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La Sal 2007
20th OFFSHORE REGATTA RUTA DE LA SAL.
The German J/V 50 ”Caro”
and the Ibizan Fortuna 9 “Fju Makky” absolute
winners of the 20th Ruta de Sal.
First victory of a foreign yacht at the Ruta de la Sal
“Caro” and “Plis Play” the fastest
to reach Ibiza.
A DIFFICULT BUT SPEEDY
AND ENTERTAINING
REGATTA
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| Departure
from the regatta harbours RC Marítim de Barcelona
and RC Náutico Denia |
The Ruta de la Sal never seems to go out
of style. In fact, quite the opposite is true. The twentieth
edition of this classic open sea sailing competition, held during
the past Holy Week from Thursday, April 5th to Saturday, April
7th, magnificently combined all aspects that make this regatta
an extraordinarily exciting challenge. This classic regatta
is the main sports event for thousands of Spanish and foreign
fans who consider the race to Ibiza an especially promising
attraction. After twenty years of history, participation figures
have broken their own records with a total of 335 yachts, 175
of them participating in the East Version from the RC Náutico
Denia to the PD Ibiza Nueva, and 160 participating in the North
Version from the RC Marítim of Barcelona to the major
Pitiusan island. And, just like it should be at a true-to-life
offshore regatta, the weather forecasts for both courses were
confusing and virtually contradictory. After a major storm,
which ceased only a few hours before the start of the race,
the participants had to tackle rather complex conditions that
offered a little bit of everything.
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Arrival
of the first boats in Ibiza early Friday morning
CARO, JV 50 of Werner Klink and ATLANT DEL VENT, B&C
52 of David Tur |
Cold weather, squalls to 25 knots in heavy
showers and storms, heavy swell, areas of light swell, nocturnal
calms and, at last, northeast winds that allowed those coming
from Barcelona to set the spinnaker and navigate through the
waves at velocities that, in case of the longest boats, reached
up to twenty knots. On the other hand, the participants coming
from Denia had to put up with north winds during a large part
of the journey. After a heavy showers that broke up the order
of the fleet, the island of Tagomago was finally reached, where
northeast and east winds predominated. Just a few miles before
reaching the finishing line, the winds ceased allowing the participants
to even things out. The major part of the boats coming from
the North in the end joined those arriving from Denia, a fact
that led to a spectacular arrival with more than 230 yachts
crossing the line of Botafoc within less than three hours. All
together, quite a lot of scenarios for a regatta, which, once
again, has managed to offer all the ingredients needed for a
real offshore regatta, where the secret is to know how to squeeze
a few extra knots out of each situation. It is a hard job to
reach this goal, and everything counts without compromise and
without a single moment of idleness. And, moreover, it was a
regatta that conveyed the joy of navigating through the open
sea.
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| Arrival
in Ibiza |
FJU
MAKKY, Fortuna 9 of Carlos Tur,
absolute winner of the East Version. |
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| The
crew of PLIS PLAY, Farr 520, winner in real time of the
East Version. |
The
crew of J 105, GUADIA CIVIL DEL MAR |
“Caro”, a 50 feet sailing yacht
skippered by the German Werner Klink, which was designed by
J/V to navigate according to the IRC rating rules, was the absolute
winner of the North version of the regatta. This was an important
victory because the yacht also became the winner in real time,
with 17 hours, 43 minutes and 56 seconds to do the North route
of the regatta. At the same time, it is the very first foreign
boat to become the absolute winner of the Ruta de la Sal. The
second winner in general terms was the Ibizan “Atalant
del Vent”, a B&C 52, owned by David Tur and Jaume
Serra of the CN de Ibiza. The third one to climb the winners’
rostrum was “Mr Fips”, a French H55V skippered by
Patrick Mersh. It is quite remarkable that the first three absolute
winners of the North Version of the Ruta de la Sal also were
the first ones to cross the finishing line in real time. This
is not typical for offshore regattas and shows us how well this
trio adapted their tactics to the predominating winds and weather
conditions. “Caro” the first one to reach Ibiza,
arrived on April 6th at 1:43 a.m., one hour and three minutes
earlier than the third one. All three yachts reached magnificent
results, to which we only can add “Concordia”, a
90 ft-Sloop which crossed the finishing line at 2:27:08 a.m.,
only seven minutes after “Mr. Fips” had arrived.
