Penultimate day place changes

As Matador shows a return to form at Hublot PalmaVela

The wind had trouble establishing itself again today at Hublot PalmaVela, and the postponement flag was raised at around 11:00 this morning. Finally, with a 8 knots southwesterly had established itself, the race committee gave the start signal of the first race of the day, at 13:43 hours.

The TP52s, RIs and ORCs today shared a racing area, opposite Arenal. In the TP52 class Matador, with skipper Guillermo Parada at the helm, saw a return to form winning two races, ahead of Artemis where Paul Cayard is calling tactics. The Swedish boat had remained unbeaten till today, but posted a solid second and third place, while a discard after race six, helped her hold to the first position overall. Overall Matador is second, just one point ahead of John Cook's Cristabella, with Weapon of Choice, the former Matador, rounds out the other results, with the final standings likely to be only determined at the close of play tomorrow.

The Maxis and Wallys, and Traditional and Classic Yachts had their coastal race today on a 24.6 and 21.81 mile courses respectively. In the Maxi Wallys J-One won both today's races, demoting Magic Carpet from first place overall, which she had held from the first day and is now just half a point behind. Behind, Y3K posted two fourths, allowing the Italian boat, Indio to get dangerously close, now just half a point behind.

In the Mini Maxi class, Udo Schutz's STP65 Container consolidated their first place, with a first and third today. In second place overall, Andres Soriano's Alegre wasn't able to close in on the German leader, but looks comfortable with Neville Crichton's Shockwave five points behind.

Carlos Martínez's Peraleja Golf gets closer to the victory after taking two first places and a third today in the J/80 class. Nextel lies second and ECC Viviendas third, after an OCS the first race.

In the IRC class, Jose Maldonado's Cuadernos Rubio won both today's races and kicked John Bassadone's Peninsula Petroleum out of first position. The Gibraltar-flagged GP42 didn't have a good day finishing eighth in the second race, sinking them to third overall. This leaves the Spanish army TP52, Aifos with Jaime Rodríguez Toubes at the helm, holding second after winning the last race.

Top 3 results

Maxi Wally
1. J One (Richarson), 2+3.5+3+1+1: 10.5
2. Magic Carpet 2 (Gallichan), 1+1+4+3+2: 11
3. Y3K (Offen), 3+2+1+4+4: 14

Mini Maxi
1. Container (Schutz), 1+4+1+1+3: 10
2. Alegre (Soriano), 3+2+2+4+1: 12
3. Schockwave (Crichton), 4+1+3+3+6: 17

J/80
1. Peraleja Golf (Martínez), 1+3+1+1+1+(3): 7
2. Nextel (Camino), 4+1+3+4+(4)+6: 16
3. ECC Viviendas (Torcida), 2+4+10+(14)+2+1: 19

TP 52
1. Artemis (Tornqvist), 1+1+1+1+2+(3): 6
2. Matador (Roemmers), 3+3+2+(3)+1+1: 10
3. Cristabella (Cook), 2+2+(4)+2+3+2: 11

Platú 25
1. Iberdrola (Weiller), 2+2+(2)+1+1+1: 7
2. UEP Design (Carbonell), (4)+4+1+2+2+2: 11
3. Inmobiliaria Nova (Forteza), 1+1+3+4+(4)+3: 12

RI 1
1. Cuadernos Rubio (Maldonado), 5+1+2: 8
2. Aifos (Rodríguez Toubes), 2+6+1: 9
3. Peninsula Petroleum (Bassadone), 1+3+8: 12