- Seven vessels made their debút in this 12th edition, characterized by outstanding sailing conditions in the Barcelona coastline

- Guia, Argos, Marigan, Fjord III and Moonbeam of Fife won the race

- This year’s nautical event paid tribute to the 5th Centenary of the first circumnavigation in history with the award of the Elcano trophy to the Marigold (1892), its oldest participant

Barcelona, July 19th, 2019.- The Puig Vela Clàssica Barcelona regatta was once again one of the main Mediterranean events in the international sailing calendar. Among the forty vessels registered in the historic categories –Vintage, Classic and Big Boats— were included seven sailboats making their début in Barcelona. Among them were two mythical jewels of the sea, the Emilia Prima and La Spina, the two first 12-meter built in Italy back in the 1930s which, as fate would have it, so far had never raced one another.
 

Argos - Photo Nico Martinez

On keeping with its usual DNA, the 12th edition, according to most yachtsmen, took advantage of the excellent winds, the best in many years, to complete the three programed races in the different courses, adapted to the different fleets. The first race won’t be easily forgotten by either the participants nor the followers, thanks to the generous wind of up to 22 knots, a calm sea and an 18-mile coastal race course, that this time was identical for all categories. But the second race was no less exciting, with medium wind, and we could say the same of the crucial race, on the closing day, which developed with a smooth wind in a technical course between buoys, after a patient and well-programed delay that allowed to finish the race with a suitable thermal wind.

Guia and Argos defend their title in the thrilling duels of Classic 1 and 2

As usual in this event organized by the Real Club Náutico de Barcelona (RCNB), the Classic fleet sailed in two different categories, according to their length and features. In both classes, Argos and Guia, the winners of the previous edition, repeated their feat.
 

Guia - Photo Nico Martinez

In Classic 1, the Guia, commanded by Jordi Costa, lead the partials (1-1-2), even though her results were tight and severely disputed, having to overcome the technical attack by Jean-Claude Vau’s Outlaw in the last race, which tried to penalize her at the start to overthrow her from the ranking. This specific duel allowed Andrés de León’s Yanira to win the last race, to tie the score with the Outlaw on the final classification, and to break the ties thanks to her better partial results. Emeraude and Disparate followed on the classification, also tied on points.

In Classic 2, the Argos, with Eduardo Mendez as her skipper, was leading the way, scoring the three partials. However, on her wake the duel was served. Suspense went on until the very last meters of the third race, with Michele Frova’s Ojalá II keeping the second position against the pressure of Emiliano Parenti’s Madrifa 2 and Ignacio Llano’s Margarita, which were finally classified in this order.
 

The Moonbeam of Fife Photo Nico Martinez

The Moonbeam of Fife obtains her eigth victory at the Puig Vela Clàssica

The Moonbeam of Fife, commanded by Erwan Noblet, obtained a triple victory in this edition’s partials. She had an absolute control of the charts, although that was not an easy achievement because the Halloween, commanded by Íñigo Sterz, made her strain for the victory, especially in the second and third races, with very small time-differences after time compensation. The podium was completed by Frederic Haonisel’s Black Swan, with a crew that displayed great sportsmanship despite their powerlessness: despite having a less performing sailboat, they were happy to take part in their first regatta after their restoration, in which their hull is now painted in white.

Alex Veccia’s Veronique, Jason Gouldstone’s Marigold and Tim Liesenhoff’s Marigan were the Three Musketeers of the Vintage Graff-rigged class, as they competed with unusual quality and intensity, considering the high complexity of their rigging. After the two first days, they had equal points, with their stakes still high for the last duel. On the third race, the order in the ranking was going to be the same as in the general classification. The tactical dispute started right from the decisive start, with a highly inspired Marigan. After taking the Veronique offline, when she tried to attack her, she knew how to keep the time difference favorable to her rating until the finish line. The Marigold, who avoided the fight at the start, ended up second and left the Veronique the third place on the podium. Uncertainty, fair play and a high level of competitivity were among the best features of this year’s edition.
 

Marigan - Photo Nico Martinez

Everything suggested that Scott Perry’s Fjord III and Martin Belloch’s Cippino would not give the others any chance in the Vintage Bermudian class, considering their superiority in the provisional score after the two first races. But, by engaging match-race style in the third race, they controlled and checked one another, and they escaped from the rest of the fleet after the first closed-haul.

Delayed in the fleet, the Fjord III lead the duel by adding a third position in her partial score, while the Cippino added a fifth. Jordi Cabau took advantage of the open door and imposed his Mercury on the decisive race, thus completing the final podium, after passing the Argyll and the Emilia Prima.
 

Marigold - Photo Nico Martinez

The Puig Vela Clàssica regatta celebrates the 5th Centenary of the first round-the-world expedition in the naval history

In this 12th edition, the Juan Sebastián Elcano trophy was awarded to the Marigold (1892), being the oldest boat in the competition. The trophy is part of the commemorative acts of the Spanish Army to pay tribute to the 5th Centenary of the first round-the-world expedition in the history of navigation, completed by the Magellan-Elcano expedition. With this award, the Puig Vela Clássica regatta remembered this great feat and celebrated its anniversary.

Moreover, the Enric Puig trophy to the best dupla from each country, was awarded to the Spanish team composed by the Guia and the Marigan.

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About Puig 

Puig is a third-generation family-owned fashion and fragrance business based in Barcelona. Puig creates distinctive brands and fragrance experiences that make people dream. The company’s ambition is to define the future of the fragrance category and capture a disproportionate share of innovation and growth. The company’s strong performance has resulted in substantial growth and revenues of €1,933 million in 2018. Puig success stories include a combination of owned brands such as Carolina Herrera, Nina Ricci, Paco Rabanne, Jean Paul Gaultier, Dries Van

Noten, Penhaligon’s and L’Artisan Parfumeur; licenses such as Prada, Christian Louboutin and Comme des Garçons; and Lifestyle fragrances. Puig products are sold in more than 150 countries des Garçons; y fragancias Lifestyle.

Cover photo Nico Martinez