World champions and dream yachts on the second day of the Puig Vela Classic Barcelona Regatta

Yanira, The Blue Peter, Pesa and Moonbeam III are overall leaders of the regatta.
The outcome of the day, which took place in front of the Puerto Olímpico of Barcelona, was very close.
Each sailing boat is a unique piece that the shipowners and crew take great care in maintaining each one's original essence. (16/07/2010)

Barcelona 16th of July 2010. It was in front of the Puerto Olímpico of Barcelona that the second day of the Puig Vela Class Barcelona Regatta took off. The sail boats followed the coastline very closely they reached the Wela Hotel, so that the public was able to observe the start of today's particularly tough trial from the coast.

One of the main attractions of the regatta apart from the classics, is that the sailing boats navigate very closely to one another, which enables the crew of each boat to really enjoy and appreciate their opponents' navigational skills.

Although today's weather conditions were not ideal for sailing, more wind is predicted for tomorrow, which will liven up the regatta's course.

'Yanira' overtakes 'Alba' to become leader in the classic division

'Yanira' (R.C.N. Barcelona) won the day by overtaking 'Alba' (R.C.N. Barcelona) and taking the lead, putting it at the top of the general rankings in the Classic Division. The French 'Moonbeam III' (YC Saint Tropez) in the Big Boats division and 'Pesa' (SN Trinité) in the Gaff Ketch division (trapezoid sails) and 'The Blue Peter' (Royal Corinthian YC) have finished as leaders in the Puig Vela Classic Barcelona at the end of the second day of competition, showing their credentials for victory in tomorrow's final day.

Federico García Planas' yacht 'Yanira', ahead of Barcelona's 'Marta Mas', has asserted himself as a leader in the Classic division, the 'reina' class of the trial, after defeating Luciano Diez-Canedo's 'Argos' in 4:35 of compensated time and Vittorio Cavazzana's Italian 'Emeraude' in 4:57.

'Yanira', a design by Norwegian Bjarne Aas, launched in 1954 and with an authentic luxury crew, almost all from the mythical 'Azur de Puig' con with such names as Alicia Ageno, Rosa Padrón, the world champion José María Torcida and the olympic champions Domingo Manrique and Roberto Molina, have taken second place in real time behind 'Emeraude', but its better rating (compensation coefficient) has given it the absolute triumph and lead with two points of advantage over 'Argos'.

Mathew Barker's British 'The Blue Peter', designed by Alfred Myline in 1930 and 19,65 metres in length, has reafirmed itself as the leader in the Vintage Marconi division (triangular sails) by winning today's round in both real and compensated time, ahead of Jordi Cabau's 'Sonata' by 9:27, a yacht designed by John Adler, 14.9 metres long and launched in 1937, winner of the last two editions of Almirante Conde Trophy of Barcelona de Palma and current leader of the Spanish Championships.

It is for these reasons that 'The Blue Peter' has become the top favourite for winning back its previous title, now that it has a 3 point lead over 'Sonata' and a 5 point lead over Mauro Piani's 'Amorita', which is third in the overall ranking but was only able to achieve fifth position today.

Jean Yves Roubinet's French 'Pesa', a cutter designed by Max Oertz in 1911, is the outstanding leader in the Gaff Ketch division (trapezoid sails), dominated today's course in both real and compensated time, with a 12 minute advantage in absolute time over Tim Liesenhoff's 'Marigan' , last year's winner. Ricardo Rubio's 'Gipsy' is in third place by more than twenty minutes and maintains an overall third position, 4 points away from the leader.

'Moonbeam III', with skipper Erwan Noblet, has once again proved himself to be in command of the 'Big Boats' (Long Boats) division with a lead of 3:49 over Giovanni Schiavonni's 'Stella Polare'. After today's victory the Italian team finds itself 2 points behind the British one, tomorrow's last day will decide the final winner.

The presence of the Spanish, transoceanic sailor Guillermo Altadill is really emphasized in 'Mooonbeam III', designed by William Fife III, launched in 1903 and 30,94 metres long.

Tomorrow will be the last day of competition for the Puig Vela Classic Barcelona Regatta and the Regattas Comitee, today they were supposed to complete two triangular rounds but were only able to complete one of them, so tomorrow they will attempt to complete a final round consisting of a 12 mile (22km) coastal route.

DREAM BOATS, LEGENDS OF THE SEA

Each sailing boat, a love story

Sanding the wood, polishing the bronze, repairing the tiniest imperfection.... These are all typical daily chores carried out by the shipowners, skippers and crew of vintage and classic sail boats, in order to keep them in perfect condition, ready for the moment of competition, when they will take part in regattas in tip top shape. All of the yachts are unique historical pieces that cross the waters with their legends on board.

