The penultimate day of the currently running Superyacht Cup in the fabulous Mediterranean yacht charter destination – Palma saw another exciting race, this time along the coastline. The sea breeze was much easier to read during the Mag5 Race on Friday than had been the case Thursday. As the upwinds fell much more in line with conventional logic, the key to success was the ability – and at times luck – to navigate a smooth passage through the crowded field. All the crews had to be super alert and the value of advance training was priceless.
Superyacht Cup Palma 2014 - Photo courtesy of Claasen Shipyards - Stuart Pearce
In the J-class race, yesterday saw only 38 seconds separate the first three Js across the line – sailing yacht Hanuman, charter yacht Ranger and Lionheart yacht. In the words of Kenny Read, Hanuman’s skipper-helm: “It does not get any better racing-wise than this. This is as good as it gets, high quality, high powered racing.” Claasen’s Lionheart is still in pole position in the overall J-class rankings with a one point lead over Hanuman.
Photo courtesy of Claasen Shipyards - Stuart Pearce
Turning to the other Claasen yachts, superyacht Heartbeat and Drumfire yacht came second and third in their class respectively, although Firefly yacht and charter yacht Atalante had more of a torrid time. As we go into the fourth and last day of races, Heartbeat is second in Class 3 and fifth overall. If she is to repeat her feat last year of winning overall she must overtake luxury yacht Ganesha and superyacht Inoui (Class 1), charter yacht Maria Cattiva (Class 3) and current fleet leader Unfurled yacht (Class 2). The St Regis Mardavall Mallorca Resort Race starts at 13.00.
