The first event of the 2022 Rolex 52 Super Series Circuit concluded, which was held in the Rías Baixas with the Bayona Sailing Week dispute, which was won by the Americans from the Quantum, in a wonderful week in terms of atmosphere and wind at the mouth of the Ría de Vigo.
José Luis Álvarez, president of the Monte Real Yacht Club and its Board of Directors must already be preparing a place of honor in the club’s social hall to begin placing the plaques of the winners of this sailing circuit considered the best in the world. . The Monte Real has a habit of leaving the winners of the big events on the walls, so the Rolex 52 Super Series Circuit must have a special place on those walls.
Surely the owners will recommend Agustín Zulueta, CEO of the circuit, to haggle here again.
The week has been characterized by good weather, fresh and with a north wind that has made the fleet enjoy the 08 regattas they have disputed. Nothing to do with the Mediterranean and a lot to do with Cascais, where the Rolex Championchips of the class will be held next month. If in Castacias there is the Boca del Infierno, and it is a regatta field in which waves with a lot of sack and prevailing winds from the north predominate, in Bayonne it can be said that it is the “wind factory”, which is generated at the entrance to the Vigo estuary at Cape Home and which is piped almost to Toralla.
A particularly beautiful week in terms of sport, which has been very well organized by the Monte Real Yacht Club of Bayonne, which has spared no effort to ensure that sailors, skippers and shipowners feel at home. To be sure, many of them are already thinking about coming back.
Two sleeves have been left to dispute. One on Friday due to lack of wind after the dispute of the first. The Committee did not want to risk having to suspend the second half and, with very good judgment, postponed it and sent the fleet home. And the other, yesterday, in which, as the classification was very tight between the Quantum and the Platoon, María Torrijo decided to give a second start when the wind was up, but the heat and the Cíes Islands caused a wind role of 100 degrees , so the woman from Alicante had to suspend it, without being able to give another start because the time limit had already passed.
In the end, the Americans of the Quantum have won the award that accredits them as the first winners of the TP52 class in the waters of Bayonne, the birthplace of great sailors and the city where the caravel La Pinta landed on its return from the voyage of the Discovery of America.
María Torrijo, Principal Regatta Official, was very demanding with herself: “Today I have a bit of a bad taste in my mouth. We had a weather report that said we were going to have a spectacular day with the southwest, and yes, it came in strong. We did the first very nice test, but then, it must be because of the heat, with so many islands and so much land, that as soon as you got a little closer to land, the wind killed it. It was very difficult. I moved, I tried to get away from one land, and I came close to another, I had a stable wind and it killed me. I had to cancel the last test because the wind had dropped completely and had changed more than a hundred degrees”.
In addition, Torrijo added that “the week has been spectacular: super fun regattas in which you couldn’t see who could win, the one on the right or the one on the left. It wasn’t like in other places, where you know that whoever wins the start, wins the test; here, each test was different, even on the same day the conditions changed. All the sailors have told me that they have been super fun regattas”.
Agustín Zulueta, general director of the 52 Super Series: “A magnificent event. I would tell you that for the first time we have come to Baiona, and on top of that at the beginning of the season, outstanding. Outstanding for the club and outstanding for all the people who have been part of this great team, both in the water and on land. If they give us the opportunity, we will come back, of course”.
Víctor Mariño, Platton’s Spanish trimmer: “The week has exceeded expectations, and by far. The organization has been amazing; the Royal Yacht Club of Baiona has outdone itself. People have been delighted. The conditions have been exquisite, despite having been able to do only one regatta the last two days, I think the ones done have been perfect. Very open conditions. It has been shown that we have a great place to sail here, we have to try to bring level fleets here, because they enjoy it. It was a great test for all the teams. The third day, with more than 25 knots, was impressive, the perfect day: what foreigners call champagne sailing”.