These four yachts had left all the other boats behind, which,
after a calm period, were reaching Botafoc early in the morning.
The fifth to arrive in real time was the Pella brothers’
S&S “Galvana” of the RCN of Barcelona which
crossed the finishing line at 6:36:20 a.m. and became fourth
in compensated time.
| Pre-start
meetings at the RC Marítim de Barcelona y el RC
Náutico Denia |
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| Skippers’
meeting |
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| Presentation
of the Captain’s bags and distribrution of presents
to the participants |
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| Welcome
dinner for crew members |
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| Meteorologist
Tomás Molina among the competitors |
Max Klink, skipper of the German yacht “Caro”,
commented the results after his arrival at Botafoc: “We
opted for a direct course from Barcelona to Tagomago making
the most of the northeast winds that had been predicted and
in fact prevailed during the entire journey.” These
winds reached up to 25 knots allowing the leading group to achieve
high average velocities, hitting peaks of 17 knots. Thus, the
leading group reached the isle of Tagomago soon enough to avoid
the typical early morning calms, which, in this case, split
the fleet in two groups, with four yachts clearly leading in
real time.
| The
“Sal village” at the port of Ibiza Nueva |
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| Welcome
Committee |
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| The
Sal Harvest boutique |
Stand
of Ibiza Gran Hotel - Ibiza Casino |
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| Stand
of Betacar motorcycle and car rental |
Wine-tasting
at the stand of Producte Balear |
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| Images
of the “Sal-village” |
The general results in compensated time of
the East version were quite different. The weather conditions
were much more complex, forcing the fleet to navigate more slowly,
and a number of calms considerably lessened the time gap between
the fastest and the shorter boats. The winner of this 20th edition
of La Sal finnaly was “Fju Makky” a Fortuna 9 skippered
by Carlos Tur of the CN Ibiza, which, after 19 hours, 17 minutes
and 58 seconds, crossed the finishing line on Friday, April
6th, at 11:27:58 a.m., followed by “Cabot i Salom”,
Jaume Salom’s Elvstrom 30,5 C of the RCN de Palma, which,
after 19 hours, 59 minutes and 53 seconds, crossed the arrival
line at 12:09:53 p.m. The third one in general terms turned
out to be “Pao III”, a First 36,7 of the CM de Almería,
skippered by Francisco J. Gómez, who needed 17 hours,
44 minutes and 45 seconds to do the 117 nautical miles from
Denia to Ibiza. The results of the East version show a tendency
which has become typical for this route: The results in compensated
time even up those in real time, thus significantly leaving
behind the fastest boats. As is the case with Vicente Garcia’s
Farr 520 “Plis Play” of the RCR de Alicante, which
won the race in real time in 16 hours, 01 minutes and 17 seconds,
but in the end only reached place 96 in the general classification.
The same is true for the “Sport Nautic” of the CN
de Denia, a Sydney 46, skippered by Antonio Gadea, which became
second in real time after 17 hours, 24 minutes and 16 seconds,
but in general terms only reached place 108. The third one to
arrive in real time, after 17 hours, 54 minutes and 45 seconds,
was Manuel Gallego’s “Itaca IX”, a First 47,7
Bruce Farr of the CN de Calpe, which in the general classification
reached place number 60.
