Among the “strictly private reasons” that King Juan Carlos used to cancel his announced return to Sanxenxo is not his resignation from participating in the Xacobeo 6mR Wordls sailing championship that began this Tuesday in the waters of the Pontevedra estuary. From Abu Dhabi, the king follows the regattas from a distance, and this morning he sent a message to the crew of the Rogue, who is defending the title won three years ago in Hanko (Finland), to wish them luck.
Since a week ago, King Juan Carlos informed the organizers of the regatta of his decision not to make what would be his second trip to Spain after his departure on August 3, 2020, he has not missed a single day of being aware of the preparations, first of the trophy that bears his name, whose tests were held last weekend, and from this very morning of the development of the world championship regattas.
On Sunday, between the first and second rounds of the Rey Juan Carlos trophy, the Rogue broke the stay (cable that holds the mast from the bow) preventing him from competing in the last regatta and, as a consequence, winning the title. The crew members were surprised when they received several messages from King Juan Carlos in which, in addition to lamenting the fault, he gave solutions to repair it, proof that he had been following the test from a distance. He did it through the eStela Sailing Tracker application, which allows you to experience the competition live and alleviate the homesickness of absence.
On Monday, at the Sanxenxo yacht club, the welcome ceremony was held for the sailors – two hundred crew members spread over forty boats and representatives from fifty countries – who were received, among others, by the mayor of the Galician town, Telmo Martín, and the president of the organizing club Pedro Campos. The absence of King Juan Carlos was made present when the mayor recalled: “Exactly 988 days ago, on September 28, 2019, King Juan Carlos, whom we especially miss today, gave me a pennant that the mayor of the city Hanko had handed him over to give the baton to Sanxenxo as the organizing city of the world sailing
The next championship had to be suspended in 2020 and 2021 due to the pandemic and King Juan Carlos, despite having left Spain, committed his presence in Sanxenxo when the nautical event could finally take place. His resignation from participating as a skipper aboard the ‘Bribón’ is incomprehensible to those who in these months have shared his desire to be in Sanxenxo.
The enthusiasm that King Juan Carlos shows for everything related to the Sanxenxo regattas contrasts, according to close sources, with the absolute silence he keeps about the real reasons that have forced him to suspend his trip, although everyone agrees that behind his decision is his desire not to provoke political controversies that affect the image of the Crown.
La Zarzuela, conditioned by the position of the Government, urged King Juan Carlos to avoid public appearances, of any kind, during his stays in Spain, which, in practice, makes his return impossible for the time being.
