PalmaVela presents awards to the winners of its 21st edition

A thrilling and intense finale to the Sandberg PalmaVela, with heavy seas and wind conditions that grew stronger throughout the day, reaching gusts of 23 knots. Two broken masts reflected the toughness of the conditions.

The fourth and final day of the Sandberg PalmaVela was packed with excitement. Palma Bay bid a spectacular farewell to the more than 100 boats that took part over the four days of racing—featuring waves, sunshine, and wind. Four classes saw new leaders emerge on the final day, while seven confirmed their early dominance with overall victories.

The champions of the 21st Sandberg PalmaVela are:
"Tilakkhana II" (Maxi), "Vudu" (ORC 0), "Ran" (ORC 1), "Katara" (ORC 2), "Meerblick" (ORC 3), "Just the Job" (ORC 4-5), "Smerit" (ORC A2 0–3), "Kyo VI" (ORC A2 4–5), "Kanguru" (ORC Sportboat), "Little Thila"(Espíritu de Tradición), and "Momo" (6 Metres).

The Maxi fleet raced a coastal course of nearly 29 miles on May 4, breaking the tie between “Wally Rose” and “Tilakkhana II” at the top of the standings and reshaping the provisional podium from May 3.

"Tilakkhana II", which won PalmaVela in 2014 under the name Magic Carpet Cubed, claimed double victory in its first regatta with a new owner and crew—winning both the coastal race and the overall title.

"Rose" finished second, and Spain’s "Pelotari Project", skippered by Andrés Varela, clinched a last-minute podium finish.

After two windward/leeward races, "Vudu", owned by Mauro Gestri, dominated the ORC 0 class, mathematically securing the title with one race to spare.

With the winner settled, the final race focused on the fight for silver and bronze. Ireland’s "Searcher" won the final race, climbing to second place overall, pushing "Blue Carbon – Aproperties", owned by Toni Guiu of RCN Barcelona, into third.

"Aifos" narrowly missed the podium after breaking its mast during Sunday’s second race, forcing its retirement.

Sweden’s "Ran", skippered by Nikklas Zennstrom, had a rough start with a ninth-place finish, but rebounded with three wins in the remaining races. The discard rule allowed him to leap to the top of the ORC 1 standings.

"HM Hospitales–Hyatt", skippered by Oscar Chaves, and "X-Odessa", helmed by Vladimir Kushnir, traded positions and finished second and third, respectively.

In ORC 2, longtime leader "Windwhisper 44" from Poland had its worst day, starting with a seventh-place finish and then a premature start (OCS) in the final race, which—despite being discarded—wasn't enough to hold the lead. Argentina’s "Katara", skippered by Julián Somodi, had a consistent regatta and nailed the final race, winning both it and the class overall. "L’Immens", skippered by Nicolás González, took third.

Germany’s "Meerblick", helmed by Gaby Pohlmann, confirmed its lead in ORC 3 with two more race wins. Italy’s "Sarchiapone Fuoriserie" finished second, and "Falapouco" from Andrés Manresa rounded out the podium.

In ORC 4-5, "Just the Job" left no room for rivals, finishing second and first in the two windward/leeward races. Owned by Scott Beattie (CVP Andratx), the boat claimed its fifth PalmaVela win, ahead of "El Travieso" (Ángel Blázquez) and "Tres Mares" (María Antonia Campins).

In ORC A2 0–3, "Swan 45 Smerit" (Tito Moure) won the third and final coastal race, completing a clean sweep to secure the title. "Modul" (Félix Comas) and "Bip Bip" (Andreas Hoehn) tied for second, with the tiebreaker going to Modul after Bip Bip did not finish the last race.

In ORC A2 4–5, "Kyo VI", owned by Guillermo Durán, pulled off a dramatic win, tying at five points with "Minimon", which had led until the final day.

In the Sportboat class, strong winds favored the Australian J70 "Kanguru" (Kristyn Gills). The 20-knot gusts in the final race caused "Team Balearia", skippered by María Bover, to break its mast, dropping to second place. Gills’ team claimed two more wins and secured overall victory. "Sal", skippered by Cati Darder, completed the podium in third.

No changes occurred at the top of the Espíritu de Tradición class. The Wally Nano MKII Little Thila, owned by Marcus Schiermann, sealed the title with a second-place finish. Just one point behind was "Happy Forever" (Christian Oldendorff), winner of the final coastal race, while "Celeste di Mare" (Amador Magraner) took third.

"Momo", owned by Dieter Schoen, won its first Sandberg PalmaVela in the 6 Metre class. The fleet completed one race but was unable to finish the second due to high winds that forced the race committee to cancel it.

Dignitaries present at the awards ceremony included Marga Prohens (President of the Balearic Government), Lourdes Roca (Second Deputy Mayor of Palma), Michael Schwalbach (CEO and Co-Founder of Sandberg Estates), and Rafael Gil (President of RCNP), among others.