Ibiza JoySail passionately commits to the Corinthians

Ibiza JoySail has today crossed the halfway point with the second race both for the superyachts and the J Class, with the leaders of the four classes remaining unchanged: Moat (Performance), Dark Horse (Performance Cruising), Aurelius (World Cruising) and Svea (J Class).

Ibiza JoySail features top-flight performance yachts, as well as cruisers on which sailing enthusiasts can enjoy and share experiences. That's why owners also play a paramount role in this philosophy. And among these boats are the Corinthians, whose spirit is to sail in cruiser conditions without offloading materials, with the original sails and just a limited number of professionals onboard.

The mix of professional crews with more amateur ones is another of Ibiza JoySail's traits, making it a truly unique race.

Five yachts signed up for the first edition of Ibiza JoySail in 2021, eleven did so in 2022, and fourteen were exclusively selected this year's third and invitation-only edition.

Out of all the participants, Dark Horse (Swan 80) is one of the greatest ambassadors of this racing philosophy, having taken part since the first edition. Back in 2021, it was her début on the racing scene, with a crew of just five and without prepared sails. Dark Horse's owner enjoyed himself so much that he bought new sails and is competing in this year's third edition with eleven professionals. However, this time not in Corinthian but in Performance Cruising, and is currently in first position, followed by Prevail (Tripp 90) and Shambo (Y7 70), the top-placed Corinthian.

Performance, the class with the highest number of entrants, has two Swan 115 sisterships (Moat and Jasi) currently in first and second place. Third overall and the leading Corinthian is Kiboko (SW 105). Aragon (SW 94) is the other Corinthian within this group.

In World Cruising, two of the three participants are Corinthians, the leader Aurelius (Dykstra 111) and the third-placed Alarife 100 (Custom 99). Second place is held by Scorpion of London (Baltic 151), who triumphed in today's event.

As for the sea, the weather didn't look at all promising this Friday. The major anticyclone hovering over the entire Mediterranean hinted that things wouldn't be a walk in the park, but the Race Committee, with Gaspar Morey and Pablo Ferrer at the helm, cleverly got all the boats on the water at 1.00 pm, taking advantage of the only wind window of five steady knots to set the Js off first and then the superyachts.

The 5.88-mile route ran between the islands of Ibiza and Formentera and back to the island of Espardell. The J Class covered one stretch more while the superyachts finished just after rounding the islet given the risk of lighter wind, which throughout the race was a steady four to six knots easterly.

A final race off Ibiza and Formentera is scheduled for this Saturday, followed by the awards ceremony at Marina Ibiza at 6.00 pm.