Seventy Senda Azul’, ‘The Lady Anne’ and ‘Odiseus’, leaders of the Spanish Classics Cups
Maximum expectation for the outcome due to the equality between the contenders, with a triple tie in the MINI class.
The Bay of Cadiz is splendid on the second day of racing
El Puerto de Santa María, 28th June 2024.- The Bay of Cadiz was a surprise on the second day of the VII Semana Clásica de Puerto Sherry and instead of the announced DANA, it was once again excellent, giving the crews a beautiful day with winds of between 10 and 13 knots from the SW. The fleet completed the second 14-mile course between buoys, starting at a mark, heading for the Cabezuela, Punta del Sur, the furthest mark, Recalada, Galera and finishing in front of the Puerto Sherry tower. The boats spent just over three hours racing, benefiting from the changing tide in the bay, managing the current to sail as fast as possible. For the second day, the 15M ‘The Lady Anne’ sailed alone in the lead, followed at a distance by the longer boats, among which the Swan 43 ‘Jaque Mate’ of Sergio Llorca stood out once again, second throughout the race, except for a stretch of the course in which the Swan 65 ‘Deneb’ of the Armada managed to pass her. The increase in the wind in the second part of the regatta benefited the smaller boats, helping them to improve their rating.
New impeccable victory for ‘Seventy Senda Azul’ from the CN Estrella del Sur with Dani Cuevas at the helm, and also repeats the position of ‘Odiseus’ of José María Chávarri representing Vistahermosa Club de Golf, second. Mariangeles Pérez’s ‘Salina Tres’ with grimpola from the RCN de Cádiz improved, as did Ricardo Contreras’ ‘Disparate’, third and fourth, respectively, beating Javier Moreno’s ‘Tira Neruda’ sailing for the CN de León, fifth. Manuel Galnares’ ‘Centinela IV’ from Huelva (RCMT Punta Umbría) is sixth, today ahead of ‘The Lady Anne’ and ‘Jaque Mate’.
With two races already in the locker and a third to go, the fight in the overall Spanish Cup will be tomorrow between the unbeaten ‘Seventy Senda Azul’ and ‘Odiseus’ with two points difference between them. For its part, ‘Tira Neruda’ will defend third place against a group of very evenly matched boats. The ‘Lady Anne’ is one point behind and ‘Disparate’ and ‘Centinela IV’ are two points behind, tied for fifth and sixth place, respectively. Also entering the fray are ‘Salina Tres’, ‘Jaque Mate’ and the restored ‘Livia’ sailing for the first time after sinking in Valencia with Filomena and being restored in Puerto Sherry by the Classic Sailing Foundation.
In the Spanish Cups by classes, Cuevas’ team has a clearer position in the overall Clásicos, in which ‘Seventy Senda Azul’ is three points ahead of ‘Disparate’ and two more ahead of ‘Centinela IV’. In the Vintage division, the first place is held by ‘The Lady Anne’ with two points over the ‘Gipsy’ of the Classic Sailing Foundation, and in Espíritu Tradición, the ‘Odiseus’ enjoys three and four points over ‘Tira Neruda’ and ‘Salina Tres’, second and third facing a decisive day for them as well.
Equality reaches its peak in the MINI class, where the three participating boats are tied on points, with first place now going to Javier Betancourt’s CN Puerto Sherry boat ‘Paradise’, followed by Nicholas Lock’s ‘Madcap’ under the Spanish flag and Antonio Aliada’s ‘Infiel’, also based at CN Puerto Sherry.
With very open options for some teams that still hope to be on the coveted podium, tomorrow Saturday the regatta ends with one more race, after which we will know the new champions that will be added to the palmares of the Semana Clásica de Puerto Sherry.
One of the rituals in the regattas is the skippers’ meeting before setting sail, where the crews receive instructions about the course from the race committee, which in this case is led by Juan Castañeda. The place chosen for this meeting is the Marina Yachting Atlántico facilities in Puerto Sherry, where its commercial directors José and Sergio Antón are celebrating this year the 140th anniversary of the Beneteau company. In the photo, together with Valle de la Riva and Daniel Martínez, president and commodore of the CN Puerto Sherry, respectively.
The VII Semana Clásica de Puerto Sherry, which ends this Saturday in Cadiz waters, is a biennial regatta, and is organised by the Club Náutico Puerto Sherry and the Fundación Vela Clásica de España, with the main sponsorship of the Junta de Andalucía, the Diputación de Cádiz, Marina Puerto de Santa María, and the companies Grupo Cuñado and Grupo Omega, together with Gipsy Blu 1927 and Bodegas Miguel Domecq – Entrechuelos, and the collaboration of the Ayuntamiento de El Puerto de Santa María as an asset of the summer in El Puerto de Santa María.
