Classic Yachts meet in Barcelona for the fifteenth time at Puig Vela Clàssica Regatta

- Emeraude, Argyll, Hallowe'en and Grayling were the winners in their respective categories     

- 30 boats and 300 sailors confirm the good health of the regatta, which aims to increase participation in the 2023 edition

Grant Dalton, director of Team New Zealand and organizer of the America's Cup, capped off the event by presenting one of the prizes.

Barcelona, July 18th, 2022- The Catalan capital has showed, once again, its best face to receive the fleet of classic boats that every July (and now there are XV editions) participates in the Puig Vela Clàssica Regatta. On this occasion, sailing enthusiasts have been able to enjoy 30 sailboats that, along with 300 crew members, have competed in Barcelona waters to win in their respective categories. 

Looking ahead to 2023 and 2024, it is clear that it will be very special years considering that Barcelona will host the America's Cup the following year, as Grant Dalton, organizer of the event, pointed out during the awards ceremony. So this Regatta wants to join forces with America´s Cup organization and bring the chance to receive more classic yachts to celebrate the oldest sports event on earth.

FOTO: Nico Martínez

The XV edition of the Regatta Puig Vela Clàssica Barcelona will be remembered for the reunion and good atmosphere of the thirty crews and other participants who have gathered after some unfortunate years; also the strong heat, the wind conditions have been protagonists of this edition.

The usual presence of boats from Italy, France and Monaco, which plan their schedule several quarters in advance, was put on hold due to the health uncertainty at the end of last year. Nevertheless, the level of the thirty or so boats and their crews that competed remained as strong as in previous years.

FOTO: Nico Martínez

The race committee of the Real Club Náutico de Barcelona had to deal with a difficult task, as the high temperature of the stagnant warm air pocket at altitude prevented the normal air flows that create the thermal breeze. Despite scheduling the starts at 13 hours and that all weather forecasts predicted the usual Garbí, Southwestern wind, which has given so many joys in these fifteen years of the Puig Vela Clàssica Regatta in the Barcelona regatta course,

it did not end up entering in the usual way. Thus, it only rose timidly and late in some specific areas of the coast, making the task of establishing the courses difficult.

 FOTO: Nico Martínez

The wind, from calm to opportunity

The first day was a coastal course that started in front of Port Olimpic and, after a short windward leg, set course for a buoy located in El Masnou. From there the fleet started the return to the finish line in Barcelona, with an intermediate waypoint and a total distance of 14 miles.

The fleet set off after two starts, the first for the Classics and the second for the Big Boats and vintage, both Cangreja and Bermudian. The initial 7 knots of wind faded from Badalona, accentuating its fall at the buoy of El Masnou, where the maneuver to tack left the boats almost stopped.

 FOTO: Nico Martínez

On the return leg, the boats had to suffer to gain miles until they reached the area where a bit of a squall formed, which finally brightened up the upwind leg with its 12 knots of intensity and hardly any swell. Vittorio Cavazzana's Italian Emeraude was the best of the Classics able to finish the race, beating Pepe de Miguel's Kahurangi and Leonardo García's Nerissa.

Finally, Enrique Curt's Sea Fever, with a shorter length, was able to finish the course and classify in fourth position. Micheael Cotter's Irish Halowe'en won the race in Big Boats, and Rafael Carrió's Grayling (RCN Valencia), which was making its debut in the Regatta, won in Época Cangreja. Four Bermudian Vintage participants did not exhaust their time limit, and among them was the winner the British Argyll of Griff Rhys Jones, preceding Almarán New York of Manel López, the American Dione of Hans Alberecht and Islander of Ricardo Albiñana.

 FOTO: Nico Martínez

Long wait for the wind to come but worth it

With more heat than on Thursday 14th, the start had to be postponed until 14:40 hours, when a 7-8 knots Southwester Garbí of intensity was established, which cooled in the final phase of the race up to 12 knots. The Race Committee established a course of buoys in the shape of a quadrilateral, with five legs and 12.5 miles in distance.

Again, there were no incidents in the two starts and no overtakes to the starting gun, highlighting the start of the Big Boat Halowe'en which facilitated their win of the day, and of the Emeraude Classic, while Nerissa and Sea Fever quickly made up their initial delay. In the Bermudian Vintage fleet, Argyll took the lead of its fleet unopposed and won the race.

