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La Sal 2006
Galvana of the RCN de Barcelona and
Samaruch Blau
of the CN de Sa Rapita absolute winners
of the
19th Ruta de La Sal
The high seas regatta La Ruta de la Sal,
which took place between April 13th and 15th, turned out to
be a full success. A series of circumstances proved the extraordinary
strength of this great competition which will celebrate its
20th edition next Easter. More than 300 boats participated in
the regatta confirming that “La Sal” not only is
the most popular high seas contest of the entire Mediterranean
region, but also the only one that, for many years now, has
maintained a solid level of participation and even had to introduce
a comprehensive waiting list, a fact that quite frankly proves
the enviable attraction of the announcement of the regatta.
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| Start
of the North Version of the regatta |
Start
of the East Version of the regatta |
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This year’s transition from the British IRC to the RN
can also be considered a full success. The application of the
new National Rating turned out to be impeccable. The RN functioned
perfectly without creating any problems with the compensation
of time of the 322 boats that eventually participated in the
competition. This was a test that the RN passed with an A+,
and the organisers of the regatta, that is, the technical organisation
of ANAM (Associació de Navegants d'Altura Mediterranis),
the Reial Club Maritim Barcelona and the Club Náutico
Denia stated that the RN has proved its high standard and reliability.
From a purely sportive point of view, however, the greatest
success of this year probably was that there were practically
no dropouts in spite of a particularly difficult regatta, as
Pepe Ferres, the director of the regatta, mentioned during the
awards ceremony at the Recinto Ferial of Ibiza. “This
year’s regatta was very hard for the participants of the
North version from Barcelona”, he said, “and, due
to the almost permanently predominating headwinds, the 156 miles
of the course to Ibiza in many cases turned into more than 200
miles, prolonging the regatta considerably . In other times,
this situation would have led to many dropouts, but it was not
like this. We have never had such a high share of boats that
indeed have finished the regatta. 93% of all registered boats
crossed the arrival line. I believe that this figure shows the
high sportive level of all participants. And it shows the determination
and doubtlessly also the magic of this contest, which more than
ever invites the participants to compete with each other at
the highest level. The great success of this year’s edition,”
Pepe Ferres conculded, “was the great sportive quality
of all teams that, after many more hours than expected, crossed
the arrival line at Botafoc. They deserve the glory of this
19th edition of the Ruta de la Sal.”
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| Tomàs
Molina, Meteorologist |
Pepe
Ferres, Director of the regatta |
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| MEROIL
of Jesús Turró, RCNB |
GALVANA,
Hermanos Pella, RCNB |
The Pella brothers’ S&S 56 Galvana of the Real Club
Náutico of Barcelona and the Alpha 950 Samaruch Blau
of the Majorcan Xisco Lladó of the Club Náutico
de Sa Rápita became the absolute winners of the Ruta
de la Sal 2006. This means that the victorious Galvana triumphed
in the North version for the second time in a row, and thus
matched the record established during the two first editions
of the Ruta de la Sal in 1989 and 1990, when Manel Jané
became the absolute winner with the Baltic 39 Coratge, the only
boat that until now managed to achieve two consecutive absolute
victories of La Sal.
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Arrival at the Puerto Deportivo de Ibiza Nueva |
The North Version was much slower than usual and, due to very
fragile weather conditions, predominating headwinds and a number
of calms, very difficult. Under these conditions the navigation
tactics are the decisive factor. The regatta fleet left Barcelona
on Thursday, April 13th, at 7:30 a.m. in order to cover the
distance of 156 real miles to Ibiza. After departure with weak
and fragile north winds, as announced, southern winds emerged
obliging the sailing boats to navigate against the wind most
of the time, to tack permanently, and to avoid the calm areas
north of Majorca. This meant that some of the boats did more
than 200 miles until they finally reached Ibiza. Consequently,
this year’s differences between the duration of the East
Version and the North Version are the biggest registered to
this moment. The Pella brothers’ Galvana became the winner
in compensated time for the second year in a row. For Alex Pella,
crew member of the S&S 56 Galvana, third in real time of
the North Version, this year’s Ruta de la Sal was the
most intense one. “A very complicated navigation,
with prolonged periods of calms but at the same time very satisfying.
Mile for mile, we were struggling for our victory”.
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Departure from the Real Club Marítimo de Barcelona
and the Club Náutico de Denia |
The second winner in compensated time and at the same time winner
in real time of the North Version was the Grand Soleil 45 Meroil
of Jesús Turró of the RCN of Barcelona. On Friday,
April 14th, at around 12.30 p.m., Turró’s boat
crossed the line at Botafoc after 28 hours, 52 minutes and 12
seconds, almost reaching last years result of 26 hours, 10 minutes
and 5 seconds. Jesús Turró said: “We
are very content. To win the Ruta de la Sal twice in a row is
unbelievable and each time the boats are faster and more competitive.”
At the press conference after the regatta, Turró congratulated
the Galvana team: “I would like to congratulate the
Pella brothers. It is their second victory in a row of the Ruta
de la Sal, something that not everybody is able to achieve.
But in any case and in a very sportive manner, next year we
will not be content with the title of the winners in real time
but also want to become the winners in compensated time.”
The third one in compensated time in the general classification
was a frequent and regular participant of La Sal, and also one
of those teams that usually reach top scores: Santiago Twose
with his Sun Fast 40 Verano del Desierto of the Club Náutico
de Arenys de Mar.
