(Santander, Spain- Feb 6-7)- On the final day of the first trophy of the year, Pichu Torcida continued his winning ways from the 2009 season. Pichu's ECC VIVIENDAS sailed extremely well, winning two races on the last day, to finish just two points back from Mafias Trophy winner, Paul Santurde on SPACIO 10. SPACIO 10 consistently led the series, despite not winning any races. And, thanks to an extraordinarily consistent series of 2-2-2-2 in the first four races, Santurde managed to hang in there for the overall win.
Like their friends in Bilbao, heavy rain in the afternoon on Saturday in Santander Bay did not stop to the fleet from having an interesting day of racing. There was high tide, the wind blew between 15 and 18 knots from the west, and the race committee managed to run five races. There were 22 boats on the starting line. Unusually, the fleet went right the first time, without needing to have to repeat the same tactic later in the day. In later races, the fleet was distributed equally throughout the race course. Some sought more favorable tide, some surfed the channel area of the bay and others simply played the left side, sailing further south.
While ECC VIVIENDAS was winning the last two races, SPACIO 10 was wrapping up the series with a solid performance. With their fourth consecutive second place, Santurde's SPACIO 10 secured winning the Mafias Trophy. Antonio Piris sailed his YATES&THINGS very well to finish third for the series, followed by Alberto Padron's MABLE V and Jamie Piris' FONESTAR in fourth and fifth, respectively.
Next weekend the Santander J/80 fleet starts the Waxy-Memorial de Antonio Pereda Trophy during the month of February. More Spanish sailing news.
