The fifth day of regattas, this Friday, in the 40th. edition of the Copa del Rey Mapfre, experienced a change of scenery compared to the routine of the previous four days, in which a gentle embat (southwest) of about 10-12 knots was repeated, and there was the appearance of a wind from the south that reached 18 knots of intensity and clearly favored the awakening of the largest and heaviest sailboats.
This situation was significant in the classes in which unequal boats compete and time compensation systems are applied: ORC1, ORC2, ORC3 and ORC4. In one-design boats, where all sailboats are the same, obviously they all sail under equal conditions.
In ORC1, the new conditions made it easier for the TP52 Red Bandit, manned by a group of young Germans led by Carl-Peter Forster, to reach the first position. They made a second and a first place in the two regattas held this Friday and now have 14 points.
The light DK46s HM Hospitales and Estrella Damm, which until today were fighting a particular battle between them, with Palibex, the third DK46, on the prowl, have been seriously affected by the new wind conditions. HM Hospitales has moved to second place overall, with 19 points, and Estrella Damm, to fourth, with 20.5 points. Even the Argentine Swan 45 From Now On has been able to beat them in the day's regattas, imposing its greater weight to better navigate in a stronger wind, and is third with 20 points.
Also the Aifos 500 of the Spanish Navy, another TP52, with King Felipe at the wheel, improved its performance and took second place in the second regatta of the day, when the wind had already picked up strongly. It is his best result in all the tests held so far in the 40th edition of the Copa del Rey Mapfre.
In the ORC2 class, Javier Banderas' Teatro Soho Caixabank sailed well in the new wind conditions in the bay of Palma and regained the lead, which it had lost on Thursday to Estonian Aivar Tuulberg's Katarina II. The Malaga boat now has 10 points.
Also the Rivareno Gelato - Elena Nova, owned by Christian Plump and Javier Sanz, the president of the Royal Spanish Sailing Federation (RFEV) surpassed the Estonian sailboat and sent it to third position, both tied on 15 points but asserting the boat of the RCNP the victory in the second regatta of the day.
All three sailboats are of the same model, Swan 42 CS, and that explains the close battle for the top three positions.
In the Swan 50 one-design class, where the owners are also the skippers of the boats, equality is the norm and it is common for good and bad performances to follow each other because any success or failure of each competitor defines the classification of each test.
The most regular is Marcus Brennecke's Hatari, who leads the fleet of 14 sailboats with 12 points. The Onegrup, leader on Thursday, is second, with 16, because, although she won the second race of the day, she finished ninth in the first.
And Pablo Garriga, Barcelona's Tenaz, Commodore of the Real Club Náutico de Barcelona, is fourth, with 31 points, after having started this final phase of the competition in second position.
In the Women's Cup, the Balearia-RCNP team had a very favorable day, with two first and one second places in the three regattas held this Friday and was ahead of Natalia Via-Dufresne's Dorsia Coviran, who punctured with a 4 and a 6 before winning the third test of the day. Balearia has 15 points and Dorsia Coviran, 18, as well as Soho Boutieuqe-Hotels Trocadero, who maintain their options thanks to their regularity.
The regattas on Saturday, the last day of the Copa del Rey Mapfre 2022, will be decisive in the nine classes. The two-phase competition system thus achieves the objective of compressing the rankings after the initial phase so that many teams once again have a chance of winning the prestigious trophy organized by the Real Club Náutico de Palma since 1982.