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Ceremony at the Palacio Ferial de Ibiza |
The absolute winner of the East version was the Alpha 950 of
the CN de Sa Rapita Samaruch Blau skippered by the Majorcan
Xisco Lladó. The second position was reached by Zeus,
the Puma 32 of Bartalomeu Ginard, also of the CN de Sa Rapita
of Majorca, and the third position was reached by Pedro Morales
of the CN Alcazares with his Feeling 850 R, Delfín III.
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Closing dinner of the regatta in Ibiza |
The East Version turned out as expected, with weak but constant
winds. The fastest boats reached the Cabo Barbaría in
Formentera, the first obligatory passing point of this version
on Thursday, April 13th, at 10 p.m., after having navigated
at a speed of 12 knots with northeast winds. There were calms
around the little island of Tagomago and after that, the winds
were very unstable and generally weak, which meant that until
reaching the crossing line between Botafoc and Dado Grande,
the crews needed good navigation tactics. On Friday, April 14th,
at 8.10 a.m., after 19 hours, 40 minutes and 12 seconds of competition,
the first one to cross the line in real time was the Firts 47,7
Bramasole of Juan José Alber Canalejo of the RCR of Alicante.
This was significantly below the time reached by the fastest
boat in 2005, which amounted to 15 hours, 19 minutes and 50
seconds, and simply shows how complicated this year’s
edition of La Sal actually was. A regatta that on the occasion
of its 20th anniversary next year will present important novelties.
With respect to this event, Pepe Ferres remarked: “Next
year the Ruta de la Sal will turn twenty. The idea is to do
something special to celebrate this anniversary. Twenty years
is a lot. The most impressive aspect probably is to realise
how sound and solid “La Sal” has reached this status.
It is difficult to speak about innovation and modernisation
of some aspects of the regatta. After all, one of the great
achievements of our organisation is that, year after year, we
have continuously tried to introduce technical improvements
which have helped to provide the amateur competitors with what
they needed at any moment without losing our philosophy that
justified the emergence of this regatta in the first place.
Taking these aspects into consideration”, Ferres
continued, “we understand that the Ruta de la Sal
is a competitive and modern regatta. In many respects it is
a model that is tested by other organisations. There are many
interesting ideas for the twentieth anniversary and at the official
presentation on the occasion of the next Salón Náutico
in Barcelona in November, we will give some concrete details
on this matter. However, the most important thing doubtlessly
is that we want to celebrate this anniversary offering such
a powerful and emblematic regatta. It is an event that each
year attracts more ship owners. This is why it was worth all
the efforts in favour of Spanish high seas sailing during all
these years.”
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"Village de la Sal" at the Puerto Deportivo
de Ibiza Nueva |
General Classification
North Version
Winner in real time: Meroil (Jesús Turró / Grand
Soleil 45) RCN Barcelona
01 day 06 hours 58 min 52 sec
General Clasification
1- Galvana (Borja Pella / Sparkman & Stephens 56) RCN Barcelona
2- Meroil (Jesús Turró / Grand Soleil 45) RCN
Barcelona
3- Varano del Desierto (Santiago Twose / Sun Fast 40) CN Arenys
de Mar
Alfa 1
1- Meroil (Jesús Turró / Grand Soleil 45) RCN
Barcelona
Alfa 2
1- Varano del Desierto (Santiago Twose / Sun Fast 40) CN Arenys
de Mar
Alfa 3
1- L’Oreig Unos (Marti Gelabert / First 31.7) CN Port
d’Aro
Bravo
1- Colombe (Hans Borghstijh / Swan 441 R) YC Scheveningen
Charly
1- Galvana (Borja Pella / Sparkman & Stephens 56) RCN Barcelona
Delta
1- Galop I (Jean François Laffont / Outremer 45) YC de
la Grand Motte
Golf
1- Dehlire (Rafa Mundet / Dehler 34) CN l’Escala
Hotel
1- Jambo (Giovanni Michele Fiori / First 31.7) CN Garraf
India 1
1- Andarax IV (Antonio de la Casa Ortega / Swan 46 MK2 QB) CP
Masnou
India 2
1- Jonquet (Pere Coll / Dehler 39 CWS) CN el Balis
East Version
Ganador tiempo real: Bramasole I (Juan José Albert /
First 47.7) RCR Alicante
19 horas 40 min 12 seg
General Clasification
1- Samaruch Blau (Xisco Llado / Alpa 950) CN Sa Rapita
2- Zeus (Bartolomeu Ginard / Puma 32) CN Sa Rapita
3- Delfin III (Pedro Morales /Feeling 850R) CN Alcazares
Alfa 1
1- Casas del Mediterraneo (Gonzalo Calvo / Dufour 44) Independiente
Alfa 2
1- Altesa (Luis Gutierrez / Wauquiez Centurion 40) RCN Valencia
Alfa 3
1- Space Ibiza (José Rosello / Sun Fast 32I) CN St Antoni
Bravo
1- Zeus (Bartolomeu Ginard / Puma 32) CN Sa Rapita
Charly
1- Samaruch Blau (Xisco Llado / Alpa 950) CN Sa Rapita
Delta
1- Fleixa II (Tomas Cuart / Lagoon 380) Independiente
Golf
1- Idefix (Antonio Gadea / Centurion 40) RCN Denia
Hotel
1- Samaruch Blau (Xisco Llado / Alpa 950) CN Sa Rapita
India
1- Insotel Blue Brothers II (Javier Marí / X 332) CN
Ibiza
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