Yanira, "the girls' boat"

In the world of competitive navigation, in which women have traditionally taken a back seat, Azur de Puig is causing a whole revolution, with its exclusively female crew it has won the most important trophies available on the international calendar, like the Mundial de vela de Menorca. This boat also stands out due to its distinguished crew, some of which come from the Infanta Doña Cristina.

Once all of their main objectives were completed, the next challenge that the crew of Azur de Puig took upon themselves with very high hopes, was the step to a classic sailing boat: the Yanira. Marta Mas, skipper of this yacht, emphasizes "the relationship that exists in this crew is what gives us so much hope of obtaining sporting success at this regatta".

Zacapa: from Rosario ( Argentina) to Barcelona via Split (Croatia)

Carlos de Javier and Jacinto Raventós, the current owners of Zacapa, found it on the internet and had no doubts about travelling to Croatia to buy it and then transporting it back to Barcelona. Its design is one of Frers JR's first, which started a whole revolution in the designs of leisure and competition sailing boats. When Carlos and Jacinto arrived at the port in Split, they found a boat in very bad condition, which had suffered a tough journey through the Atlantic Ocean from Rosario (Argentina) until the Croatian port. Far from becoming disheartened by the situation, Carlos de Javier and Jacinto Raventós made an offer on the boat, that this week, after a multitude of repairs, is taking part in its first regatta.

Before competing in this regatta, there had been a small problem to solve: they had to rename the yacht. According to Carlos de Javier, "the name of the boat is a play on words, it is a tribute to Errol Flynn's boat "Zapa", which I always dreamt of having, and the rum Zacapa Centenario Reserve 23 years, with which we celebrated its acquisition".

Sonata, a familiar sailing boat

Sonata's story wouldn't be possible without the Majorcan carpenters' collaboration, the mestres d'aixa, who have preserved this trade through sacrifice and perseverance. One of the most important, Mateo Grimalt, took charge of Mercury's restoration during 19 months, a sailing boat owned by Jordi Cabau. Since the completion of Mercury's restoration, it has been taking part in classic regattas and various competitions throughout the Mediterranean during the last 5 years.

When Jordi Cabau realised that there was a sailing boat in a hangar in Mallorca with similar design characteristics to Mercury, the year it was made... he understood that "it was destiny which brought us together". In this way Jordi Cabau converted himself into Sonata's shipowner, a boat in which he travels and competes with friends and family and in which he hopes to achieve success as he has done in previous editions of the Puig Vela Classic Regatta, a safe bet in his calendar, and in Jordi Cabau's words "is a competition that improves every year".

Almarán New York, the world nautical revolution in 1935

In the year 1935 the most prestigious nautical club of the moment was and remains today - The New York Yacht Club- organised a competition between boat designers from around the world with the aim of building 20 identical boats. The shipyards Sparkman & Myline won the competition and created the classic NY32, which was surely a great innovation in construction and competition at that time.

From those boats, which repeatedly triumphed in regattas across the world, 2 of them remain in Europe: Sirius (hull 19) and Almarán New York (hull 3). The name of the last one can be explained, according to its skipper, Manel López, "is made up of my three children's initials: Alex, Marta and Anna. New York was added because of the series that this boat belongs to.

Manel Lopez found Almarán abandoned in the hangar of an Italian port. From there he transported it to Port Ginesta in Barcelona where he completely restored it: he had to caulk the hull, put a new cover over it, fix the motors and electric system. On top of this, Manel López personally took care of all the daily tasks required for the boat's maintenance.

The Almarán New York started its international regatta career in last year's Puig Vela Classic Barcelona Regatta. This is why Manel López confesses to having "a special fondness for this regatta, which has become an unavoidable date in our competition calendar".

Results and Positions at the end of the second day

Vintage Marconi Division
.1. The Blue Peter (Royal Corinthian YC)	Mathew Barker	(1+1) 2 points
.2. Sonata (RCN Palma)	Jordi Cabau	(3+2) 5 points
.2. Amorita (RCN Barcelona)	Mauro Piani	(2+5) 7 points
Gaff Ketch Division
.1. Pesa (SN Trinité)	JY Roubinet	(1+1) 2 points
.2. Marigan (RCN Palma)	Tim Liesenhoff	(2+2) 4 points
.3. Gipsy (RCM Santander)	Ricardo Rubio	(3+3) 6 points
Classic Division
.1. Yanira (RCN Barcelona)	Marta Mas	(2+1) 3 points
.2. Argos	Luciano Diez-Canedo	(3+2) 5 points
.3. Samurai (YC Italiano)	Luigi Pavese	(4+4) 8 points
Big Boats
.1. Moonbeam III (YC S.Tropez)	Erwan Noblet	(1+1) 2 points
.2. Stella Polare (Marina Militare Italiana)	Giovanni Schiavoni	(2+2) 4 points
.3. Halloween (Royal Irish YC)	Iñigo Strez	(3+3) 6 points