Philip Dohse GER 1251 “Puck V” wins Copa del Mediterraneo.

GER 1215 “Puck V” Pia, Nicola & Philip Dohse, Christian Moeller & Corinna Graf.

13 teams took part in the 5th Copa del Mediterraneo in Puerto Portals 18th to 20th February. Although only 3 races were completed over the three days, due to extremely strong winds of 30+ kts on Saturday, a good time was had by all and it was a nice way to round off a successful winter program. With some very consistent racing Philip Dohse crewed by his wife Nicola and daughter Pia, with his loyal friend Christian Moeller on GER 1215 “Puck V” were the overall winners.

Puerto Portals CEO Corinna Graf welcomes the Sailors to Puerto Portals.

Winning helm Philip Dohse reviewed the opening day “On Friday the wind was light around 8kts, decreasing to 4-5 knots, so only 1 race was completed. It was the best weather with sunshine and 20 degrees but as often happens near to the shore of Puerto Portals the wind shifted 15 degrees before the windward mark. The decreasing wind also made tactics difficult downwind, to find the right gybing angles, but it worked well for us. It was an exciting first race and AUS 551 helmed by Jan Eckert from Switzerland (who competed at the 1992 Olympics, Flying Dutchman Class) followed us closely the whole time.”

So GER 1215 won race 1, AUS 551 2nd & GER 1177 (Michael Zankel) 3rd. On Saturday the wind was too strong with gusts in excess of 30kts, but on Sunday the weather improved and two more races were completed. Philip again takes up the story “After the first attempt of race 2 was abandoned due to a 90 degree shift, a nice 12-15 knots from the south-west arrived and the best sunshine of 18 degrees. Race 2 was won by Frank Berg DEN 266, we were 2nd and AUS 551 were 3rd. The third and final race was won by ESP 99 (Carlos Carbajal) with Marc Patino from North Sails as tactician, who sailed an excellent race”.

Top 3 teams of the Copa del Mediterraneo..  (from right to left) Juan Company, Rafa Manera, Pia Dohse, Frank Berg, Nicola Dohse, Philp Dohse, Corinna Graf, Torvar Mirsky, Jan Eckert, Christian Moeller & Osin John McClelland.

So the first 3 teams overall were 1st GER 1215 (Philip, Pia, Nicola Dohse & Christian Moeller)

2nd DEN 266 (Frank Berg, Rafa Manera & Juan Company).

3rd AUS 551 (Jan Eckert, Torvar Mirsky & Oisin John McClelland).

Winning helm Philip Dohse also told me “This was a very well organised regatta, with on the water GPS ‘Smart Marks’ so the courses and lines were 100% correct and on land nice breakfasts, Lunches and Drinks served each day.” So many congratulations to all the podium teams and to Puerto Portals for running another successful Winter Series.

We thank the management and organisers at Puerto Portals for their hard work and commitment to support the Dragon Class and we all look forward to returning in November (15th to 20th) for our 4th Grade 1 and Finals. They have also published dates for another full 2022/2023 Winter Series & VI Copa del Mediterraneo, so check it out on their website….   www.crpuertoportals.com

Higher, Faster, Longer……..   Stavros.