 FOTO: Nico Martínez

In its wake, Almaran New York, Dione and Islander also repeated yesterday's results, while the Época Cangreja Grayling won again and secured the victory of the Puig Regatta in its category. Among the favorite Classics, the alternation of distances, and, therefore, of time between them and its consequence in the compensation of times, was causing the dance of estimated positions.

With its good performance and despite its considerable smaller length, Sea Fever won the day's race, followed by Emeraude, and then Kahurangi and Nerissa, which in the same order were placed in the standings after adding the two races sailed.

 FOTO: Nico Martínez

Saturday the 16th was even hotter, and this time neither the Garbí Southwestern wind nor any other breeze blew off the beaches of Barcelona. The race committee again postponed the start of the third and last race of the program, but at 3 pm decided, rightly, to send the fleet back to the pontoons of the Real Club Náutico de Barcelona.

The awards ceremony, with a standing ovation to Gant Dalton, CEO of Team New Zealand and responsible for organizing their America's Cup defense in Barcelona, put the finishing touch to this 15th Puig Vela Clàssica Barcelona Regatta

FOTO: Albert Mollón

THE FIVE MILESTONES OF THIS EDITION

The Regata Puig Vela Clàssica Barcelona celebrates 15 years since the first edition

There are many experiences and anecdotes lived in the Puig Regatta throughout its fifteen years, during which the most important usual boats in Mediterranean waters have participated. Some achieving better classifications than others, but all of them leaving the sailors speechless for their beauty, uniqueness and excellent state of preservation.

It would be a long list trying to mention them all and, moreover, with the risk of overlooking the recognition of some of them. Perhaps because of the exceptional nature of the event, and being immersed in America's Cup times, the 2014 edition marked a milestone by including in the Puig Regatta of the 12 Meters World Championship, the longest-lived class of all those who have competed in the mother of all regattas. They made their debut in the 1956 edition (Newport, USA), and until 1987 in the waters of Fremantlle (Australia) they participated in ten consecutive editions.

 FOTO: Nico Martínez

The list of winners of the Puig Regatta is huge and full of names, but some have stood out over the last 15 years. The Alba has been the main protagonist among the Classics, as in its thirteen participations it has reached the podium eight times, half of them on the highest step. It has faced great rivals, such as the Yanira, also creditor of eight podiums with its two different owners, or the Alicante Argos and the local Guia, both with five podiums.

The Big Boats have put majesty in capital letters in the Barcelona regatta, and among the Moonbeam saga, the 7 victories and two third places of the Moonbeam III make it a legend of the Puig. In the Bermudian Vintage fleet, the participation of the Majorcan Jordi Cabau, owner of the Mercury and Sonata boats, with which he has almost alternatively lifted a trophy seven times in the Real Club Náutico de Barcelona, has been very relevant. The Cangreja Vintage Marigan and Marigold have taken the top honors among the Cangreja Vintage, with five podium finishes each.

 FOTO: Nico Martínez

Beyond the sporting and competitive aspect, the organization also aims to raise awareness of this type of regatta among the public and make it an annual reference. According to Jordi Puig, president of the Real Club Náutico de Barcelona,

"The quality of the regatta, both at sea and on land, has always been very high, and this has meant that international participation has always been very important. For the club it is one of its most important annual regattas, which also arouses the interest of the city, thanks to the spectacle offered by these jewels of the sea visible from the beaches. When my father (Enric Puig) created the event, he had the will to turn it into one of the classic boat events of reference in the Mediterranean."

 FOTO: Nico Martínez

And that interest has also been awakened, by far, among the participants. Leonardo García, president of the AEBEC (Spanish Association of Vintage and Classic Boats) and owner of Nerissa, as passionate and studious of sailing and historical sailing, makes a positive assessment, "I have only missed two editions of the Puig Vela Clàssica during its fifteen years. It is a very attractive regatta, with a good race course that has almost always offered good and demanding sailing conditions. The good organization at sea is one of its most appreciated values".

At the same time, Damián Ribas, former commodore of the RCNB, alma mater of the regatta's take-off and owner of the prize-winning Alba comments. "The Puig regatta has managed to consolidate itself without being included in any of the international classic circuits. Like the Saint-Tropez regatta, we maintain our own identity. As a participant in all the editions, more important to me than the results is the remarkable camaraderie that comes from bringing together so many classic boats, many of them of unquestionable prestige."

 FOTO: Nico Martínez

Grant Dalton, this edition's guest star

The world sailing legend, New Zealander Grant Dalton, came to the Real Club Náutico de Barcelona for the last day of the regatta.

