Hondarribia strikes back at Urdaibai

Hondarribia is a great fajadora. He fits the blows like few others and also has a punch. The direct hit to the chin that Urdaibai gave her on Saturday in the waters of Ares –almost nine seconds at the finish line– left her sore, but as she has shown in Boiro she is still very whole. So much so that she has been able to strike back at the ‘Bou Bizkaia’ and take the last scoring event before the La Concha Flag dispute with no less than eleven seconds on the ‘txos’. A strong hook because the difference between the two in the fight for the crown of the Eusko Label Liga is once again three points to go, yes, only two tests –Bermeo and El Corte Inglés–.

And all this in a regatta that was a trifle away from being suspended due to the intense fog that made it impossible to see the boats more than a hundred meters away around 12:00. Faced with this black panorama, the technical committee of the ACT made up of Beni Silva and Jon Garaizar, decided to establish a margin of half an hour to see if the situation improved. The truth is that the hopes that it could be held were rather scarce and pessimism reigned. But when everything seemed doomed to suspension, the light was made. It went from black to white. The mist dissipated slightly and, although the best possible conditions were not given due to warm-up periods for the crews and others, the test was able to start with a delay of approximately 35 minutes.

The two hot spots of the day were very well defined. You didn’t have to search too far through the fog. On the one hand, the fight for the heavyweight title and, on the other, to see if Lekittarra would be able to work the miracle and avoid the play-off of salvation. Regarding the first of the evenings, Hondarribia oriented herself better than anyone in the mist and jumped into the Boiro ring ready to take the second Galician assault to close the weekend with a technical draw. She got it.

The ‘Ama Guadalupekoa’ did not speculate at any time aware that facing the last two appointments on the calendar five points behind the leader would have practically meant saying goodbye to the crown. For this reason, Mikel Orbañanos’s men sought hand-to-hand combat with Urdaibai at all times –streets one and two respectively–. Nothing to speculate. He went for the exchange of blows. And this time the ‘Bou Bizkaia’ had no response capacity.

The first direct action of the greens came in the final stretch of the first pitch –Two seconds over the Bermeotarras who became three in the manoeuvre–. Who else, who least thought that the ‘txos’, given the exhibition they gave the day before and accustomed as they are to paddling against the current, would be able to get up, but there was no way. In the second sector, the frontiersmen put in another rush that left Iker Zabala’s team on the canvas definitively –six seconds behind at the halfway point–. In their hearts, the Biscayan crew was aware that, in the conditions in which the field was found and facing a boat of the level of Hondarribia, coming back was an almost impossible task.

In addition, the ‘Ama Guadalupekoa’ maintained its progression. Nothing to take your foot off the accelerator. Proof of this is that in the third sector he endorsed another four seconds to the leader and faced the final stretch with no less than ten of difference. The flag already had an owner. From behind, the fight for third place between Donostiarra and Orio –both with their minds set on La Concha as practically nothing was at stake–, went to ‘Torrekua II’ for just over a second.

And in the other great match of the evening, the one between Lekittarra and Santurtzi to avoid the play-off, it was the former who took the partial victory, although they were unable to avoid promotion. The nine rental points with which the ‘Sotera’ faced the Boiro appointment were too much of a burden for the Osertz Alday squad. Zierbena, with his victory in the second series over Cabo Cruz, regains his spirits ahead of Wednesday’s qualifying round, although he worries about his tremendous irregularity.