“Alegre” and “Matador” stretch the gap upon their rivals after comfortably winning their races

“Itaca IX” goes back to the first place in RI 1, in spite of “Alex y Rubio Rumbo a Ti” good performance, which controlled the coastal race. “Tanit Medilevel” is new leader in RI 2.

“Red Electrica” loses out to “Legalain” in X-35, whereas “Iberostar” consolidates at the top of the X-41 board.

Palma de Mallorca, 4 de agosto. The 29 Copa del Rey Audi Mapfre crosses its Ecuador tomorrow, and some of the boats begin to look like winners in their divisions. “Alegre” in IRC A and “Matador” in IRC B made it clear who are the bosses in the coastal race held today, which showed their superiority on the water. Big swing in the top positions for the rest of the classes, which will result in three very exciting final days of competition, especially now where the discards come into play. “Itaca IX”, “Tanit Medilevel” and “Legalain” climb up to the top of the board in RI 1, RI 2 and X-35, displacing all the former leaders. X-41 “Ibersotar” remains leader in her division.

A patchy early-morning westerly wind built into a 15-20 knot south-westerly by lunchtime, giving perfect racing conditions for the fourth day of Cowes Week.

On the White Group start line the Laser SB3 class got away cleanly after a 10-minute postponement. The adverse tide favoured the inner end of the line, but in light wind there were big holes close inshore. 10 minutes later it was very soft for the Longtze class, with only one boat on the line and the back-markers were barely clear a couple of minutes before the scheduled Etchells start time.

The wind increased during the final minute before the Etchells got away, with two boats accelerating over the line early. However, it faded again as the Darings started 10 minutes later - two minutes after the gun, one-third of the fleet was sliding sideways on the tide away from the line.

Division Belle initially looked to have a great start, quickly popping out a couple of lengths ahead of the pack, but with the wind light along the entire line, on this occasion starting at the inshore end paid off. This enabled Hamish Janson and Malcolm Lofts's Streak to get well ahead in the initial stages of the race and they continued to pull out an impressive lead as they tacked west along the Green.

(Matador - Photo - Nico Martinez)

The ideal conditions of the opening day of the 29 Copa del Rey Audi Mapfre didn't accompany today's races, and the shifty breeze only allowed one race per class in the Alpha and Bravo areas. The former held the only windward-leeward race for the RI1 division, where "Rats on fire" was the unexpected winner and climbs up to the first position of her class after three races. “Red Eléctrica” also does so in the X-35 one-design class. On the other hand, “Movistar” of Pedro Campos comfortably won today's race, and increases her advantage over the RI2 second classified, “Tanit IV Medilevel” of María José Vila. IRC and X-41 couldn't start their race till late in the afternoon, which resulted in victories for “Alegre” in IRC 1, “Matador” in IRC 2, and “Iberostar” in X-41, respectively.

One start was given at 13:20 in the race course Bravo, opposite the airport, for the IRC Mini Maxis, followed by another one for the IRC B just five minutes later, but the committee was forced to cancel both of them due to a big wind shift to the west. Two hours later, the wind from the NE -known as gregal by the locals- established, and the committee gave called a second start, but the wind dropped to less than five knots, what forced the committee to call the race off again. It was not until four o'clock when the wind made it possible to give a start for both IRC and X-41. In the barely eight knots, “Alegre” was able to win, and increases her advantage over the IRC A division.

(The crew of the 40-foot Cutlass, owned by Nick and Alex Halmos-Hehran (Newport, R.I.), are all smiles after winning the PHRF class at last year’s Ida Lewis Distance Race – Photo Billy Black)

Less than three weeks away, the annual Ida Lewis Distance Race is making an all-call for early entries with discounted fees (through this Friday, Aug. 6) and is preparing for its sixth running on Friday, Aug. 20, starting at noon off Ft. Adams in Newport, R.I. In June, the event, hosted by Ida Lewis Yacht Club, was named one of Sailing World magazine’s “14 great events” in its guide for “The Ultimate Summer.” The designation came in large part because the event starts when Newport’s busy sailing schedule is actually winding down, and it offers two race courses--the 177 nm Montauk course and the 150 nm Block Island course)--which, as Sailing World reports, “has developed a loyal following of IRC rockets and PHRF warhorses.”

New This Year

The addition of a Youth Challenge has attracted teams like Greg Manning’s aboard Sarah, an X-41 that won its class and finished second overall in this year’s Newport to Bermuda Race.  Including Manning and his son Benjamin, the team will consist of six kids, ranging from ages 14 to 18, and five adults, meeting the majority-youth crew requisite.

(Photo - lloydimages.com)

Sales of coffee soared on the morning of the third day of Cowes Week, while competitors waited on shore for a sea breeze to fill in.

The west-south-westerly winds of the first two days of Cowes Week gave way to a light northerly gradient wind overnight. With the thin layer of cloud forecast to clear, the prospects were for a mostly sunny day. However, this in turn gave race officials and course setters an unenviable dilemma - rising temperatures were forecast to give a south-westerly afternoon sea breeze, with the inevitable shut-down mid Solent first.

By 1015 the cloud was breaking up and the sun warming Cowes. Although Bramblemet was still showing a consistent northerly, this was affected by the accelerated air flow out of Southampton Water and therefore not a reliable indication of the wind elsewhere. An hour later big holes were appearing in the northerly airflow, and at mid-day, although the sea breeze had not reached the central Solent, the second AP flag came down, indicating the end of the indefinite postponement.

A great first day of races opened the 29th Copa del Rey Audi Mapfre. “Alegre”, “Matador”, “Itaca IX”, “Movistar”, “Lelagain” and “Iberostar” are the first six leaders of this 29th edition, three of which are last year's winners too. The conditions couldn't have been better, and the 9 to 12 knots of southeasterly breeze at the 200 made it possible to run two races in the bay of Palma.

In IRC, Tim Powell's “Ran” didn't meet the expectations, due to the light breeze in which the British 72 footer wasn't able to perform at her best, and could only manage to be third in the overall standings after two races. Andy Soriano's “Alegre” was first in the inaugural race, whereas Markus Wieser's “Container” managed to do so in the second, and both boats are now first and second respectively. Hap Fauth's “Bella Mente” is fourth.

(Photo - Carlo Borlenghi/Rolex)

Porto Cervo, Italy. 2nd August 2010. The Yacht Club Costa Smeralda is preparing for an extremely busy September as entries for two of the Club’s traditional Rolex-sponsored events continue to arrive and preparations for the inaugural Oyster Regatta in Sardinia continue. The Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup, which will host yachts ranging from 18 to 45 metres in length, is scheduled to take place from September 5th to 11th and will be followed immediately by the Rolex Swan Cup from 13th to 19th. A portion of the fleet participating in each of the events will compete for a World Championship title: the Mini Maxi Rolex World Championship for the Maxis and the Rolex Swan 45 World Championship among the Nautor’s Swan craft. The Club’s sporting season in Porto Cervo will conclude with the Oyster Regatta taking place from 21st to 25th September.