Two bullets for Bribon

After a tricky second day of racing at the Copa del Rey Mapfre

Differences in wind pressure between the inner and the outer race areas and strong shifts marked the second day of racing at the 30th Copa del Rey Audi Mapfre. The result has been a new leader in the IRC division, in the form of Bribón, a win for Argo and another for B-Lin Sailing.com in the Melges 32 class, while elsewhere there were no big changes in the rest of the fleets.

Due to the conditions, the 117 crews across the seven fleets had to wait between half to one hour for the breeze to settle before the race committee start proceedings across all four race areas. While in race area Alpha, in front of the airport, a NNWerly was the predominant wind direction, the Bravo and Charlie areas enjoyed a southwesterly breeze, known locally as the 'Xaloc'. Neither of the breezes built above the 11 knots today.

Day 2 was good for José Cusí's Bribón, whose two bullets elevated them to second. The first race for the IRC A fleet started in a northwesterly breeze which soon shifted right reaching 150°, as forecast, finally establishing itself at 135°. This favoured Bribón, which went left after a good pin end start to leeward of the fleet, and Aifos, steered by HRH Princess Cristina, which chose the left side. The white TP52 controlled the race from beginning to end, while Aifos managed third. Day one leader Container only managed an eighth in this first race, but got even a second in race two, finishing right behind Bribón, which scored her second bullet of the day. That gave Gonzalo Araujo and his crew a lead of five points over Container in second, followed by the HRH Felipe of Borbón-steered Hispano which posted a 5-3 today. In IRC B, Earlybird remains the leader after four bullets in two days.

The debut of the Melges 32 class at Copa del Rey Audi Mapfre delivered tight, exciting racing as anticipated. With Cameron Appleton calling tactics, American Jason Carroll's yacht Argos posted a 1-3 to take the lead ahead of Melges 32 world champion B-Lin Sailing.com of Luca Lalli and Lorenzo Bressani. Oscar Strugstad's Dawn Raid with Andy Beadsworth calling tactics was third.

In the J/80s - the other one design class making its debut in the Copa del Rey Audi Mapfre - there were no changes on the leaderboard. Nextel was second in the first race, behind Maqueche from Cantabria, the province with the largest J/80 fleet in Spain. The second race was run in very shifty winds which forced two general recalls, and start was eventully given under a black flag. In this Nextel finished fourth after moving up several positions, to remain the leader overall, followed by Javier Aguado's Crocs and Jose Maria Van der Ploeg is third on Factor Energia-Great Sailing-Quum.

The X-35 class was to compete in the Charlie race area, where conditions were as tricky, this did cause several changes in the overall results with Mirko Bargolini's Hotelplan climbing to the top of the scoreboard.

RI1 also delivered few surprises, with Rafael Carbonell Pujol's Swan 45 Rats on Fire still first after today's 1-4, opening a 12 points gap upon the second placed First 45 Cuadernos Rubio.

In RI 2 Pedro Campos' Grand Soleil 37 Movistar beat her main contender, Olympic Gustavo Martínez Doreste's Comet 41 Power Plate, and the two boats are now first and second respectively, four points apart.

Tomorrow a double scoring coastal race of around 30 miles awaits the two handicap fleets at the Copa del Rey Audi Mapfre (IRC and RI) while the X-35s and Melges 32s will race in front of Ca'n Pastilla, and the J/80s will stay at area Alpha, in front of the airport.

Full results here

From Kurt Arrigo: