The ‘Bribon’ of King Juan Carlos and the Finnish ‘Oiva’, European champions of 6 Meters in the Xacobeo Trophy

The ‘Bribon’ of King Juan Carlos I, in the Classic division, and the Finnish ‘Oiva’, in Open, have been proclaimed this Sunday European champions of the 6 Meter class in the Xacobeo Trophy, the event organized by Real Club Náutico de Sanxenxo (RCNS) that was held in the Pontevedra estuary.

The arrival of a new storm on the Galician coast caused the Pontevedra town to wake up with rain and strong gusts of wind that reached over 30 knots during the morning. With extreme conditions forecast throughout the day, the regatta committee decided to suspend the last race that remained to be held at 10:45 am. In total, seven of the eight scheduled rounds were held.

In this way, the ‘Bribon’, leader from day one, wins its fourth consecutive continental title. “We always go out on the water trying to be on top and be constant. We have the advantage of being a fairly competitive boat in all wind conditions, and I think that is key in championships of many days,” explained Roi Álvarez, crew member of the ‘ Rascal’.

The Cantabrian Jane Abascal, for her part, acknowledged that they had had “a pretty difficult week.” “I think the committee has been very successful in doing the regattas and taking risks when they had to take risks. We are very happy with the victory and the fact that we have been able to retain the title again, because we have had several rivals who have put a lot of pressure on us from the beginning. , like the ‘Titia’, the ‘Aida’ and, above all, the ‘Astree III’,” he noted.

In total, the crew of the emeritus king accumulated two partial victories, three second places, a fourth and an eighth that he discarded thanks to the discard, which allowed him to become champion of the Xacobeo Trophy and of Europe in the Classics division with a one point advantage. on the Finnish ‘Astree III’ by Ossi Paija.

Behind, the podium was closed by another of the teams that competed under the banner of the Real Club Náutico de Sanxenxo (RCNS), the ‘Titia’ of Mauricio Sánchez-Bella, a regular in the National League that is held every month in the town. by O Salnés.

In the Open division, three teams led the championship at some point: the American ‘Jane Ann’ of Basil Vasiliou, the Swiss ‘Junior’ of Muller Rainer – tied on points with ‘Stella’ of Violeta Álvarez – and the Finnish ‘Oiva’ by Henrik Andersin.

After a more discreet start, Andersin’s team went from strength to strength and took the lead on Friday with a second and a third scored in the last two tests of the week. With these results and discarding a seventh place finish the previous day, the ‘Oiva’ took a lead that this Saturday, after the last test was suspended due to the extreme conditions, became definitive.

For the Finnish team, this is their first continental title. “It’s amazing, I’ve been chasing this for 21 years. I’ve never won anything like this, so I’m very happy,” Andersin said. “We have a fantastic crew and I think the organization has done a good job with the bad weather, so I think the race has been a success. We think the boat is good in any wind, it is very well balanced and it is a new boat with which we have been sailing for a year and a half and now I think we already know how it responds,” he added.

Behind them, only four points separated the second place from the seventh. The silver finally went to the British ‘Battlecry’ by Jeremy Thorp and the bronze was awarded to the Swiss ‘Junior’.

The RCNS will celebrate the closure scene this evening, where awards will be handed out to the winners of the Xacobeo Trophy and new class European champions. The act will be attended by King Juan Carlos; la Infanta Elena; Diego Calvo, advisor to the Presidency, Xustiza and Deportes de la Xunta de Galicia; Nava Castro, Tourism Representative; Telmo Martín, mayor of Sanxenxo; José Ramón Lete, Xeral Secretary for Sports; Manuel Villaverde, president of the Real Federación Galega de Vela; Pedro Cardona, commander director of the Escuela Naval de Marín; Sauro Martínez, Patrón Mayor of the Cofradía; Ramón Guinarte, manager of the Mancomunidade del Salnés; y Pedro Campos, president of the RCNS, among other authorities.