overall winner Inteman (RCM Barcelona) in last year's La Larga. Inteman will return with round-the-world sailor Didac Costa at the helm. "The best part about La Larga is the strong fleet and the quality of the course," Costa said upon confirming his participation.

The ocean racing veteran highlighted the growing appeal of the Sandberg PalmaVela offshore race: "More and more boats are joining, which is fantastic. It's great to see a proper offshore circuit developing, and PalmaVela is drawing increasing attention."

However, Costa admits that results are not his primary focus: "The rating system—especially in the Mediterranean and in long-distance racing—makes it hard to gauge competitiveness, given the many geographical and meteorological variables. The results can be quite random. For me, it's about sailing well; the final ranking is secondary."

The challenge of offshore racing on an inshore boat

Another returning competitor is Oscar Chávez's "Hydra" (CN El Balís), who acknowledges the challenges of offshore racing aboard a boat designed for inshore competition: "Racing short-handed on a boat like ours is a real test. It's highly demanding due to its sail plan and deck layout."

Chávez elaborated on the difficulty of adapting an inshore-configured boat for A2 racing: "Managing a boat this size, with a tuff-luff headsail system, a mainsail of this scale, and a spinnaker pole, means we need to plan every maneuver meticulously—especially in heavy air." He added, "It's extremely physically demanding, which is why we rely heavily on a favorable weather forecast."

The Catalan owner also pointed out the rarity of a boat that performs well in both inshore and offshore racing, as well as in short-handed formats: "The DK46 is incredibly versatile, which explains why I never want to miss a race!"

With 15 days left until the registration deadline on March 25th, 40 teams have already signed up for the offshore race. The RCN Palma race committee, led by Gaspar Morey, will announce the final course just hours before the April 26 start at 12:00 PM for the 5th edition of La Larga, which will weave through the Balearic archipelago.

View Notice of Race

Related Articles

21st Sandberg PalmaVela kicks off tomorrow
With the spectacle of the Maxis in Palma Over one hundred teams representing 19 nationalities will gather in the Bay of Palma for the first major multi-class event of the season: the 21st Sandberg PalmaVela. The impressive Maxis will be the first to take the stage. Posted on 30 Apr
La Larga comes to a close
With the prize-giving ceremony at the RCNP The Real Club Náutico de Palma (RCNP) held the prize-giving ceremony for La Larga this Tuesday, 29 April, at 19h00. Posted on 29 Apr
La Larga crowns the winners of its fifth edition
Marking the official start of the 21st Sandberg PalmaVela The Real Club Náutico de Palma (RCNP) has brought the fifth edition of La Larga to a close, marking the official start of the 21st Sandberg PalmaVela. Posted on 28 Apr
'Trifork' wins La Larga line honours
The VO70 completed the 228 mile course in 24 hours and 34 minutes At 16:54 today, the VO70 "Trifork" from Real Club Náutico de Palma, skippered by Joern Larsen, crossed the finish line of La Larga after sailing 228 miles in 24 hours and 34 minutes. Posted on 27 Apr
The Battle for La Larga begins
As the fleet heads towards Ibiza With very light winds and after a postponement of more than four hours, La Larga finally got under way today at 16h20 in the Bay of Palma. Posted on 26 Apr
ORC fleets set for Sandberg PalmaVela
43 boats have registered to compete across ORC 2, ORC 3, and ORC 4/5 Beyond the large yachts of the Maxi, ORC 0, ORC 1 and Spirit of Tradition fleets, the Sandberg PalmaVela is also a key event for medium and small-sized boats. Posted on 22 Apr
La Larga reaches 30 registered teams
The offshore race of the Sandberg PalmaVela travels through the Balearic archipelago One of the most attractive offshore regattas in the Mediterranean, due to its route through the Balearic archipelago and its timing in the calendar, scheduled for the last days of April, is reaching an impressive level of competition. Posted on 25 Feb
20th PalmaVela Overall
Galateia win again at PalmaVela… but only just David Leuschen and Chris Flowers' Wallycento Galateia won the Maxi class at PalmaVela for the third time in a row today in light winds on Palma Bay. Whilst last year's triumph was something of a whitewash, this time they were made to work all the way. Posted on 5 May 2024
20th PalmaVela Day 3
Advantage Galateia as Maxi class goes into final light winds Sunday Five times America's Cup winning Kiwi sailing legend Murray Jones, the tactician on the Wally Cento Galateia wears only half a smile when he rails against the suggestion that, for them, PalmaVela is a mere warm up before the Maxi season. Posted on 4 May 2024
20th PalmaVela Day 2
Classic Palma sea breeze day sees the event at full size As the giant PalmaVela multiclass regatta mustered all 12 classes which are competing at this 2024 edition of the Med's traditional curtain raiser, it was 'back to normal' Palma Bay at its spring best. Posted on 3 May 2024