Flying start to The Superyacht Cup Palma as the Bay of Palma delivers once again
The closest result of the day came in the all-new Multihull Class, which saw Layla claim second place ahead of Allegra by just two seconds on corrected time, with Gaea fourth. Victory in the first ever multihull race at The Superyacht Cup Palma Richard Mille, however, went to Highland Fling, with the owner and crew relishing the experience.
"It's super exciting to be able to race at The Superyacht Cup Palma Richard Mille for the first time, and what a great place to sail," said tactician Ned Collier Wakefield.
"There was some great wind out there, and it's a chance to show these great machines off – we were ripping around at 24-plus knots.
"We would love to be able to build on the multihull fleet here. The four here mean there is some great racing, but if we can encourage a few more owners to come along that would be great."
Also making a class debut were the YYachts, with the newest yacht in the six strong fleet – the 23.80m Judel/Vrolijk Beati – claiming a win on its first ever regatta outing.
Her skipper, Vicente de Cecilio Alcantarilla, said: "It was super good today, and this was the first time the boat has actually raced, it went well and the owner is happy."
And the sailing venue also won praise, he added: "I love it, and we love having the big boats here, it is a great atmosphere."
The 23.80m Distancia and Brenta 80 Makai completed the podium, ahead of the 29.71m Bella, the 25.99m Calabash, and Lucid.
Racing on a separate racecourse the two J Class rivals Rainbow and Svea had two windward-leeward races, with Svea claiming bragging rights in both, with another pair of races scheduled tomorrow.
The two Superyacht Classes also saw their own close finish, with two-time overall SYC winner Win Win taking Class A by just 19 seconds from the Swan 88 Spiip after 158 minutes of racing.
"The difference between first and second today I think was all about the right sail choices," said Win Win crew boss Jann Neergard.
And he added: "The boat has been out of commission for a little while, but it has won the Superyacht Cup Palma overall trophy twice before, so there's a chance we can do well again – but as we have seen today it could all come down to one or two minutes."
The Swan 100 Point Counter Point and the 30.9m Wally Inco completed Class A. Meanwhile Class B was won by the 39m Tripp design Cervo ahead of the powerful Oyster Archelon, the 27m Hoek Design Atalante 1, and the 58m Ron Holland designed Perini Navi ketch Burrasca.
The opening day of The Superyacht Cup Palma Richard Mille concluded with the Owners’ 30th Anniversary Celebration Dinner at the St. Regis Mardavall Mallorca.
Racing continues on Friday with the 30th Anniversary Race Day.