| The
“Sal-village” |
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| Arrival
in Ibiza |
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| Press
conference with regatta winners |
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| Rally
“La Sal” and Oldtimer show |
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| Images
of the “Sal-village” |
Pepe Ferres, president of ANAM, believes
that the success of this twentieth edition of the Ruta de la
Sal is mainly the success of all participants. “The
level of this sports event was high, the boats sailed at high
velocities, and it was one of the fastest competitions in recent
years. Furthermore, more than 90% of the participants were able
to finish the regatta, even though both versions have been very
challenging and difficult. The regatta began shortly after a
heavy storm that had complicated everything until a few hours
before the departure of the fleet, and, furthermore, it had
left a troubled sea and uncomfortable weather conditions. Next
year,” Ferres informed, “we will have a
unique event that has never happened before. For the first time
ever, the Ruta de la Sal will take place in winter, starting
on March 20, which is Holy Thursday. For ANAM, the countdown
has already started”.
| Prize-giving
ceremony of the 20th Ruta de la Sal |
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| The
President of the Consell Insular welcomes the regatta
participants |
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FJU
MAKKY of Carlos Tur.
Absolute winner of the East Version. |
CARO
of Werner Klink.
Absolute Winner of the North Version. |
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| The
presidents of RFEV and RCND among the competitors |
PLIS
PLAY of Vicente García and CARO of Werner Klink,
winners in Real Time |
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| Dinner
Buffet “La Sal” at Ibiza town’s Recinto
Ferial |
Classification North Version
General
1- Caro (Wemer Klink/JV 50) Independent.
2- Atlant del Vent (David Tur/B&C 52 IMS R) CN Ibiza
3- Mr. Fips (Patrick Mersch/H55V) CNTL
Winner in real time: Caro (Werner Klink/JV 50) Independent.
17h. 43min 56sec.
Alfa 1
1- Caro (Wemer Klink/JV 50) Independent.
Alfa 2
1- Yate Vale (José Luis Maldonado/First 40.7) RCN Valencia
Alfa 3
1- L’Oreig uno (Marti Gelabert/First 31.7) CN Port d’Aro
India
1- Poseidonia Uno (Ramón Balanzant/Fortuna 9) CN Ibiza
Bravo
1- Dock Sur (Marcelo Devincenzi/neptuno 99) CV Golfus
Charlie
1- Galvana (Hermanos Pella/Sparkmann & Stephens 56) RCN
Barcelona
Delta
1- Ender Segundo (Oriol Roger/Lagoon 380) M Port Ginesta
Hotel-Golf
1- Dehlire (Rafa Mundet/Dehler 34) CN L’Escala
Classification East Version
General:
1- Fju Makky (Carlos Tur/Fortuna 9) CN Ibiza
2- Cabot i Salom-Vlamar XV (Jaume Cabot/Elwstrom 30.5 Cruise)RCN
Parlma
3- Pao III (Francisco J.Gómez/First 36.7) CM Almería
Winner in real time: Plis Play (Vicente García/Farr
520) RCR Alicante
Alfa 1
1- Elba elba II (Vicente Pairo/Gib Sea 43) RCN Denia
Alfa 2
1- Disarp.Com-El Berry (José Manuel Cardona/Dehler 39
SQ) CN Oliva
Alfa 3
1- Pao III (Francisco J.Gómez/First 36.7) CM Almeria
India 1
1- Majoche (Alejandro Fliquete/First 40.7 Reg) RCN Valencia
India 2
1- Fju Makky (Carlos Tur/Fortuna 9) CN Ibiza
Bravo
1- VGC (José Antonio Torres/ Slecction 37+JP) CN Ibiza
Charlie
1- Cabot i Salom-Vlamar XV (Jaume Cabot/Elwstrom 30.5 Cruise)
RCN Parlma
Delta
1- Fletas II (Tomás Cuart/Lagoon 380) Independent
Hotel
1- Alixa (Peter Lienhard/X-Yachts 332 QB) CN S.Antoni
Golf
1- La Buscana (Miles Turner/Bavaria 38 GTE) RCN Denia
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