Last Sunday was a very special date for the Real Club Náutico de Sanxenxo, as it put an end to the Nao Victoria Challenge, a trophy that was created to celebrate the V Centenary of the first World Tour of Juan Sebastián de Elcano and which began in 2019 with the Cup events and the Spanish Championship.
The Challenge continued in 2020 with the national competition held in November and in 2021, in addition to all the Spanish Cup series between March and November, the European events were added, the Xacobeo 6mR Europeans, held in September. In 2022, as in 2021, all the Spanish Cup and Championship sleeves were added in addition to the World Cup, the Xacobeo 6mR Worlds, held in June.
In total there have been 82 regattas in which 46 teams from 15 countries have participated, culminating in the two international events held in 2021 and 2022.
classics
In the Classics division, with up to 21 participants, the “top ten” contains seven Spanish teams and three foreigners, being José Cusí’s “Ribbon 500”, which had skippers such as King Juan Carlos, Pedro Campos, Jane Abascal and Ross McDonald, the undisputed leader of the division.
The second position has been for Alicia Freire’s “Titia”, who year after year has evolved the team, both in the boat and in the crew, until being the benchmark in 2022, beating the untouchable “Ribbon 500” in some tests.
The third place on the podium was for Miguel Lago’s “Alibabá II” boat, which under the Monte Real Club de Yates pennant has always been among the favorites in the class. Other teams such as “Caprice” (Club Marítimo de Canido) led by Iñigo Echenique, “Stardust” (RCN Sanxenxo) led by Santiago Campos, “Aida” (RCN La Coruña-La Penela) led by Francisco Botas, and “Ian” (RCN Sanxenxo) by Cesar Elízaga have classified ahead of the first foreigner, the French “Dix Aôut” (Yacht Club de France) by Louis Heckly, who with his victory in the Xacobeo 6mR Worlds rose to eighth position overall, followed by from the Finns “Astrée III” and “Valdai”, by Ossi Paija and Dirk Stolp respectively, completing the “top ten”.
Open
In the Open division, with 25 boats in contention, the main duel was between the Portuguese “Seljm” (CN Cascais) led by Patrick Monteiro de Barros and the “Stella” (RCN Sanxenxo) led by Violeta Álvarez, who after only 82 races 26 points have separated them in this order, consequently leaving the title for Portugal. The third position has been for the Cartaginian boat “Maybe XIV” (RCR Cartagenta) of Eugenio Galdón, which has always been among the favorites of each of the races, being 2019 and 2020 the years that it has managed to be even ahead of the “Stella ”.
From then on, the “top ten” of the division has been in the hands of foreign teams such as the Swiss “Sophie Racing” (SN de Genéve), the Swedish “Delphina” (R. Swedish Yacht Club), the American “Scoundrel I” (New York Yacht Club), the Swiss “Ginkgoo Two” (Genéve SN), the British “Valhalla” (Hailing Island SC), the Swiss “Momo” -which premiered in 2022 and thanks to its victory in the Xacobeo 6mR Worlds in the month of June rose to ninth position-, ending the list of the top ten classified by the British “Battlecry” (Royal Yacht Squadron).
In summary, four years of competition that it has had in its international events, both with the European Championship in 2021 and the World Cup in 2022, its high points of competition and which have served to boost sports tourism that allows the high occupancy that it always has to be seasonally adjusted. the Salnés region in the summer months.
