Felipe VI's 'Aifos' remains third and the 'Soho CaixaBank Theatre' continues to sweep the Copa del Rey

The strong wind claimed the abandonments of the 'Estrella Damm' and the 'Citanias', with breakage of the mast and rudder

PALMA, 3 Aug. (from the special envoy of EUROPA PRESS, Andrea García Acuña) -

The 'Aifos' of the Spanish Navy, with King Felipe VI at the helm, remains third in the Majorica ORC1 class at the start of the final series of the Copa del Rey MAPFRE sailing, on a fourth day of competition in the Bay of Palma with abandonments of the 'Estrella Damm' and the 'Citanias' due to breakage in their boats due to the strong winds and in which the 'Teatro Soho CaixaBank' by Javier Banderas remains unbeatable in ORC2.

On a day with wind gusts of up to 20 knots from the northeast, called Gregal, the boats from the Handicap Division -Majorica ORC1, 2, 3 and 4- contested two windward-leeward sleeves at the start of the final series, in the that the participants started with a number of points equal to their position in the previous series. Wednesday's leaders in the make-up time classes retained their pole position.

For their part, the one-design ClubSwan 50 and ClubSwan 42 also competed in two tests, while the Herbalife J70 and the Mallorca Sotheby's Women's Cup women's class faced up to three. In all four classes in real time there were movements in the head.

In the Majorica ORC1 class, the 'Palibex-Elena Nova' reaffirmed its hegemony of the previous series and retained the lead in a day marked by the abandonment of the 'Estrella Damm' of the Olympian Luis Martínez Doreste, who broke the mast before the start of the first sleeve.

Christian Plump and Javier Sanz's boat started the day with a second place before winning the second test, which allows him to add four points, four more than the now second overall, Frédéric Puzin's 'Daguet3-Corum' .

Only two units behind the French boat is Felipe VI's 'Aifos', third in the previous series and which was guaranteed to remain on the provisional podium thanks to third and fourth places this Thursday.

Even more solid is the leadership of Javier Banderas' 'Soho CaixaBank Theatre', which has won all the races held at the Mallorcan regatta course in Majorica ORC2. The team from Malaga, winner in 2021 and 2022, added another two firsts this Thursday and strengthens its position at the top of the table with four points of rent over Basilio Marquínez's 'Seabery Dralion' (2 2 3) and seven over ' Reve de Vie' by Angelo Galeati (3 3 4), who remain second and third, respectively.

The Majorica ORC3 class also remains unchanged at the top, where Vicenzo de Blasio's 'Scugnizza' continues to defend his crown after winning the two events held. Carles Rodríguez's 'Laplaza Assessors' is second (2 2 3) and Ignacio Campos' 'Tanit IV-Medilevel' is third (3 5 8).

The 'Just The Job', with a first and a second, also retains first place in Majorica ORC4, where the 'Ybarra-Befesa' of the Paralympian Arturo Montes falls from second to fourth position after reaping fifth and fourth places . Gonzalo Calvo's 'Lassal', second in the first round and winner of the second, is now second, two points behind Scott Beattie's and ahead of 'Mestral Fast' (4 3 3).

Defending champion Marcus Brennecke's 'Hatari', who finished fourth in the qualifiers, took the lead in the ClubSwan 50 after winning both races of the day. Thus, he adds six points and is ahead of Enis Ersu's 'Xai Vision' by five (7 2 2), with two seconds, and Andrea Lacorte's 'Vitamin' (2 3 6).

There was also a change of leader in ClubSwan 42, where the 2022 winner, Pedro Vaquer's 'Nadir', displaced the hitherto dominant 'Pez de Abril' at the head of the general classification thanks to his two wins. José María Meseguer's boat, which won the trophy in 2017 and 2018, achieved a modest seventh place in the first test and was second in the last. Massimo de Campo's 'Selene-Alifax' is third in the provisional overall standings (2 3 6), six points behind the leader and five behind second.

In the Herbalife J70 class, Luis Bugallo's 'Usana-Les Roches' -second in the previous series- and Luis Albert Solana's 'Patakín' -leader up to now- shared the day's victories as the first won the last two sleeves and the second the inaugural one, being second in the others, for which they share the lead with six points. Meanwhile, the podium was closed by Sergio Péndola's 'Let It Be' (3 5 4 4).

Lastly, 'Team RCNP Balearia', which defends the crown and started the final phase third, is now the leader of the Mallorca Sotheby's Women's Cup women's class, where they compete aboard J80 monotypes, on a day in which the ' Citanias', so far first, was forced to retire by breaking the rudder in the first round.

Those of María Bover prevailed in the first and third tests, being second in the second, enough to lead the general ahead of the 'Dorsia Covirán' of Nuria Sánchez and the Olympian Natalia Vía-Dufresne (2 2 1 3) and the 'Barcelona-Northern Ethnic Group' (3 3 4 2).

The 41st edition of the Copa del Rey MAPFRE is organized by the Real Club Náutico de Palma and the Real Federación Española de Vela (RFEV), with the sponsorship of MAPFRE and the institutional collaboration of the Government of the Balearic Islands, the City Council of Palma, the Port Authority of the Balearic Islands and the Balearic Sailing Federation.