The sixth and penultimate day of the 62nd Gran Día de la Vela - Bufete Frau turned Palma Bay into a major sailing arena on Saturday, bringing together several of the sport’s main disciplines.
FOLLOW US ON OUR SOCIAL MEDIA PROFILES AND RECEIVE UPDATES FROM "PASSION FOR THE SEA"ORC cruisers, traditional lateen-rigged boats, the 420 and ILCA 4 fleets, and Optimist team racing all shared the spotlight on one of the most varied days of this year’s edition, highlighted by victories for Abracadabra and Sagittarius in the cruiser coastal race and by the Real Club Náutico de Palma in the Optimist Team Racing event.
The third day of this second stage of competition presented a very different picture from recent days. Clear skies and a more stable easterly breeze brought a fully summery atmosphere back to the bay, although sea conditions continued to reflect the strong winds experienced during the week, with residual swell and sizeable waves adding an extra level of difficulty.
The breadth of the programme required Club Nàutic S’Arenal to deploy up to three race areas and mobilise more than 50 members of the organisation to allow the different competitions to take place simultaneously. It was a major sporting and logistical operation for a day in which activity stretched from the waters near the club and Can Pastilla to different points along the Llucmajor coastline and Cala Gamba.
The Cruiser class joined the programme of the 62nd Gran Día de la Vela - Bufete Frau on Saturday with a coastal race bringing together 16 boats, divided into ORC and ORC Social groups. The course took the competition across different parts of Palma Bay, from S’Arenal to Cala Gamba via the Llucmajor coast.
In ORC, victory went to Abracadabra, skippered by Mark Sadler and representing Club Nàutic S’Arenal. Kyo VI, owned by Guillermo Durán Abad of Club Marítimo San Antonio de la Playa, finished second, while Histolab, owned by José Juan Torres of Real Club Náutico de Palma, completed the podium.
In ORC Social, victory went to Sagittarius, owned by Jacinto Peláez Fernández of Club Marítimo San Antonio de la Playa. Agaloe, owned by Toni de Andrés Mascaró of Club Nàutic S’Arenal, finished second, while Martini, owned by Gabriel Dols and also representing the CNA, took third place.
The coastal race offered a very different image from the dinghy racing that has dominated much of the week, extending the competition over a wider section of the bay and placing greater emphasis on strategy, reading the conditions and crew coordination.
While the cruisers completed their course, the 420 and ILCA 4 fleets continued racing in the areas closest to Club Nàutic S’Arenal and Can Pastilla, alongside the Optimist team competition.
The Optimist class, the largest fleet of this 62nd edition, switched its usual individual format on Saturday for a competition in which teamwork took centre stage: the Optimist Team Racing Trophy.
Eight clubs qualified for the event based on the results achieved on 27 and 28 August. Each team, made up of four sailors, initially faced the others in a round-robin format before progressing to the decisive stages.
The format once again produced a very different type of competition from traditional fleet racing. Sailing fast or crossing the finish line first is not enough: the position of every member of the team counts, multiplying the number of tactical decisions and making coordination, strategy and support between teammates essential.
After an intense sequence of head-to-head races, semi-finals and finals, victory went to Real Club Náutico de Palma. Gold Winds finished second, while Club Nàutic S’Arenal completed the podium after defeating Club Nàutic El Balís in the battle for third and fourth place.
Traditional sailing also played a prominent role in the programme with the Biel Rosselló Memorial, which brought together five lateen-rigged boats in a gathering closely connected with Mallorca’s maritime history and heritage.
Taking part were El Único, owned by Antonio Juan Llobera of Club Nàutic Cala Gamba; Boeres, owned by Bartomeu Rosselló; Asam, owned by Pedro Riera of Club Nàutic Cala Gamba; México, owned by Alberto Corral, also of Club Nàutic Cala Gamba; and l’Alzina, representing the Associació d’Alzinaires of Club Nàutic S’Arenal. All the participating boats received a commemorative gift.
