The J/80 fleets in Bilbao, Santander and Palma Mallorca, Spain continue strong racing with some series leaders emerging. Come rain, snow, cold or violent squalls, nothing seems to deter this group of sailors from having great sailing on the water and camaraderie in the local harborside pubs after sailing.
Winter Trophy 2010
(Bilbao, Spain- Feb 6-7)- Winter Trophy 2010 and has a clear candidate for title: Peru Mugica and his crew of PAKEA BIZKAIA. A first and a second on the third weekend helped Peru Mugica consolidate his lead with eight points, five less than the AS DE GUIA VIII's skipper Joseph Azqueta, who finished third and fourth. In third place overall is FREUS's Cristian Jauregui with seventeen points. On a cold rainy day with little wind, the race committee postponed for two hours. Then, they got two races off, the first one being light winds and strong currents making for challenging tactical decisions and the second marked by a powerful squall shifting the winds into the north. In the first race, Zubiaga Ramon sailing MANDOVI led the race from start to finish after a difficult start. MANDOVI chose to duck a bunch of transoms on port to get to the favored side and simply sailed away with the race. Behind them, Peru Mugica staged a great comeback to finish second by the end of the race. The second race was considerably closer and much windier for the fleet. The leaders all went to the right side of the course, playing the shifts. In the end, victory belonged to Peru's PAKEA BIZKAIA followed by Cristian's FREUS and Joseph's AS DE GUIA VIII' in third place.
After the racing a dinner was held at SALTILLO's. After the cold and rain, the warm atmosphere and great food and drink made for some amusing stories and celebration-- a lot of potato's were eaten! More Spanish sailing news here.
