Alegre takes an early lead

Ideal conditions on the Bay of Palma for the opening day of Copa del Rey Audi Mapfre

A great first day of racing opened at the 29th Copa del Rey Audi Mapfre. Alegre, Matador, Itaca IX, Movistar, Lelagain and Iberostar are the six leaders of after day one, three of which are last year's winners too.

The conditions couldn't have been better, and the 9 to 12 knots of southeasterly breeze from the SSW made it possible to run two races in the Bay of Palma.

In the IRC1 class, the light breeze didn't agree with Niklas Zennström's Ran which wasn't able to perform to her best, and lies third overall after two races. Andres Soriano's Mills 68 Alegre was first in the opening race, while Udo Schutz' STP65 Container won the second. These two are now first and second respectively, while American Hap Fauth's Bella Mente is fourth.

As far as Alberto Roemmer's Matador is concerned, the Argentinean TP52 steered by Vasco Vascotto showed her fighting spirit and her will to repeat victory in this 29th edition of the Copa del Rey Audi Mapfre. A second and a first place in today's two races place her top of the board in the IRC2 results. Just one point behind is the Spanish TP52 Bribón, with Gonzalo Araujo at the helm, having won the first race. This win places her second, ahead of John Cook's Cristabella in third and then Cam and King Harald of Norway's Fram, fourth and fifth respectively.

In RI1, the first day of races delivered some surprises, since none of the favorites managed to climb to the top of the board. Instead Manuel Gallego's Itaca IX controlled today's both races, and is first, followed by three boats tied on seven points.

The favorites did meet the expectations in RI2 though, and Pedro Campos' Movistar is first, just one point ahead of Nacho Campos' Tanit Medilevel, in turn one ahead of Vell Marí of Juan Cabrer.

In the one-design fleets, the X-41 Iberostar started off on the right foot, just as she did last year, and is first in her class after posting a first and a third place. X-Spain seems the boat to beat after one day of races, a Fuengirola-flagged boat with Clemente Toribio at the helm.

In the X-35 class, Italian Alessandro Solerio's Legalain is first, one point ahead of Javier Sanz's Red Eléctrica and Salty Dog of Hans Hout is third after a gap of seven points. X on the beach, which won the first race, could only manage 15th on the second one, a sign of the very even level of this one-design fleet.

Tomorrow, Tuesday, the race committee expects to run two races on the Bay of Palma starting at 13:00. Similar weather conditions are forecast.