Saturday, June 6, 2015

J/80 Campeonato de Espana Preview

J/80 sailboats- sailing off Spain (Sotogrande, Spain)- The Spanish J/80 teams are all looking forward to their annual national championship- the XIX Campeonato de Espana from June 3rd to 6th being hosted by Club Nautico Bevelle.  At least 28 boats are registered for the event to be sailed in Sotogrande waters with teams representing every major fleet across the country, including Andalusia, the Balearic Islands, Cantabria, Catalonia, Galicia, Murcia and the Basque Country.

The Race Committee, chaired by the Andalusian Arianne Mainemare and his team, plans to have at least nine windward-leeward races over the three-day weekend.

In addition to the tile of the Campion de Espana, there will be special MUSTO Sotogrande Performance Awards given to the three best teams in Spanish J/80 sailing.

One of the early favorites must be BRIBON MOVISTAR sailed by Marc de Antonio and Sofia Bertrand, top sailors from Andalusian waters.  They are in top form just one week after clinching a victory in the J/80 Copa de Espana held in Murcia the previous weekend. Along with them, other favorites are the new champions of Andalusia- DA BRUNO skippered by Pepequín Orbaneja and Juan Luis Paez (they are considered to be “local” knowledge in Sotogrande).  In addition to these two teams, two other crews that should be considered clear favorites are Carlos Martinez’s AKEWULE and, of course, the World Champion Hugo Rocha sailing NEW TERRITORIES.  Please see a nicely published video of their Copa de Espana here   For more J/80 Campeonato de Espana sailing information