This Wednesday, the Real Club Náutico de Palma (RCNP) celebrated the presentation of the 20th edition of the PalmaVela regatta. The competition will start this Friday until May 5 and will be the most extensive and complete edition in its history with up to ten uninterrupted days of regatta, encompassing up to three different competitions: the Long, the 52 Super Series and the multiclass. The event brings together more than 160 boats of medium and large length between the three events and will bring together more than 1,500 sailors from twenty different countries.
The organizers did not hide their satisfaction both for the good health of the competition and for the twentieth anniversary they are celebrating this year. “PalmaVela is one of the most important regattas on our calendar, not only because it opens the season, but also because of the great variety of boats it brings together,” stressed the president of the RCNP, Rafael Gil, who adds that the 20th birthday “shows that “It is a fully consolidated event and the commitment of our club to sport and to the city.”
Of the three tests, La Larga stands out, which joined PalmaVela in 2021 as an offshore altitude test in both crew and A2 formats. This highly competitive altitude test brings together almost fifty teams from eight different countries. The categories that will be contested these days are ORC A2 (two crew members) and ORC (full crew).
The two predefined routes for the participants will consist of one of approximately 350 nautical miles for the largest fleet; and another of 225 nautical miles for smaller ships. Both routes will take place between the islands of the Balearic archipelago and will always be designed between the islands of Ibiza, Formentera, Menorca, Isla del Aire, Dragonera and Mallorca, with departure and arrival from the bay of Palma.
“La Larga is growing little by little,” said RCNP sports coordinator Vivi Mainemare. “We are very happy with how the regatta has evolved and with the interest of the teams, which is consolidating,” she added.
In its competition program, PalmaVela will include, as a second act, the first regatta of the 2024 season of the 52 Super Series, the considered best Grand Prix regatta circuit in the world. This is the first in history that this little circuit joins the Balearic regatta.
The RCN of Palma will host ten teams of seven nationalities aboard TP52 units navigated by international crews full of world, Olympic and America’s Cup champions.
As a most significant novelty, two boats left the shipyard just a few weeks ago will make their long-awaited debut in the Bay of Palma: the German Platoon of the owner and helmsman Harm Müller-Spreer (2023 circuit champion) and the British Alegre of Andy Soriano.
Finally there will also be the multiclass test, which is already a classic on the circuit. In addition to the classic multiclass regatta of the fleets that coexist in the Mediterranean, there are also those boats that return from doing the winter regattas in the Caribbean, and that now return for the classic spring and summer races.
The versatility of PalmaVela allows such different fleets to compete, ranging from the imposing Maxis, the ORCs with a full crew and the ORC A2 with two crew members, to the J/70 and J/80 one-designs, as well as the emerging 6 Meter class. and the now classic Dragon and Tradition Spirit fleets.
PalmaVela will have four final days of competition after the 52 Super Series, from Thursday, May 2 to Sunday, May 5. This 20th edition will lower the curtain at 6:30 p.m., after the awards ceremony of a historic PalmaVela, both for its duration as well as the quality of its competitions. The collection of trophies for this edition will bear the signature of Beatriz García Infante and Félix Comas.
