• Argyl, Marigan, Disparate, Argos, Ojala II, Legolas and Hallowe’en won their respective categories.
  •  Two new categories, Modern Classic and Classic IOC, come into play to create more equality between the participants.
  • Challenge Puig Vela Clàssica Barcelona – Régates Royales de Cannes is born, a competition that will crown the best boat in each category in both regattas.

Barcelona is witnessing, for the sixteenth time, one of the most prestigious classic yacht races in the Mediterranean. This edition, which takes place between 13 and 15 July, has kicked off in an exciting way and promises a great spectacle during the three days of racing. After the first day, Argyll, Marigan, Disparate, Argos, Ojalá II, Legolas and Hallowe’en lead their respective categories. On this occasion, some of the world’s most impressive classic yachts have come together and will be admired by the public from the main points of the Catalan capital as they battle it out for victory in this prestigious trophy.

Good conditions provide for an excellent day of Racing

The moderate thermal wind from Garbí (South), which was blowing at 12 knots, offered good sailing conditions on the first day of the Puig Vela Clàssica. The race committee of the Real Club Náutico de Barcelona opted for a 17.5 mile Barcelona-Masnou-Barcelona coastal course, which began with a short upwind leg, before setting course for the Masnou mark in a long downwind leg. From there, the fleet returned upwind to Barcelona in search of a mark in front of the northern entrance to the port, which gave way to the last leg across to the finish line.

As planned in the sporting programme, the sequence of four starts began punctually at 13:10 hours, with the Classic categories and the Classic IOR and Modern Classic newcomers to the competition being the first to start the race. This was followed by the Época Cangreja, the Época Bermudian and finally, the always spectacular Big Boat, which on this occasion brought together six boats in this category.

In the Classic IOR category, Susan Carol’s Italian Ojala II, skippered by Michele Frova, was able to stay focused and not let her guard down, despite sailing in the wake of Emeraude. The French boat skippered by Vittorio Cavazzana was first at the finish line, but after applying the time compensation, it finished second behind Ojala II. Third place went to Marco Maria Carbonaro’s Italian boat Sandra.

Jens Ricke’s German Legolas, competing under the RCN Palma banner, was unrivalled in the Modern Classic. First at the finish line and also in corrected time, he beat the Dutch Malira skippered by Hidde Van by 42 minutes, completing the podium with Jordi Puig’s Spanish Phidias.

Iñigo Strez’s Irish Big Boat Hallowe’en was the best of the six impressive boats. The time compensation confirmed their first position also at the finish line, which they crossed five minutes before the British Mariska skippered by Dan Polisak and six minutes before the also British Viveka of Sir Keith Mills. The time compensation swapped the order of the podium, with Viveka coming second and Mariska third.

Favourites meet the odds

Griff Rhys’ British Argyll took the win in Época Bermudian, recovering in the time compensation the disadvantage in the finish line with the French Manitou skippered by Loïc Melliand. Third place went to the Spanish Almarán New York skippered by Manel López.

In the Época Cangreja, the German Marigan has confirmed its status as top favourite. Tim Liesenhoff’s crew were unrivalled today. Second place went to Petete Rubio’s Gipsy, ahead of Miguel Rigo’s Freda.
Ricardo Contreras’ Disparate was the best in Classics 1, obtaining a comfortable margin over the second classified, Leonardo de Vicentis’ Nerissa, which also stood out from the third classified Kahurangi of Pepe de Miguel.

After three hours of racing, in Classics 2, Barbara Trilling’s Argos has won by only two minutes over Andrew Harvey’s British Clarionet, which has relegated the third classified, Enrique Curt’s Sea Fever, to more than fifteen minutes.

The second race of the Puig Vela Clássica Barcelona is scheduled for tomorrow, which is expected to start on time if the weather forecasts are met, which predict a slightly stronger Garbí wind again.

125th birthday of Marigan

Marigan, launched in 1989 as Molita (Little Molly after his daughter), was designed by Charles Livingstone, a member of the English America’s Cup Committee, for his personal use and built by Bond of Birkenhead.

The current owner, Tim Liesenhoff, found her in Oban (Scotland) in 2003, and in 2006, the boat was re-launched after restoration following the original plans of her designer and with a new name: “Marigan”, which is a mixture of the sons’ names Morgan, Marine, Oceanne and Logan. MARIGAN has won four times (2009, 2010, 2018 and 2019) the Puig Vela Clàssica in the Época Cangreja class.

 

Challenge Puig Vela Clásica Barcelona – Régates Royales de Cannes: The Mediterranean’s leading classic regattas join forces to increase participation

The organising committees of the two most important regattas on the international classic yacht racing circuit have decided to join forces for the benefit of classic sailing and to take advantage of the resurgence of this sporting competition after the hiatus of the pandemic. With this objective in mind, the Real Club Náutico de Barcelona and the Yacht Club de Cannes have joined forces and have decided to hold the first edition of the Challenge Puig Vela Clásica Barcelona – Régates Royales de Cannes in 2023.

In this challenge will compete those sailboats that participate in both races in the 5 categories of competition: Big Boat, Classics, IOR Classics, Marconi Vintage, Cangreja Vintage and Modern Classic. Finally, the boat with the best overall results will be proclaimed overall winner – with an additional prize – and will be present at the 37th edition of the America’s Cup to be held in Barcelona in 2024.

To see the video summary of this day, click on the following link.

Results and standings at the end of the first match day:

Época Bermudian

1. ARGYLL
2. MANITOU
3. ALMARAN NEW YORK

Época Cangreja
1. MARIGAN
2. GIPSY
3. FREDA

Clássic 1
1. DISPARATE
2. NERISSA
3. KAHURANGI

Clássic 2
1. ARGOS
2. CLARIONET
3. SEA FEVER

Classic IOR
1. OJALA II
2. EMERAUDE
3. SANDRA

Modern Classic
1. LEGOLAS
2. MALIRA 3
3. PHIDIAS

 

Big Boat
1. HALLOWE´EN
2. VIVEKA
3. MARISKA

In keeping with its long-running track record of sports sponsorship and its commitment to Barcelona city, Puig recently announced its partnership with the 37th America’s Cup, both as a global partner of the event and as Naming Partner for the inaugural Women’s America’s Cup. This ground-breaking initiative will provide women sailors with a platform to showcase their skills and talent in high- performance America’s Cup AC40s. By supporting the Puig Women’s America’s Cup Regatta, Puig is exemplifying its commitment to promoting gender equality in the sport of sailing.