It was a supermooon that rose over the Es Baluard Museum where the
prize giving dinner was held on Saturday night, it was the closest that
we will see the moon to the earth this year and the perfect symbol to
celebrate not only the longest day of the year, but the end to the 2013
Superyacht Cup in Palma. The guests and crew of the 20 participating
yachts enjoyed cocktails and canapés whilst they grooved the night away
to a fantastic live band.
Prize giving at the Es Baluard Museum (© Clairematches.com)
This week has also seen some exceptionally close racing between the
two Classes in the 15 strong Superyacht Fleet. In Class 1, the
performance Perini
P2 picked up the Yachting World starters
prize for the most consistent starts (all under 5 seconds), with stiff
on water competition from the 45m Dubois sloop
Salperton, helmed by Shirley Robertson, and
Rebecca the
Frers designed ketch built at Pendennis racing back in the Med for the
first time since 2007. On corrected time, Highland Breeze flying her
Gaastra spinnaker was the overall winner, her Owner congratulated all
for a fantastic time, and threw down the gauntlet for next year’s
event.
In Class 2, the female Owner driver of
Heartbeat, one
of the Claasen Yachts, was estatic to be collecting the Big Bent Cleat
trophy for the first time holding off last year’s winners
Maria Cattiva to second. Third placed
Atalante
collected their prize courtesy of Nespresso, with praise for the event
and race management team saying “it was another great week at the
Superyacht Cup it all worked perfectly.”
Crew of Heartbeat collecting the Big Bent Cleat Trophy (© Clairematches.com)
It goes without saying that the “cream on the cake” was to see 5 of the
magnificent J Class Yachts fleet racing with a mix of windward leeward
and coastal courses for the first time in the Med, with the hopes that
this will see the beginnings of a growing class of these unique and
historical yachts. It’s exciting times, competition is tough and the
calibre of crew is impressive “it’s the who’s who of yachting”,
commented Jerry Kirby sailing aboard Hanuman, “we have the best sailors
in the world right here right now.” Even with a fairly even playing
field, it was Hanuman who took three bullets this week showing that the
boat is quick and certainly “has legs”. Jim Clark, the Owner of
Hamuman, extended his thanks to the Owners of Velsheda and Ranger for
having the vision to create the competitive J Class fleet that we see
today.
Jim Clark and his Crew from Hanuman (© Clairematches.com)
A big thank you to the Owners and Crew for participating in the 2013
Superyacht Cup, sunshine and the steady afternoon sea breeze make for
perfect sailing conditions in the protected bay of Palma “it’s by far
our favourite regatta of the season” commented one crew member.
“Racing this week has been brilliant”, thank you to the Race
Officers Ariane Mainemarie and Gasper Morey for setting fair and
interesting courses, as well as to John Winder from ISYR.
Many thanks to our sponsors - for the Happy Hours, Prizes and
other contributions that enable this event to be a success.
We look forward to welcoming you all back next year!
For more information and photo gallery, visit
www.superyachtcup.com. The races from this event can be replayed live.
www.tractrac.com
Ranger running to the line (© Jesus Renedo)
Overall Results
Overall Winner SYC Fleet
1st: Heartbeat
2nd: Atalante
3rd: Maria Cattiva
Winner Class 1: Highland Breeze
Winner Class 2: Heartbeat
J Class
1st: Hanuman
2nd: Lionheart
3rd: Ranger
Yachting World Performance Trophy (most consistent starts): P2
Hoek Award: Heartbeat