The first week of August saw a J/70 fleet of 31 teams, one of the classes competing at the Copa del Rey MAPFRE which served as the precursor to the Sandberg Estates J/70 Worlds. From 14th to 21st September, the Real Club Náutico de Palma will once again be hosting a prime international event with the 2024 World Championships
A total of 12 races, eight as classifiers (with coefficient 1) and the last four finals (with a coefficient 1.5 points) demonstrated the high level of competition of the J/70 fleet as can be seen by the results of the final podium: www.regatacopadelrey.com/resultados?tipoinput=01&clasinput=19&clasinput=22
The greatness of the Copa del Rey MAPFRE
The Copa has always been referential as an event for many competitors, and several participants highlighted the greatness of the competition held on the Bay of Palma,
“This is the most competitive J/70 class there has ever been in the Copa del Rey MAPFRE,” expressed Joan Cardona, a crew member of the RCNP’s Patakín, who on 3rd August 2024 celebrated three years since their historical bronze medal won in the Olympic Finn class for Spain.
Moreover, with the World Championships for the J/70 class being held in the Bay of Palma, the ‘normal’ fleet competing at the Copa del Rey MAPFRE regatta increased this year to a total of 31, 20 of them international teams.
Among the teams aiming to explore the different race areas, and discover the Copa, Martin Dent’s British team Jelvis arrived in Palma, fresh from their victory as winners of the J/70 class in Cowes Week. This year they are out to improve on their 31st place in the World Championships 2023 in Saint Petersburg and their 11th place in Monaco 2022.
Before beginning the Copa del Rey MAPFRE Henry Weatherell, crew member on board Jelvis admitted, “It will be a tougher fleet than in Cowes. This is our first time at the Copa del Rey together, although I have sailed on the Bay of Palma when I competed in the Finn class. We have come here because there are many very high-level teams in the J/70 class racing in the Bay of Palma. We will do one or two training camps, probably ten days or so before returning for the worlds.”
After twelve races and the best team on the last day with a 2nd and 1st place, they finally finished in 8th position, with almost double the points of the winner, Luis Bugallo’s Kimpton Hoteles-LesRoches, who as final champions at the end of the Copa, declared, “This Copa del Rey has proven to us that the worlds are going to be extremely challenging, because this racecourse provides many opportunities, and doors can both open and close.”
Marnatura favourite candidate for the podium
Bugallo will race at the World Championships with Enrique Freire and his J/70 Marnatura, and was quick to emphasise the level of competition awaiting the teams,
“The level is higher than ever, and it is extremely challenging to give a regular performance over the week, as can be seen in the classification. Even with the podium position results there was a lot of irregularity. We must stay competitive in all conditions so that we don’t have bad days. It is very clear that the world title is open to over 20 very competitive teams.”
Ahead of the Copa del Rey MAPFRE, Will Felder from Chicago, competing with Empeira, admitted,
“We have come here early to get to know the surroundings. We don’t have a great deal of experience in Palma, so we are here to learn. This will be our first World Championships abroad, although we have competed together as a team in the United States. I won the worlds in 2018 with “Africa”. As a team our best result has been an eighth position. We have previously been on the hunt in the world championships until the very last day, so we hope to break the spell, and this time achieve a podium finish in Palma. We love it here – it is hot, but it is also beautiful, the best place we have been so far, no better place to sail. We would really love to be on the podium.”
Finally, the team achieved their objective and proclaimed themselves runners-up in an extremely valuable win, considering the very high quality of racing at the Copa del Rey MAPFRE and the steep learning curve ahead of the worlds.
The J/70s, a three-year commitment for the RCN de Palma
The Real Club Náutico de Palma is beginning to prepare for the great logistics and sporting challenge posed by the Sandberg Estates J/70 World Championships, which gathers close to one hundred teams representing 25 countries. Their aim is for this world-class event in 2024, held for the most numerous One Design class in the world, to be the best to date.
“It will be one of the great events in 2024 for the club,” said Director Manu Fraga, who explained further,
“In 2024 we will host seven great events, all first-class and prime international competitions. In the case of the J/70 class, it was a three-year commitment to organize the world championships and for it to be held in September. It is going to be a challenge because the fleet is highly competitive with very particular rule specifications. For example, to manage the racecourse with one hundred teams on the start line is challenging to say the least.”
The Real Club Náutico de Palma director, concluded,
“This will be a historical championship for the class, not only because of the high level of the participants, but because of where it is being held. The Bay of Palma and the club itself, will be very much prepared to host such a highly reputable competition. We will be extremely good hosts, and this competition will go down in people’s memories for the magnificent conditions that we are used to enjoying on the Bay of Palma.”