The gathering honours Biel Rosselló, a passionate advocate of lateen sailing, board member of the Balearic Sailing Federation and vice-president of Club Nàutic S’Arenal, who died in February 2017.
His legacy remains closely linked to the recovery, preservation and promotion of traditional lateen sailing in the Balearic Islands. Rosselló was also one of the leading driving forces behind, and skipper of, the historic llaüt Alzina, and promoted the creation of the Associació d’Alzinaires with the aim of restoring the boat and keeping alive a nautical heritage deeply rooted in Mallorca’s maritime history.
While the Optimist sailors focused on team racing and the cruisers raced across the bay, the 420 and ILCA 4 fleets continued with their sporting programme.
After completing the qualifying series on Friday and being divided into their respective groups, both classes are now fully immersed in the decisive stage of the competition, with every race carrying increasing weight in the final overall standings.
Sea conditions once again demanded technique, concentration and adaptability from the sailors, although the greater stability of the wind made for a very different day from those that came before and allowed the programme to continue progressing as scheduled.
The diversity seen across Palma Bay on Saturday also reflects a competition that has long since grown beyond being simply a local event.
Each year, the Gran Día de la Vela - Bufete Frau brings together sailors, coaches and families from different islands, Spanish regions and countries, turning Club Nàutic S’Arenal into a major meeting point for the sailing community for more than a week.
Travelling from Menorca, Lluís Mesquida explains that the group of sailors from Ciutadella attends because “it is a very good experience”, particularly because it is an event in which “a lot of children take part” and “the standard is very high”.
For teams travelling from outside the Balearic Islands, the event often goes beyond the competition itself. That is the case for Náutico de Gran Canaria, which has effectively turned its trip to Mallorca into a pre-season training camp.
“We’ve been here since last Sunday, so we’re spending seven days here,” explains coach Joel Hernández Peña. During the week, the team has combined training sessions in the bay, racing and different activities with the young sailors. “We sail, make the most of our time here, go to Cueva Verde and do other activities with the children,” he says.
For Hernández Peña, the Gran Día de la Vela is “a huge regatta at the start of the season” and “an ideal moment to begin the season and see everyone again”, highlighting a dimension of the event that goes far beyond sporting results and turns the stay in Mallorca into an experience based on training, shared time and preparation for the new season.
The conditions in Palma Bay are also an attraction for sailors travelling from other parts of Spain. María Antonia Peña, from Murcia, highlights the opportunity to compete in conditions very different from those they usually encounter in the Mar Menor. “There isn’t much wave there,” she explains, meaning that racing in Palma allows sailors to gain experience on a considerably more demanding course.
The international dimension completes the picture. Duncan McCarthy, who travelled from southern England with his children, describes taking part as a combination of sport and family time: “It’s also a great opportunity to enjoy a good family holiday.”
Mallorca’s sailing conditions play a major role in making the trip worthwhile. “The sailing here is really good,” he says, and at this time of year, “the conditions are what bring us here.”
With more than 500 sailors, over 400 boats and 34 clubs represented across its two stages of competition, the Gran Día de la Vela - Bufete Frau once again demonstrates its ability to bring together grassroots sailing, competition, tradition, training and community within a single event.
The 62nd Gran Día de la Vela - Bufete Frau will reach its seventh and final day on Sunday, 30 August, when the final standings will be decided in the classes still competing.
After more than a week of activity, it will be time to bring to a close an edition that has once again filled Club Nàutic S’Arenal and Palma Bay with sailors, coaches, families and boats from both within and beyond the islands, while preserving the essence of an event with more than six decades of history.
Results: https://www.grandiadelavela.com/es/default/races/race-resultsall
Mario Coronado puts the finishing touch on the 62nd Gran Día de la Vela - Bufete Frau 62nd Gran Día de la Vela - Bufete Frau enters its decisive phase 
