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La Sal 2004
10th Abril 2004
Ruta de la Sal 2004 beats all records
Concordia and Rocinante III absolute winners
in compensated time
Concordia sets a new record in real
time on the North version taking only 15 hours 3 minutes and
52 seconds to reach the harbour of Ibiza.
The official act of presentation of the trophies,
celebrated on Saturday, April 11, in the presence of more than
2,000 participants, rounded off the 17th edition of
the Ruta de la Sal regatta, which will be remembered as one
of the fastest in the history of this emblematic competition.
Concordia, Emili Cuatrecases Sloop 90 plowed
the waves so fast that she took only 15 hours, 03 minutes
and 53 seconds to reach the harbour of Ibiza. With
this new record she became the winner in real time and
in compensated time of the Northern version of the Ruta de la
Sal 2004, beating the old record of 18 h 39 min and
6 seconds that had been established in 2002 by Espacipime.com.
The winner in compensated time of the Eastern version
was Rocinante III, Alberto Martínez Flechoso's MF 43,
after the Royal National Cruisers’ Association had done
a modification in the original rating of the Aproache.
The first one of the Eastern version to arrive in real time
was Berlinguiño, Ignacio Domínguez’
X 612 of the LDY Copenhagen – after 15
hours 38 minutes and 14 seconds.
On Saturday, after all participants had reached the harbour
of Ibiza Nueva, a press conference was carried out in the presence
of Pepe Ferrés, president of the Mediterranean
Yachtsmen Association, ANAM, and Marc Miravitlles,
who was in charge of the Eastern version. They explained the
details of both versions of the Ruta de la Sal 2004. Gerardo
Pombo, president of the Spanish Royal Sailing Federation,
RFEV, took part as well and expressed his gratitude of having
been able to be a part of the Sal-community. He said the Ruta
de la Sal was “a regatta that combines competition,
sailing, leisure and adventure and is currently one of the most
important and biggest regattas in Spain". He called
upon the media and the participants to preserve “the
appealing ambience the Ruta de la Sal offers passionate sailors
year after year”.
It did not take much time for the boats from the Northern
version to enter the port of Ibiza Nueva, and after
the arrival of the Concordia on Thursday night,
the other boats coming from the Reial Club Marítim
de Barcelona reached Ibiza during dawn and Friday morning.
The second winner in compensated time was Myrta,
Juan Luis Migeon’s Evasión 34, followed
by an Ibizan boat, Aivis, Maunel Guaschs Fortuna 9.
The fourth position was taken by Pineta Tercero, a Farr
63, skippered by Alfonso Solans Solans,
the president of the Football Club of Zaragoza, who is a devoted
participant of the Ruta de la Sal. He and his crew even reached
the third position in real time.
The 2004 Ruta de la Sal will be remembered
by its speedy Northern version and by the neck-and-neck race
between the Concordia and the Sánchez
Santiago, which started right at the beginning of the regatta
in Barcelona. During the first part of the race, the Sánchez
Santiago took the leading position, but when passing the leeward
side of Majorca, the Concordia was able to catch up and finally
overtook her competitor. Thanks to detailed meteorological information,
facilitated during the skippers’ meeting in Barcelona
by Tomás Molina, all participants were
able to sail safely and soundly and to set an appropriate course.
The Northern version even could count on the catamaran Fountain
Pajot, in charge of coordination and security. On board
were Pepe Ferrés, the president of ANAM,
Jordi Montserrat, the director of Barcelona’s
Salón Náutico and the weatherman Tomás
Molina, who could all follow the regatta in-situ.
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Javier de la Gándara, a great sailor
with many a mile of experience, who had been a member of the
crews of the Whitbread, the Pescanova and the Fortuna
Lights in earlier years, participated this year aboard
the winner in real and compensated time, the Concordia.
At his arrival on the pier he told us about his impression of
this year’s regatta: “It has been a very nice
regatta with a lot of competition between us and the catamaran
Sánchez Santiago. We headed almost directly for the island
of Ibiza, although at the beginning we were deviated a bit to
the South. According to the weather forecast we were expecting
easterly winds. These winds increased during the day reaching
peaks of 26 knots around midday. These conditions enabled us
to reach an average speed of 10 knots, hitting up to 17 knots
at times”.
The winner in compensated time of the Eastern version
of the Ruta de la Sal was Rocinante
III, Alberto Martínez Flechoso’s MF43.
The first one to arrive was the Berlinguiño of
Ignacio Domínguez, a X612 of the LDY Copenhagen.
Second in compensated time was Marina
Greenwich Dufour, Ramón Junemann’s Trophy 334,
followed by Chamba, a J109, skipped by Antonio Mus.
The Ruta from Denia started on Thursday afternoon at 4.20 pm
with an east wind reaching strength 3, which continued to increase
during the regatta. At midnight, some heavy showers came down
along with a northeast wind reaching 30 knots. During dawn,
this wind hit peaks of 45 knots. Even though two rescue operations
had to be carried out, all boats were successfully able to withstand
the bad weather and no complications arose.
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