The Ria de Pontevedra was the setting for an action-packed fifth day of the Trofeo Xacobeo. The event, held by the Real Club Náutico de Sanxenxo (RCNS), and that will decide the new 6 Metre European champions, held two more races on the racecourse in Sanxenxo, leaving the sights open for the final challenge with the two leaders who aspire to claim the continental title on Saturday: “Bribon” in the Classics division and the Finnish team “Oiva” in the Open.

The day began with a dubious meteorological forecast, and after the postponement flag was raised at 11:00h, the race officials and marks team were back out on the water to measure the wind conditions, particularly conscious of a light breeze that finally settled enough to be able to start the day’s racing.

Finally, shortly after 13:15h, the situation improved, and the committee were able to start racing on the racecourse located in front of Sanxenxo. The westerly wind, of about seven knots, enabled two races to be held and the discard option to be included for the classification still be decided.

“Aida” reaches the podium and “Bribon” resists leadership in the Classics

Francisco Botas’ “Aida” with Javier de la Gándara at the helm, was undoubtedly the great protagonist of the day. The team from La Coruña, had no rival on a day where they clocked up two brilliant firsts, which enabled the team to be within the top five on the general leaderboard, (in fourth place), just three points from the third position.

“Today there was very little wind. We were spot on with our decisions, started well and the races were quite comfortable really. The boat went very well and after a few days of windy conditions and big waves, where we were sailing the boat with a little tension, today we were very happy,” explained Diego Fernández, crew member of “Aida”, on return to the docks.

“Today was a typical day where everything went according to plan; to get two wins everything has to be perfect, or the other teams eat you alive. It is proving to be a hard regatta, all the teams are very good, there are great skippers, very good trimmers and we are all really close, so you have to try and get ahead one metre at a time,” he added.

At the top of the table, King Juan Carlos’ “Bribon” is resisting with the first provisional
place having finished eighth – a partial score, which was then discarded, and a fourth. The fight to get a fourth consecutive continental title continues to be very tight indeed, and the Finnish team, Ossi Paija’ “Astree III” was able to reduce points and placed themselves just one pint away from King Juan Carlos’ crew having achieved two second places.

Behind them ten points from “Astree III” and eleven from “Bribon” Mauricio Sánchez-Bella’s “Titia” continues in third place.

A change in the leadership of the Open

As was expected, the discard option provoked a change in the Open classification, with a new leader and various teams that have joined the battle for the continental podium.

Dieter Schoen’s Swiss team “Momo” and Nick and Fotis Lykiardopulo’s Greek team “Aera” shared the two partial victories of the day. Schoen’s team, also clocked up a second place and managed to get their spot in the top five in the general classification, placing himself in fourth place, drawn even with the third place.

The best performance of the day, however, goes to Finnish team Henrik Andersin’s “Oiva” with a second and third, and having discarded the seventh-place finish from the day before, Andersin’s crew managed to grab leadership of the general classification with an advantage of five points over British team Jeremy Thorp’s “Battlecry” who moved up from fifth to second place, after finishing fifth twice. The previous leader Swiss team Muller Rainer’s “Junior” is now in third place on the provisional podium one point from Thorp’s team.

“The truth is that today has been a tough day, and we didn’t have much wind, so we really thought it would be difficult to race. Our feelings in this division are very good, we are all helping and supporting each other, which is wonderful. We are really happy,” said the skipper of the leading team.

On Saturday storms return for the final day of racing

The prediction for Saturday is very different from the last couple of days. According to the forecast, it looks like the wind will be blowing with force from early in the morning and gusts may well top 30 knots in intensity throughout the morning.

However, with seven of the eight races programmed completed, the Trofeo Xacobeo will designate the new European 6 metre championships on Saturday at the prizegiving to be held at 20:00h.