Former King of Spain Juan Carlos begins sailing training

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Aboard his boat “Bribón”, the 85-year-old set out with his companions from the small northwestern Spanish port city of Sanxenxo on the Atlantic Ocean.

State television channel RTVE showed him being driven to the port in a car and boarded without speaking to onlookers. He had to use a walking stick and be supported by helpers. This confirmed the expectation that this second home visit would be much more discreet than that of May last year.

According to media reports, the former king, who has been living in exile in Abu Dhabi since the summer of 2020, wants to train off the Isle of Wight in southern England to compete in the world championship in the classic six-meter racing boat. class (6mR) at the end of August and beginning of September. He already won this competition in 2017 and 2019. The boats are not six meters, but ten to eleven meters long. The six meters in the class name refers to the result of a formula that takes the length and beam of the ship, water length, draft, freeboard and sail area and the result is 6. The Copa del Rey regatta is also held for Sanxenxo on the weekend , in which the old king also wants to participate.

Juan Carlos had arrived aboard a private jet from London the day before in the large city of Vigo in Galicia. He then went a little further south to the small port town of Sanxenxo, where some of his closest friends live. On his first visit last year, he had already taken part in a regatta there. There were initially no official announcements from the royal family or the government. It was also unknown whether Juan Carlos would meet his son, King Felipe VI, or his wife Sofía.

(SDA)

Source: Blick