J70 class in the 53rd OOA Conde de Godó Sailing Trophy at Real Club Nautico de Barcelona

The Canary Islands crew 'HSN Sailing Team' were crowned champions - 53rd OOA Conde de Godó Sailing Trophy in Barcelona © Óscar Torveo

This weekend, the 53rd edition of the OOA Conde de Godó Sailing Trophy took place in the waters off Barcelona, organised by the Real Club Náutico de Barcelona, and coinciding with the third event of the Barcelona Spring Series. The overall victory went to the 'HSN Sailing Team', following a weekend of extremely close competition and a particularly tight finish among the main title contenders.

For the first time in 53 years, the organisers of the Conde de Godó Trophy wisely decided to separate the class competitions in the calendar; thus, this weekend has been dedicated to the J70 one-design competition; next weekend will see the BCN Race inshore regatta for cruisers of various categories; and the last weekend in May will see all ORC categories competing on windward-leeward courses. This change makes it easier to attract a larger number of participants in both events, as many sailors compete in both one-design and ORC classes.

As is customary in J70 regattas in Barcelona, international participation played a significant role. On this occasion, two new countries were added - Turkey and South Korea - alongside the usual nations such as Germany, the United Kingdom, Portugal, Austria, Hungary, Denmark and Spain.

Friday

On the first day of the regatta, two of the three scheduled races were held, due to the threat of a storm approaching the Catalan capital, which ultimately failed to materialise. These races took place in an easterly wind ranging from 6 to 12 knots and with an uncomfortable swell that pushed the crews to their limits.

In the first race, Jürgen Waldheim's German boat "Waikiki" came out on top, followed by the "HSN Sailing Team", with Kim Christensen's Danish boat "Soffe" in third place.

In the second race, Javier Serck's "Gunter" secured a very solid victory, followed by Thomas Müller's Austrian "Phantom 7" and Món Cañellas' "HangTen" in third. With the "HSN Sailing Team" finishing 4th and "Waikiki" 5th, the German "Waikiki" ended the day as leader, tied with "HSN", with "HangTen" in third, just one point behind the leaders.

Saturday

On the second day, the sun shone all day long, the wind shifted to the south, and four races were held with wind speeds ranging from 6 to 14 knots. On this day, all the competitors had a bad race and recorded their worst result, which would ultimately be their discard. The first race was won by the "HSN Sailing Team" with Javier Padrón from Gran Canaria at the helm, followed by Luis Martín Cabiedes' "Noticia", and third was "Bodega Can Marlés" with Alejandro Pérez from Tenerife at the helm.

The second race was won by the Austrian "Phantom 7", followed by the German "Diva" and "HSN". In the next race, "HSN" was off the line (OCS) and was forced to fight back to seventh place, with victory going to "Diva", followed by "Noticia" and, in third place, "Waikiki", which was back among the leaders. In the final race of the day, "HSN" once again rushed the start and eventually fought back to fifth place. First across the finish line was the German "Grün", followed by "Noticia" who repeated their second-place finish, and third was once again the Danish "Soffe", as had been the case in the first race of the trophy.

Following these mixed results, the Canarian "HSN Sailing Team" moved into provisional lead, followed by "Noticia" just two points behind and "HangTen" in third place on the podium.

Sunday

The final day took place in much more stable conditions than the previous days, with a mix of sun and clouds and an easterly wind blowing at between 7 and 10 knots. The race committee managed to complete three of the four scheduled races on a course of approximately 0.9 nautical miles.

The first race of the day was won by the German team "Diva", skippered by Kai-Uwe Hollweg, followed by the "HSN Sailing Team" skippered by Javier Padrón and Luis Martín Cabiedes' "Noticia", with both boats featuring in a spectacular finish decided by mere tenths of a second.

In the second race, "Hang Ten" took the lead on the windward leg with a significant advantage that allowed it to win the race; behind them, the chasing pack maintained a thrilling battle, and in the final stretch it was the "HSN Sailing Team" that crossed the line in second place after a spectacular downwind run, whilst the German "Diva" once again completed the provisional podium. "Noticia" finished that race in 8th place, and this result mathematically secured the Conde de Godó Trophy for the Canarian "HSN Sailing Team" from the RCN de Gran Canaria and the RCN de Barcelona.

The third and final race of the championship once again produced an extremely close finish, with a clear victory for the "HSN Sailing Team", followed by "Noticia" and "HangTen", who fought an exciting battle for those podium places.

Final outcome

Throughout the day, the crews fought relentlessly for every position in a fleet where the margins were razor-thin and every manoeuvre proved decisive for the final standings. After nine races contested over the three days of competition, the final podium of the 53rd OOA Conde de Godó Sailing Trophy in the J70 class was made up of the "HSN Sailing Team" in first place, followed by "Noticia" and the German boat "Diva". The winner team is Javier Padrón (skipper), Gustavo del Castillo (tactician), Ricardo Terrades (trimmer) and Adolfo López (bowman).

In addition to the Conde de Godó OOA Trophy championship, the day also marked the conclusion of the J70 Barcelona Spring Series, a circuit organised by the Real Club Náutico de Barcelona during the spring season. The overall winner of the Barcelona Spring Series, comprising three monthly events held since March and a total of 23 races, was Luis Martín Cabiedes' "Noticia" with 56 points, followed by the "HSN Sailing Team" (65 points) and Món Cañellas' "HangTen" (73 points).

Next event

The Spanish J70 fleet is already preparing for the next major event on the calendar, the Spanish Championship, which will take place from 4 to 7 June at Port Olimpic in Barcelona, organised by Club Náutic Garraf. International participation is also expected, as this national championship will serve as a training event for many teams taking part in the upcoming European Championship, which will also be held in Barcelona at the end of July.