SUPERSAIL WORLD 43 APRIL-JUNE 2018
F
rom the towering masts and spreading canvas
of the 62m schooner Athos to the carbon
bladed racing sails of WinWin and Inouï, this
year’s Superyacht Cup Palma will illustrate
the extraordinary diversity of superyacht
racing. Big boat racing has become more
serious and polished, with crews pushing
some of the world’s purest pleasure machines to their
maximum, but the spectacle underlines the vitality of custom
yacht design.
Palma is a home base for many, and one reason why the
Superyacht Cup continues to attract yachts year after year.
The port continues to expand as a hub for crew and owners.
The convenient central Med location, range of refit facilities
and air connections have made it one of the main homes for
superyachting. Refits are no longer only a winter business;
Palma has become such an important centre that the demand
for refit and maintenance is now year-round.
It is also a summer sailing playground with a wide bay
that fills in with sea breezes in the late morning. The offshore
breeze makes for perfect sailing in flat water, and enablesregatta organisers to set courses of optimal lengths for
such a varied fleet. When crews come to race in Palma they
don’t face the navigation and race course challenges of
dodging a shoreline.
This year, there are 18 entries in the Superyacht Cup, a
varied fleet of cruising, modern classic and performance
cruisers. The fleet is also graced by three J Class yachts,
Velsheda, Svea and Ranger, the latter a late entry (see
more overleaf).
Event manager Kate Branagh is always excited to get a
broad mixture of superyachts. “That’s what it’s all about –
getting people out in boats that weren’t originally designed for
racing, and enjoying it,” she says.
Racing at the Superyacht Cup conventionally runs over
three days with 20 to 30-mile courses around the bay,
beginning with staggered starts based on their superyacht
ORCsy handicap – the slower boats first, the fastest last. The
main reason for this is so that the slower boats are not still out
racing when the sea breeze shuts down in the late afternoon.
“We don’t do pursuit races... in Palma there might be
no breeze all morning and then the sea breeze kicks in and‘It’s all about
getting people
out in boats that
weren’t orignally
designed for
racing and
enjoying it’