The bay of Palma will be on fire this Saturday in the final day of the 34th Copa del Rey Mapfre, where six out of the eight competing classes still have to determine the winner. Only in the IRC 0 division (over 21.80 meters) the American Rán of George Sakellaris, with nine victories in nine races, is already the winner. Also in the X-35 monotypes (10.80 meters in length), the Spanish Red Eléctrica Española of Javier Sanz, is the winner with a fifteen-point lead over the second-place competitor.
The Friday session, where weak winds and intense heat tested the crews, started with an emotional tribute to the memory of Pedro Mendonça, the Portuguese owner who created the Bigamist saga and passed away last April. For a quarter of a century, he was a regular in Palma, and both the organization and the crews paid tribute to him.
Precisely the Soto 40 Bigamist, which has never won in Palma and is competing for the last time, can win this edition. Yesterday it was surpassed by the Noticia IV of Pichu Torcida, who currently leads with a one-point advantage.
The battle expected on Saturday in the regatta fields will open with the duel between the top contenders of the premier class, the Transpac c52, as the current world champion Azzurra of Guillermo Parada leads with a one-point advantage over the German Platoon, the world runner-up, and the American Quantum of Terry Hutchinson who made it to the final fight after finishing second and first yesterday.
In the IRC 1 division (between 12.80 and 15.90 meters in length), the 'Mamma Aiuto' of the Japanese owner Naofumi Kamei, led by Manu Weiler from Palma, leads with a five-point advantage over the American Otra Vez of William Coates.
The German Elena Nova of Christian Plump and the EarlyBird of Jochen Schuemann are tied for the lead in the ORC1 class (between 11.90 and 14.50 meters in length), with the British Magical Mistery Tour of Edward Leask sitting two points behind them.
The Corel 45 'Aifos', led by King Felipe VI, remains in nineteenth position in the division after finishing 17th and 16th in Friday's races.
Discarding their worst results and their good performance with two second-place finishes, the Sinergia 40 'Movistar' (RCN Sanxenxo) of Pedro Campos, the winner in 2013 and 2014, takes the lead in the ORC2 division with a seven-point advantage over their twin 'Elite Sails' of José Coello from Cartagena.
The J80 Ono of Javier de la Pedraja from Santander dominates their class and leads with an eight-point advantage over Javier Padrón's Marbella.