TP52 sinks

Disaster for Fernando Leon's Cam at the X Trofeo S.M. La Reina - Rolex Cup in Valencia

The final day of the X Trofeo S.M. La Reina - Rolex Cup in Valencia saw the wind pick up to 16 knots but the wave state increase to 2m. These conditions coincided with the start of the race. The three TP52s competing in the regatta (outside of the Audi MedCup circuit) were struggling in the conditions with Iñaki Castañer's Ono pulling out with a forestay problem while Fernando Leon's Cam suffered damage to her bow.

The ingress of water was such that despite the best efforts of Cam's crew they were unable to stem the flood and the boat sank. "For some reason, probably material fatigue the bow burst and the flooding was enormous," described Leon once ashore. "In a few minutes, half the boat was already under water. We will now analyse the cause."

Noluco Doreste came to the Goetz-built 2007 generation Botin & Carkeek design to assist in the emergency repair work, blowing up airbags down below, but this merely delayed the inevitable. After 10 minutes, at around 15:30 local time, Leon commanded his crew off the boat, at the time off the beach at El Saler. After she sank only the top of her mast remained sticking out of the water, showing the depth to be around 25m.

"I would like to thank the entire crew who made an enormous effort to save the boat, even risking their lives, as well as the crew of TAU Andalusia, the boats of the Race Committee, Red Cross and Maritime Salvage," Leon continued. "A lot of people tried to help us save the boat, but it has not been possible. Fortunately, we have her location, as around a half a meter to a meter of the mast is sticking out of the water. The most important thing was that there has been no personal injury."

Vicente Sala, President of the boat's sponsor, CAM, (a Spanish bank) showed his continued support for the team: "Thank God, there has been no physical harm, and I want to inform you that you have the full support of CAM to continue competing," he said while thanking Fernando Leon, Kiko Sanchez Luna and Luis Doreste.

The question is - does this incident raise question marks over the structural integrity of only Cam or the whole Mediterranean TP52 fleet, where modern examples are perhaps being optimised too much for the typically light conditions they experience in this region (see Malcolm Park's comments here)

Despite the drama, winner of the three boat TP52 competition at X Trofeo S.M. La Reina - Rolex Cup was Javier Banderas/Rafael Diaz's TAU Andalusia.

See the full report here on the GP42s

The ORC 670 class was exceptionally close. Fernando Pombo's Vindio won the final race, but despite the Santander-based boat having won three races this was not enough to secure victory overall which went to Jesus Pintos' Navantia with Javier Serrano's Tuvvik XIV completing the podium.

In the ORC 570 fleet the competition went to the wire with the 37ft Vrolijk Telefonica the winner on 11 points, followed by a tie between the Dufour 44 Icaro and the Comet 41 Power Plate, both with 12 points - all three boats having scored race wins during the regatta.

Her Majesty Queen Doña Sofía and His Royal Highness Prince Felipe presided over the awards held in front of the headquarters of the Royal Nautical Club of Valencia.