The Team New Zealand skipper took part in the awards ceremony of the Puig Vela Clàssica Barcelona regatta and beforehand had the opportunity to chat with Marc Puig, CEO of Puig, about the values of the sport and the challenges of organizing the America's Cup in 2024 in Barcelona, including some events with classic yachts classic which participated or belongs to yacht classes used in America´s Cup, the most important sailing competition and the oldest sports events, which was first organized in 1851.

FOTO: Toni Mateu

Dalton, who is in charge of this event, said that "as the days go by, I reaffirm the wisdom of the decision" when referring to the selection of the Catalan capital as the venue for the greatest sailing event in the world.

The RCNB takes up the initiative in the CIM and allies itself with the 2024 America's Cup in Barcelona

The recent pandemic has affected the classic fleet in a very particular way, which is beginning to recover as it moves towards normality. In this sense, the XV edition of the Puig Vela Clàssica by the hand of the Real Club Náutico de Barcelona (RCNB) has turned to the satisfaction of the sailor as a capital element to resume the splendor of the classics, convinced that the sympathy of this regatta together with an excellent organization at sea, will reaffirm the continuity of this key event for the survival of these regattas in our country.

 FOTO: Nico Martínez

From this responsibility, and aware that in the last period the management of the fleet was becoming more complicated every day, the RCNB, co-founder club of the International Mediterranean Committee (CIM) in 1926, has been deeply involved in the renewal of this institution. Thus, Andrés de León, has joined the board of the CIM as a representative of the RCNB and the Spanish Sailing Federation, assuming one of the two vice presidencies of the entity, responsible for the areas of calendar, events and sponsorship, and also involved in the management of the competition rating used in the regattas of this type of boats. The objective is none other than to ensure that the optimum technical and human conditions are in place to guarantee the organizing clubs, the owners and their crews the fairest playing field within the fair play consubstantial to "the classics".

Coinciding with this decisive step forward by the RCNB within the CIM, the club has twinned with the Royal New Zealand Yatch Squadron, organizing club of the America's Cup 2024 in Barcelona, whose director Grant Dalton participated in the awards ceremony of the XV Puig Vela Clássica.

FOTO: Nico Martínez

Both clubs are aware that the legacy of America's Cup classics should have an excellent exponent in Barcelona, being the RCNB and the Puig Vela Clàssica the ideal environment for it. The America's Cup 2024 integrates activities of various categories of classics with boats from different countries, collecting in particular the metric classes and, among others, the 12M that already in 2014 held the World Championship in the context of the Puig Vela Clàssica.

With this new leadership role in the CIM and the outstanding new partnership with the America's Cup, the RCNB aims to recover the brilliance of the classics already enjoyed before the pandemic, multiply its relevance and ensure its future in Barcelona.

 FOTO: Nico Martínez

The schooner Sunshine shines, for the first time, at the Puig Vela Clàssica

Following the initial design, drawn up by W. Fife in 1900, whose plans were found in the Maritime Museum of Scotland, the schooner Sunshine attended the Puig Vela Clàssica for the first time. This schooner is the third 'sister' built using the plans found. The first two, the original Sunshine and "Asthore", were built in 1900 and 1902, respectively.

The current schooner, which began construction in late 1999 and was launched in 2003, maintains the magic of William Fife's designs known for their high speed and exquisite elegance. Sunsine is a two-masted crab-sailed sailing yacht with a handcrafted interior of teak and rosewood. The faithful reproduction and her aesthetics have led the CIM authorities to grant this boat the status of a vintage racing yacht.

FOTO: Nico Martínez

Grayling, more than 122 years of history

If one word defines the Grayling sailing yacht, it is undoubtedly history. This ship, designed by J. F. Clyne and built by Stone Brightlingsea in 1900, passed through many hands during her first half century of life until 1954, when she was acquired by C. W. R. Winter. This writer made numerous cruises aboard the Grayling and this was reflected in some of his writings. However, after this owner, the ship was abandoned and found in the port of La Puebla de Farnals, Valencia, by its current owner, Rafael Carrió, in 2007.

A member of the last generation of Valencian caulkers, Rafael Carrió quickly set to work and recovered the Grayling, which was in a state of total abandonment. This task, which took him four years, was recognized and won the second prize for the best restored ship in England. Since then, the Grayling has been a regular in classic regattas and, for the first time, competed in Barcelona waters in the Puig Vela Clàssica.

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Puig Vela Classica Press

Covadonga Munoz