Fine ending for Bribon

In their final Copa del Rey, Jose Cusi's Bribon team is victorious

Bribón, Earlybird, Factorenergía, Argo, Hotelplan, Rats on Fire and Power Plate are the Copa del Rey Audi Mapfre winners after the two last races were held today for all classes, completing the schedule of the 30th edition of the 'Mediterranean's most important regatta'.

José Cusí's Bribón's farewell to the Copa del Rey Audi Mapfre couldn't have been sweeter: with a 4.5 point advantage over second placed Container, the TP52, steered by Gonzalo Araújo, won the 30th Copa del Rey Audi Mapfre, 11 years after the team's debut here in 2000.

After scoring three wins and five second places in ten races during the week, Bribón needed only four points to win the regatta. Gonzalo Araújo didn't take any risks and chose to control her main rival Udo Schütz's TP52 Container from beginning to end. The Spanish boat managed to cross the finish line in third position, giving her the victory in owner Jose Cusí's 30th and last participation in the Copa del Rey Audi Mapfre. This was also Gonzalo Araújo's first win in the regatta, an event he had previously taken part in with various IMS 600 projects.

The Markus Wieser-driven Container remained second, a result which made the German Dragon ace happy, for, as he said, their boat “is better with strong winds, whereas these were Bribón's conditions." Container returned to the dock flying a flag from her forestay
reading 'Bribón forever', as a homage to what Wieser described as the“ most important Spanish sailing boat ever”.

The closing day also delivered exciting and tight racing in the IRC B fleet, when the German team on Emma challenged first placed Earlybird, which  began the final day just point ahead, but Hendrik Brandis' team managed to finish third whereas Emma came home sixth. A similar fight went on in race two, but Earlybird won again, crossing ahead of Johann Killinger's Swan 60.

With just two races to go, things looked as tight in the J/80 fleet, for the three first boats separated by just three points. Nextel Engineering led after ten races, tied on points with Factorenergía – Great Sailing Quum of Olympic Finn gold medallist Jose María van der Ploeg, and followed by Javier Aguado's Crocs. In the first race the two leaders challenged each other in the middle of the race area, but after the first tacks Camino to the right and as a result her title was gone - she dropped back into the pack, while Factorenergia – Great Sailing Quum took the lead and maintaining that position until the finish. Van der Ploeg started last race with a six point lead, and didn't take any risks finishing fourth, thus clinching his second Copa del Rey victory.

In the Melges 32 class, the lead of Jason Carroll's Argo over Kilroy's Samba Pa Ti reduced by three points after race one today, but her win in race two gave her the first American win in the Copa del Rey Audi Mapfre ever, leaving Samba Pa Ti second, and the Italian Torpyone third.

The last two races of the Copa del Rey Audi Mapfre brought no changes to yesterday's X-35 podium, and Andrea Ferrari's Hotelplan held her lead, followed by German Ingo Dietrich's X on the Beach. Javier Banderas and Luís Doreste's Iberostar claimed the sole Spanish place on podium in third.

Rafael Carbonell's Rats on Fire reigned today in RI 1, and took a deserved victory home after today's two bullets, and nine wins out of 12 races. Manu Weiller's Cuadernos Rubio finished runner-up and the Swan 45 Swanderfull of Giacomo and Miscioscia was third.

Pedro Campos' Movistar will have to wait till next year for their sixth Copa del Rey Audi Mapfre victory after their unexpected blunder today. Sixth and a ninth places handed the victory over to Gustavo Martínez Doreste's Power plate, which was third and second.

Prizes were presented this evening by TRH The Kings of Spain in Ses Voltes gardens, in the surroundings of the cathedral of Palma.