‘Louise Racing’ and ‘Miss Behavior’ take the lead in the Yanmar Dragon Gold Cup at Puerto Portals

Louise Racing and Miss Behavior are the first leaders of the event organized by Puerto Portals. The fleet of 66 boats completed one race in somewhat unstable wind conditions.

The British boat Louise Racing and the Swedish Miss Behavior share the lead in the provisional standings of the Yanmar Dragon Gold Cup Puerto Portals, a competition that held its opening day yesterday, Monday, March 16, in the waters of Palma Bay. The event has brought together an international fleet of 66 boats from 17 countries, which were able to complete one race in somewhat unstable wind conditions.

The valid start was given at around 2:50 p.m., slightly later than scheduled, as an earlier start had to be abandoned. The race began with a northwesterly wind (330º) of around 12 knots.

The fleet sailed the first upwind leg, covering a distance of 2.5 miles, but the wind strength gradually decreased as the race progressed, forcing the race committee to shorten the course after seeing that the boats were struggling to advance on the final leg.

The finish was extremely close, with Louise Racing and Miss Behavior virtually neck and neck. At first it appeared that the Swedish boat, helmed by Jan Secher, had taken the win, but the race committee ultimately decided to declare a tie and award 1.5 points to both the British Louise Racing, helmed by Grant Gordon, and Miss Behavior.

It is worth noting that both teams finished first and second in the IX Copa del Mediterráneo, held just a month ago in Puerto Portals, and they also regularly train together.

The provisional podium is completed by the German boat Still in the Making, helmed by Benjamin Hub, while Iskareen, sailed by Arnt Bruhns, is fourth and Aegir, helmed by Hans Spitzauer, occupies fifth place.

Jan Secher, skipper of Miss Behavior, said: “It was a very changeable day, which made it difficult for the race committee to set the course because the wind direction was constantly shifting. We are really looking forward to the rest of the week, which for us is going to be a long one. This is only just the beginning.”

Meanwhile, Luke Patience, tactician of Louise Racing, confirmed that it had been a difficult day for the race committee because of the continuous wind shifts. Patience explained: “We made a very good start and controlled the race from the beginning, getting ourselves into the lead. We really enjoyed the opening race of the Dragon Gold Cup, which is a very interesting competition because the races are long and there are no discards, so you cannot throw out any result.”

The president of the Spanish Dragon Class Association, Carlos Carbajal, highlighted the importance of hosting the Yanmar Dragon Gold Cup, a regatta that has returned to Mallorca after 19 years, and praised the work of Puerto Portals, which “has been organizing regattas for the Dragon class for a decade and has succeeded in bringing together a very competitive fleet.”

Today, Tuesday, March 17th, the second day of racing in the Yanmar Dragon Gold Cup Puerto Portals will take place. The skippers’ briefing is scheduled for 9:45 a.m., and the daily race start will be given from midday onward.