A brilliant Day Two of the 19th edition of PalmaVela

The Bay of Palma was host to nearly one hundred boats as day 2 of the PalmaVela saw the incorporation of ten new divisions in the racing programme. On Friday, the event organized by the Real Club Náutico de Palma saw the bay fill with sails, as south-easterly winds of approximately eleven knots once again marked a successful day of racing.

"Galateia" in the Maxi A, "Anima II" in the Maxi B, "Elena Nova" in the ORC 0-1, "M8" in the ORC 2, "Viking IX" in the ORC 3, "Just The Job" in the ORC 4-5, "Flying High" in the ORC Sportboat, "January Sails" in Spirit of Tradition, "Marigan" in the Vintage class, "Team Balearia RCNP" in the J80, "Mr. Nova" in the Dragon and "Seljm" in the 6 Metre-class are the new leaders of the competition.

Two windward-leeward races for the Maxis
Following Thursday's coastal race, the Maxis returned to the racecourse on Friday to complete the two windward-leeward races which provoked the first change to the overall classification.

In the A division David M. Leuschen's "Galateia" stayed ahead of the fleet with a first and third place, whilst second has gone to Sir Lindsay Owen's "Magic Carpet." A third and partial victory in Friday's races meant that Miguel Galuccio's team managed to overtake Nicolás González's "Vera", moving into third place and two points away from the leaders.

"Today was a very good day for Magic Carpet," explained Ñeti Cuervas-Mons, bowman for 'Magic Carpet,', "Tomorrow, we have the coastal race in the bay, so it will be a different kind of game, but in any case, we have seen that the starts are fundamental, and will need to be fought for. "

In the Maxi B class, the day concluded with a new leader. Christian Hentschel's "Anima II", who were in third place on Thursday, clocked up two victories and move into first place, relegating Ermanno Traverso's "Stormvogel" to a provisional second. Romain Mouchel's "Atalante" is currently in third.

The ORC fleet make their debut on the Bay of Palma

In the ORC class, the largest boats, the -ORC 0-1- had their first taste of racing on the Bay of Palma with a 24.3-mile coastal race, where the Spanish Navy's "Aifos" was the fastest boat. Skippered by Jaime Rodríguez Toube, the team completed the route in three hours and fifteen minutes, although they move into second place on the general leader board behind Christian Plump and Javier Sanz's "Elena Nova," which was the fastest in compensated time and start their event at the top of the classification. Third place went to Toni Guiu's "Blue Carbon."

The ORC 2 class also completed a coastal race of 19 miles, where Valencian team, José Luis Francés' "M8" began their competition with a partial victory and as such lead the general classification. Behind them in second place is Carles Rodríguez's "Modul – Laplaza Assesores" and in third Maciej Gnatowski's "Scamp Three," the fastest in real time.

The ORC 3, 4-5 and Sportboat classes all completed two windward-leeward races. The ORC 3 set off with a draw between Erik Tejedor's

"Viking IX" and "Immac Fram" skippered by Kai Mares. Both clocked up a first and second place, although the tie-break went to Tejedor's team, being the last to claim a partial victory. Thomas Rudewald's "Santina" is seven points behind them in third place.

In the ORC 4-5 class, racing was not so tight as Scott Beattie's "Just The Job" gave no option to their rivals marking up two straight victories and placing them as leaders of the class. Currently in second place is Juan Escandell's "Tres Mares", and in third the RCNP team, Jaime Morell's "Mestral Fast."

In the ORC Sportboat class, the fleet began the event with a lead from Harris's "Flying High", after two seconds. In the general classification they are followed by Mark Sadler's "Abracadabra" after a sixth and first place and Kai-Uwe Hollweg's "OMG" who tied with Sadler's team with a third and fourth.

First races for the One Designs

The three divisions of One Design to make their debut on Friday were the first to hear the start gun. The J80s started at just five minutes after one o'clock with a south-easterly wind of eleven knots enabling them to complete the three windward-leeward races.

After a third place in the first race, local sailor María Bover's "Team Balearia RCNP" claimed two partial victories making them the first leaders of the 19th edition of PalmaVela. They are followed in the general classification by Manuel de Tomás' "Iser" and José Azqueta's "Dorsia Covirán" in second and third place respectively

Once back on the dock Bover explained,

"We started really well, but these races are always really close, and we can't lose our focus. We will see tomorrow if we can do as well as today and over the next few days. There is a lot of racing still to go."

