Super conditions in the bay of Palma de Mallorca for the 1st series at Puerto Portals.
It was great to see 26 Dragons registered for the opening winter series last weekend (18th & 19th Nov) in Puerto Portals, Palma. This is the first time the organisers of the Puerto Portals Marina have run an International Dragon event and they most certainly did not disappoint. Port Captain Alvaro, with principle organiser Pepe’ Vidal & communication director Elena Seijas have done an excellent job to co-ordinate this “new” series to bring Dragons back to Palma.
With non-stop sunshine the “sea-breeze” came in each afternoon to offer fantastic sailing.
The first race was won by our IDA Chairman Vasily Senatorov helming RUS 34 “Even Better”, crewed by Igor Ivasmintcov & Alexandre Muzinchenko. Then race 2 was won by Tanja Jacobson, crewed by her Husband Bernhard and Jan Scharfetter.
Winners of race 2 Bernhard, Tanja and Jan after sailing in Puerto Portals, Palma.
One of the principle Spanish sailor’s and joint organiser Carlos Carbajal (ESP 99) commented how pleased he was to see 13 International Dragons already in Puerto Portals joining the 13 local teams. Carlos continued to say “There are still some small things to improve on but considering this is the first regatta and the good will behind all the organisation in Portals, I am confident we will make a great winter series”. I most certainly agree Carlos, well done.
Race 2 won by GER 1186 “Goldkante” helmed by Tanja Jacobson who opened a good lead.
On the second day of racing the sea breeze filled in slightly earlier so it was possible to have 3 more races before the “cut off” time of 15.30. Winners on day 2 were GER 1177 “Pow Wow” helmed by Michael Zankel, DEN 266 “My Way” helmed by Frank Berg and GER 1183 “M3” with Michael Schmidt.
Day 2 saw an earlier sea breeze allowing 3 more races to be sailed in perfect conditions.
In the end after 5 races it was the Danish Team led by Frank Berg sailing his beautiful Pedersen & Thuesen who won the series, from Michael Schmidt in 2nd and Vasily Senatorov in 3rd….
Pepe’ Vidal and Elena Seijas with the Winners DEN 266 “My Way” in Puerto Portals.
However, the main winner here was the fact that the Dragons are back in Palma de Mallorca… A venue that has a great history with the class, in particular the popular “Princess Sofia Trophy” and can also look forward to hosting the European Championships in 2020 !
With plenty of facilities available for sailors to park trailers and cars Puerto Portals offers an ideal “safe” place to winter a Dragon so why not join in the fun…. Next series Dec 16th & 17th.
Higher, Faster, Longer………… Stavros. (GBR 789).
My thanks to Francisco Pontes and Helmut Kraus (www.mv-photon.de) for their photo’s.