«Maverta» and «Brujo» mark the way to a new and renovated Tabarca Vela Diputación de Alicante

First Sailing Tabarca without the presence of Quino Quiroga, who from the sky is watching over the interests of the Real Club de Regatas de Alicante. It is as if they had given an injection of adrenaline and optimism to a new organization of this mythical regatta in its 26th edition. Time has not accompanied, no, but that may be the least of it. The Real Club de Regatas de Alicante has shown that cruising sailing is willing to change and come out of the lethargy that it had been mired in for a few years.

Seventy boats are not many, the numbers freaks will say, but where a regatta becomes great is in the quality of its participants, the human level of its organizers and in the common sense of its Regatta Committees and Judges. What is missing? A lot, of course, but the wickers are being put in place so that Tabarca Vela returns to the levels at which Máximo Caturla, one of the best presidents that Spanish sailing has ever had, put it.

Miguel López faces his second term with the aim of once again enhancing Alicante’s star regatta. The city needs her and of course its Real Club de Regatas and the president of the club is going to achieve it because he has the appropriate team to do it. The Spanish Levante is waking up from a lethargy in which it was plunged in terms of regattas. The Trophy of the Queen of Valencia and the Tabarca Vela are his two best assets to play. The only thing missing is for both presidents, Marisa Arlandis and Miguel López, to play a game as partners to launch a storm at the Spanish cruise ship.

The «Maverta», by Pedro Gil, of the Real Club Náutico de Torrevieja, took the cat to the water. The truth is that this team has been earning the favourite’s band for some time. He demonstrated it in Valencia in the Trofeo de la Reina and has done it again in the Tabarca Vela Diputación de Alicante in the star class ORC 2, who have played for the trophy together with ORC 0 and 1. It has not been easy, No. He has only taken half a point from “Fandango”, by Javier Sabiote, from Marina Salinas, who has made a great Tabarca Vela and who started it leading it.

Class 3 was won by “Brujo”, by Federico Linares, from the Real Club Náutico de Cádiz, who with two firsts and one second beat an amazing “Teamrac”, by Gustavo Gastaldi, from the Real Club Náutico de Dénia and to the all-powerful and favorite «Tanit Medilevel», by nacho Campos. A luxury to attend the dispute of any of the four tasks that the ORC have disputed, where the Regatta Committee commanded by Pedo Reyes took almost impossible routes.

Classes ORC 4 and 5 were won by Fortuna 9 by Pedro Egea’s “Truel”, followed by Luis Rodríguez’s “Cool Wave”.

Women’s Sailing League

A special mention goes to the Women’s Sailing League, in which six teams participated in its second event. Fierce fight from the first day between the Basque world champions of «Decoexa», skippered by Olatz Muñoz, who put Natalia Vía Dufresne’s «Dorsia Covirán» between a rock and a hard place on the first day where he won two of the three sleeves that were played. But Natalia Vía Difresne is a lot of Natalia and on the second day she beat the Basques 3-0 with great mastery and a tactic that we haven’t seen in a regatta field for a long time. Fine, fine the Catalan patron saint, who was at all times a mirror in which to look at herself.

All women’s teams deserve a mention because, although the inclusion of women in sailing is fashionable, they do not have the necessary means to make it a reality. Perhaps Iberdrola should turn around the sponsorship contract it has with the Royal Spanish Sailing Federation in this Women’s League.

Six races disputed with a Committee with good manners, which insisted on running all six races and achieved it at the cost of precise and consistent route changes. A ten for Laura Germán, the PRO of the class here in Alicante. The refereeing on the water left much to be desired, sinning with excessive zeal and protagonism and marking too much at the tail of the races, without wanting to get wet refereeing at the head, where the parné was really being played. In short, that happens when you have little professionalism and you want to overwhelm the participants.

In general, a remarkable event for the organization of Tabarca Vela both at sea and on land and my warmest congratulations to the men and women who are running this regatta. Oh, and I warn political navigators: “A city without a star regatta is a town.”