WebreaderShopNewsletterTop harbours

Superyacht Cup PalmaSailing giants board the bay of Palma

Martin Hager

 · 21.06.2024

The 59-metre ketch "Maximus" incurred a time penalty for an early start and slipped to second place in Group A behind ...
Photo: Sailing Energy / The Superyacht Cup
The first day of the Superyacht Cup Palma brought sailing action to rave about. In perfect conditions, the eleven participants completed a 20 nautical mile course. There was plenty of action for the Js and an early start for the really big ones

A breeze of between ten and 16 knots coupled with a fair amount of swell made for a fantastic first day of racing in the Bay of Palma. The Pantaenius Race Day took the fleet on a coastal course of more than 20 nautical miles, which covered the entire bay of Palma in two triangles.

59 metre ketch "Maximus" with early start

The 39-metre yacht "Cervo", which has been transformed into a racer for the Superyacht Cup, won the first race in Class A on her first appearance off Palma. She benefited from a time penalty that the 59-metre ketch "Maximus" for an early start, putting her and her 50-strong crew in second place ahead of the Truly Classic duo "Vijonara" and "Atalante" fell behind.

"It was a beautiful day in the bay with 12 to 15 knots of wind from the south, so we had a good race," said Jens Christensen, tactician of "Cervo". "The owner is of course very happy about the win, although we know we got a little help from our friends on "Maximus". Our goal is of course to beat them in the overall standings, which will be difficult."

Close races at the Superyacht Cup

In Class B, the defending champion of the Superyacht Cup Palma, the 80-foot Wally "Rose", continued her triumphant march to victory ahead of the Nautor-Swan duo "Umiko", "Dark Horse" and the brand new Y8 "Calabash". It's great that we've started our title defence with a win," said Rose captain Ben Potter. "But the competition is strong and it's been a close game all the way. But that's the great motivation. The crew is the same as last year, so we're in the right frame of mind to defend the title. Today's conditions were ideal for the boat. We'll see what the next few days bring!"

In the fiercely contested J-Class, the tide turned compared to the first prologue day. "Velsheda" - third in both races on Wednesday - won by 2:21 minutes ahead of "Rainbow", which took her third second place, and the double winner of the first day, "Svea", was only 26 seconds behind. With their results, "Svea", "Rainbow" and "Velsheda" are in first, second and third place ahead of Friday's races.

How do you like this article?

Martin Hager

Martin Hager

Editor in Chief YACHT

Martin Hager is editor-in-chief of the titles YACHT and BOOTE EXCLUSIV and has been working for Delius Klasing Verlag for 20 years. He was born in Heidelberg in 1978 and started sailing at the age of six, in an Opti of course. This was soon followed by 420s, Sprinta Sport and 470s, which he also sailed on the regatta course with his brother. His parents regularly took him on charter trips through the Greek and Balearic Islands. Even at a young age, it was clear to him that he wanted to turn his passion for water sports into a career. After graduating from high school and completing an internship at the Rathje boatbuilding company in Kiel, it was clear that he did not want to become a classic boatbuilder. Instead, he successfully studied shipbuilding and marine engineering in the Schleswig-Holstein state capital and focused on yacht design wherever he could. His diploma thesis dealt with the “Testing of a new speed prediction method for sailing yachts”. In 2004, the superyacht magazine BOOTE EXCLUSIV was looking for an editor with technical and nautical background knowledge, a position that was perfect for Martin Hager. The application was successful and a two-year traineeship was arranged. After twelve years as an editor, the editorial team changed and he took over responsibility for BOOTE EXCLUSIV as editor-in-chief in 2017. After long-time YACHT editor-in-chief Jochen Rieker moved to the role of publisher, Martin Hager also took over the position of editor-in-chief of Europe's largest sailing magazine YACHT, which is celebrating its 120th anniversary this year, at the beginning of 2023. When he's not working on topics for the two water sports titles, Martin Hager likes to go out on the water himself - preferably with kite and wingfoil equipment or on a little after-work trip across the Alster.

Home

Most read in category Yachts