Everything is ready for the start of the 19th PalmaVele with more than a hundred boats of 20 nationalities

On the terrace of the Real Club Náutico de Palma (RCNP) this Wednesday, the 19th edition of the PalmaVela was officially presented, a competition that this year will host more than a hundred teams from 20 countries divided into fourteen categories, and which starts tomorrow Thursday with the first day of competition for the Maxi fleet .

The event was attended by Emerico Fuster, RCNP President; Miguel Pastor Jordá, director of Fundació Mallorca Turisme; Fina Santiago, Minister of Social Affairs and Sports in the Balearic Government; Carles Gonyalons, General Director for Government Sports; Xabier Ramis, general director of maritime transport; Joana Maria Adrover; Security Councilor of Palma City Council; and Javier Sanz, President of the Royal Spanish Sailing Federation; José Ramón Crespí, head of the maritime rescue center in Palma; David Echauri, commercial director of Majorica; and Alejandra Vanolli representing Mallorca Sotheby’s.

Manuel Fraga, director of the RCNP, greeted those present and thanked on behalf of the club “everyone who enables us to enjoy this sporting event every year.” The data tell us about the size of this regatta: we exceeded 100 teams from twenty countries with almost 1,800 sailors, and in addition we have 200 people working on the sea and in the club itself.

For his part, Emerico Fuster, the president of the club, emphasized in his speech that “PalmaVela already in its beginnings contributed to the return to our bay of great lengths, which were later joined by the most modern fleets of monodesigns and cruisers, and today we can say that this is a regatta that has fully entered the calendar of Mediterranean regattas. The organization of international regattas is one of the functions that our club undertakes in its work to promote sports and commitment to this region”.

“This year we are turning 75. We are the heritage of this community, the strategic operator of this port and an indispensable actor in reporting social dividends through sport. Let me take this opportunity to appreciate what we do and what defines us,” added Fuster.

The bearer of the conclusion of the act was the Minister of Social Welfare and Sports in the Government. “The positive impact that this club has had is undeniable and the department hopes that it will continue to be around for many years to come, adding value to our autonomous community,” said Fina Santiago.

Ten years of fusion and art in PalmaVela

During the event, the PalmaVela award collection was officially presented, which celebrates its tenth edition this year with the works of artist Miguel Sánchez-Cuenco Capi.

On his artistic side, this former sailor, coach and renowned meteorologist who has worked at several America’s Cups and the Olympic Games, among other major competitions, stands out for his oil paintings with a wide variety of subjects and a quintessentially Mediterranean color palette. In the works presented for this new edition of PalmaVel, asymmetrical towers take center stage, which he gives life to through dynamic framing and volumes created by large patches of very intense white on a blue and green background.

“It was a great pleasure for me to create this collection. When the club was interested, we made a line based on one of my paintings and I think they turned out really well. I am very satisfied with the result, and people liked it very much”, explained the artist.

Tomorrow is the first day of the regatta

Tomorrow, Thursday, the fleet competition begins in Palma, which this year will gather more than a hundred sailboats and 1,800 sailors representing twenty countries in different regatta areas.

Maxi’s fleet, with nine units in the competition, will be the first to go into action and will do so tomorrow at 13:00 with the starting gun for the first of five events planned during the competition. The rest of the fleet will open their tags on Friday, except for the ORC A Dos class, which will do so on Saturday with the first of two coastal races on its schedule.

As of today, everything indicates that it will be a week of winds between eleven and fifteen knots on average in the Bay of Palma, which will allow the fleet to put on a real show over the four days of the competition.