The 6-Metre fleet completed the two races on their programme, with a relentless "Seljm" on the racecourse. The boat, skippered by Patrick Monteiro claimed two victories and is the current leader of the class.

Behind them Dieter Schoen's "Momo" and Jan Eckert's "Ginkgotoo" each with the same results (a second and third each), although the tie-break was in favour of Schoen's team, who move into second ahead of Eckert's crew.

It was a tighter day of racing on day one for the Dragon fleet. With a second and first place, Jorge Forteza's "Mr. Nova" moved into the highest spot in the classification with just a one-point advantage over "Yeahnah" skippered by Ben Kolff, who with their first and third place are currently in second place overall. Behind them, "Capa", skippered by Javier Scherk takes the final podium position.

"Marigan" and "January Sails", leaders in Vintage and Spirit of Tradition

On Friday the Vintage and Spirit of Tradition fleets also completed their first coastal race in the programmed: a distance of 13 and 15.9 miles respectively.

Tim Liesenhoff's "Marigan" was the first to cross the finish line for the Vintage division, and with sufficient advantage to clock up the victory in compensated time. They are followed on the general leaderboard by Nelsson Hausmann's "Le Temps Perdu."

In the Spirit of Tradition class, although not the first over the line in real time, the local team, Gabriel Catalá's "January Sails" managed to score highly overall and with an advantage of almost five minutes in corrected time over Mateo Grimalt's "Micanga" in second. Marcus Schiermann's "Little Thila" is in third place.

The full fleet on Saturday

On Saturday the final two divisions in the fleet will be incorporated into the competition: the ORC A Two 0-3 and 4-5, making a total of 110 boats out on the Bay of Palma fighting for victory in the nineteenth edition of PalmaVela.

Racing is programmed for 12:00h for the fourteen participating categories.

PROVISIONAL PODIUM. Day 2
(Position/Boat/Skipper/Positions/Points)

MAXI A
1. Galateia, David M. Leuschen, 1+1+3=5
2. Magic Carpet 3, Sir Lindsay Owen-Jones, 3+3+1=7
3. Vera, Nicolás González, 2+2+4=8

MAXI B
1. Anima II, Christian Hentschel, 3+1+1=5
2. Stormvogel, Ermanno Traverso, 1+2+3=6
3. Atalante, Romain Mouchel, 2+3+2=7

ORC 0-1
1. Elena Nova, Christian Plump/Javier Sanz, 1 point
2. Aifos, Jaime Rodríguez Toubes, 2 points
3. Blue Carbon, Toni Guiu, 3 points

ORC 2
1. M8, José Luis Francés, 1 point
2. Modul-Laplaza Assesores, Carles Rodríguez 2 points
3. Scamp Three, Maciej Gnatowski, 3 points

ORC 3
1. Viking IX, Erik Tejedor, 2+1=3
2. Immac Fram, Kai Mares, 1+2=3
3. Santina, Thomas Rudewald, 4+3=7

ORC 4-5
1. Just The Job, Scott Beattie, 1+1=2
2. Tres Mares, Juan Escandell, 2+2=4
3. Mestral Fast, Jaime Morell, 3+4=7

ORC SPORTBOAT
1. Flying High, Harris, 2+2=4
2. Abracadabra, Mark Sadler, 6+1=7
3. OMG, Kai-Uwe Hollweg, 3+4=7

VINTAGE
1. Marigan, Tim Liesenhoff, 1 point
2. Le Temps Perdu, nelssin Hausmann, 2 points
3. Freda, Miguel Rigo, DNF 4 points

SPIRIT OF TRADITION
1. January Sails, Gabriel Catalá, 1 point
2. Micanga, Mateo Grimalt, 2 points
3. Little Thila, Marcus Schiermann, 3 points

J80
1. Team Balearia RCNP, María Bover, 3+1+1=5
2. Iser, Manuel de Tomás, 1+2+3=6
3. Dorsia Covirán, José Azqueta, 2+4+2=8

DRAGON
1. Mr. Nova, Jorge Forteza, 2+1=3
2. Yeahnah, Bel Kolff, 1+3=4
3. Capa, Javier Scherk, 3+2=5

6 METRES
1. Seljm, Patrick Monteiro, 1+1=2
2. Momo, Dieter Schoen, 3+2=5
3. Ginkgotoo, Jan Eckert, 2+3=5