Federico Linares’s ‘Brujo’ is proclaimed today the winner of the twenty-eighth edition of the Juan de La Cosa regatta, taking advantage of two victories and a third in the three races that have resolved the tribute regatta to the distinguished cartographer, one disputed yesterday and two today , the latter under extreme conditions. Thus ends the first part of the great sailing week in the Bay of Cádiz and two new assaults are pending for the 51st Sailing Week for the Cruise class, in which the boat to beat will be the Grand Soleil 37 of the RCN de Cádiz led by Linares and Juan Luis Paez. The boat from Cadiz gets its seventh Juan de La Cosa and rents two points in order to get the ninth catavino de oro.
The sorcerers owe the victory to the accumulation of the first two, surpassed in the third test by the 61-foot RCMtmo. Santander ‘Merdocq’ owned by owner Iván Bohórquez, winner of the test, and Salona 37 ‘DE6-Varicentro’ captained by Nacho Zalvide, in this order in the general classification separated by one point. In today’s first test, the Linares men turned out well with an impeccable and at times conservative regatta so as not to risk in vain and managed to beat the Bohórquez boat by 43” and the defending champions by more than a minute. In the third test, the 61-footer escaped with a long distance, which allowed him to beat ‘DE6 Varicentro’ by 33” and Los Brujos by 1’32”.
Impressive outcome on a day only suitable for experts in which the fleet sailed with a strong easterly wind, moving between points of intensity of 15 knots in the first test, rising to more than 20 in the second. Some conditions with which at times survival prevailed over strategy, without some being able to avoid breaking a sail, as was the case in the first of the day of Sergio Llorca’s ‘Ceuta’ just when he managed to pass the ‘Brujo’. In the second test things got worse and while some were forced to give up unhorsed, others decided not to risk it and return to land. The two tests were resolved with two technical routes (windward/leeward) of 6 miles and four sections each.
In the ORC 3/4 division, ‘Brujo’ wins, followed by ‘DE6 Varicentro’ and Carlos Rábade’s Grand Soleil 37 in third place, in a class in which the withdrawal in the third race of the Dufour 34 ‘Habibi II ‘ by Arturo Montes left those from Punta Umbría without the possibility of defending second place overall and in their class. In ORC 0/2, he won unbeaten ‘Merdocq’ after the disqualification of the Grand Soleil 45 of CN Sevilla ‘Balboa’ from the first regatta, followed by Salona 45 of RCG Vistahermosa ‘Leiden’ and ‘Balboa’, third. Among the smaller boats, the 29-foot ‘Buzz Lightyear’ by Eric Perignat also wins with three out of three, followed by the First Class 8 ‘Amic’ by Cosme Domecq under the flag of CN Puerto Sherry, ahead of the Brenta 24 ‘Estero Blanco ‘ by Santiago Villagrán, a boat that also withdrew from the third test.
As is traditional in the Juan de La Cosa regatta, the winners of the ‘BOU’ System are also recognized, which rewards the pair of boats united by lottery with the best score, in a nod to the men of the sea who used this art to fishing, a trophy that this year falls to the boat ‘Sueños’ of the RCN de Cádiz owned by Pablo Ramírez and the ‘Ceuta’ of the RCN CAS de Ceuta skippered by Sergio Llorca. Los Brujos also won the Vistahermosa and Insurer GES Trophies for the winners of the first and second tests.
Tomorrow, Saturday, the fleet continues to compete on the third day of the 51st Cruise Nautical Week that ends on Sunday 21.
