The track record of the German teams at the 18th Palmavela: GER crews in their element off Mallorca

The queen of the 18th edition of the Spanish regatta classic Palmavela this week was owner David Leuschen's Wallycento "Galateia". His team not only won the IRC-IMA Maxi class at the start of Mallorca's big boat season, but also opened the sailing year with a perfect result of six wins in six races. The crew put the final exclamation mark on the final light wind Sunday race across the bay of Palma, rounding off their perfect record and winning the premier class by eight points ahead of Andrea Recordati's recently acquired Wally 93 "Bullit". Second place on the final day also secured second place in the overall standings for the team flying the Italian flag in its first regatta with the boat.

In the fleet of seven maxis, four of which were 100 feet or larger, the "Galateia" crew remained confident throughout. Their strategist, the Spanish 470 Olympic champion Jordi Calafat, said at the end: "Once again, it wasn't easy out there. But it was a lot of fun and a good challenge. The breeze was quite streaky and changeable, sometimes filling right in the bay but then retreating again. So sometimes we were able to get far away from the fleet, but at other times we lost out to the fleet. The last race was close all the way until 'Magic Carpet' had a problem with the kite, and even after that it was close with 'Bullit'. I think we had a good week."

Italy's sailing darling and America's Cup chaser Francesco Bruni from the Luna Rossa racing team, who was the tactician on "Bullit" at the Palmavela, confirmed that the new owner and the team were happy with the Palma debut: "We have never sailed the boat before and we are more than satisfied. It was like racing a new boat for us. Then it's great to come second. It's a difficult boat to sail in this class because it's slower than the big boats and so you're always compromised by the big boats. But it's a nice boat, lighter and in some situations more manoeuvrable than the others. It's getting better and better. We will make some small changes. Because now we have a good feeling for how we can improve the boat, such as where to position the weight and where we need to improve the sail and mast setting."

ORC 2 was won by a regular guest of the host Real Club Náutico de Palma: Christian Plump secured victory with the president of the Spanish Sailing Association, Javier Sanz, and his crew on the Club Swan 42 CS "Elena Nova". With successful navigator and Palma expert Nacho Postigo, "Elena Nova" won two of only three races sailed. More races were not possible for her class in the light winds. Postigo said: "It was a bit unlucky for our class that we only managed three races. Most of them had four or five races. I don't think it would have been the same for us if we had had more races. If there had been five races, 'Plan B' or 'M8' could have beaten us." Christoph Mann's Brenta 42 "Plan B" came third in ORC 2. In ORC 3, "Rockall IV" owner Christopher Opielok and his crew on the JPK 10.30 had to be satisfied with seventh place.

The "Immac Fram" from Kiel ensured another commanding victory under the GER flag. The Italia 9.98 and the KYC crew around skipper Kai Mares once again won both races in ORC 4 and 5 on the final day. With a total of four race wins and a fourth place, the North Germans put in a strong performance off Palma and claimed their first Mediterranean victory of the year. Mainsail trimmer Florian Schlünder said: "We had sun, we had wind, we had two good races today and we fired two bullets. We sorted out our communication problems before the start, so we're really pleased with the win. We couldn't be happier." Otto Pohlmann's "Meerblick Fun" with skipper Gabriele Pohlmann sailed to third place in ORC 4 and 5, tied on points with the second-placed British "Just the Job".

Pit Fini's "Dralion" sailed to third place in the Club Swan 42 division under the flag of the Düsseldorfer Yacht-Club. Miachael Zankel and his crew from the Norddeutscher Regatta Verein tamed the dozen participating dragons as winners without a race victory after eight races. With their 2-2-4-3-2-2-5-2 series, the trio demonstrated why it is so often consistency rather than individual victories that leads to success at the end of a long series. Jens Ricke and his crew on the Spirit 46 - RI "Legolas" completed the German tally in the diverse Palmavela field with second place behind the Spanish SHE 31 "January Sails" in the traditional class. Click here for the results lists for all classes at Palmavela 2022 (please click!).