Galicia hosts between July 25 and 28 the forty-fourth edition of one of the most historic nautical competitions in Spain
· The 44th Count of Gondomar – Banco Sabadell Trophy will include coastal, windward and leeward tests and the mythical climb to Carrumeiro Chico
· The April Oils of the Pérez Canal brothers, winner of the previous edition, will seek its fifth victory in the Monte Real competition
The big day of Galicia will once again be marked, one more year, by one of the most important nautical events of the year, the Count of Gondomar del Monte Real Club de Yates de Baiona, which remains faithful to the celebration of one of its regattas more historical making it coincide with the Santiago holiday.
Thus, next Thursday, the 25th, the forty-fourth edition of the competition will begin in the Rías Baixas, which will once again be the Banco Sabadell Trophy thanks to the sponsorship of the bank.
For four days, the best crews on the peninsular Atlantic will meet on the Galician coast to test their strength in a test program that includes short and long coastal routes and windward-leeward tests. A mixed repertoire that seeks to give opportunities to the different styles of sailors and types of boats that participate.
The star test is, without a doubt, the mythical climb from Baiona to Carrumeiro Chico, in Corcubión, which with its almost 100 miles of route will decide the Spanish Altitude Championship of the Galicia Zone. The largest boats will compete against each other on Thursday 25th from eleven in the morning, while the smaller ones will compete in a round trip between Baiona and Camouco, in Ons.
On Saturday the 27th the entire fleet will have to complete a 32-mile route around Ons; and the more technical tests, of the windward-leeward type, are reserved for the last day, Sunday 28, at the Cíes Islands anchorage.
On all days, in addition to the water program, there will be activities on land, such as an exhibition of PSA Retail vehicles, seafood dinners, gin and tonic tastings with Martin Miller and Royal Bliss or concerts, in addition to the traditional awards ceremony for the winners , which will be held on Sunday 28 at six in the afternoon.
It will undoubtedly be a great event for sailing lovers, as pointed out in the presentation by the director of Sabadell Gallego, Pablo Junceda, who congratulated the Monte Real Club de Yates for sustaining this “great brotherly effort,” he said. “In Sabadell Gallego – continued Junceda – We have always believed in projects that provide added value to the environment in which they are developed and whose promoters set an example of perseverance, and the Count of Gondomar and the Monte Real Yacht Club are a good example of this” .
April Oils will seek its fifth victory
One of the boats that has already confirmed its participation in the 44th Count of Gondomar – Banco Sabadell Trophy is the Aceites Abril, owned by the brothers Luis and Jorge Pérez Canal, winner of the previous edition. The crew will try to enter the history of the regatta by achieving their fifth victory -the fourth in a row-, after those obtained in 2013, 2016, 2017 and 2018.
If she managed to repeat the long-awaited victory, the Aceites Abril would manage to surpass the number of victories over two historic boats in the regatta: the Ardora de Paz Andrade and the Castrosúa led by Willy Alonso, both with four laurels from the Count to their credit.
Still ahead in the history of trophy winners would be José Luis Freire’s Pairo, the boat with the most victories in the competition, with a total of 6 wins (in 1983, 1984, 1988, 2003, 2007 and 2009). In 2018, Freire’s men again missed the podium at the hands of Aceites Abril, but they managed to win the title of Spanish Height Champions of the Galicia Zone.
More than a regatta, a whole social event
The Count of Gondomar is “an event that transcends the sporting sphere, which goes much further, becoming a social event” , assured the president of the Monte Real Yacht Club at the presentation of the trophy. José Luis Álvarez thanked “the effort of all the people who have been working for months so that everything goes perfectly, and the commitment of the companies and administrations that allow Galicia to continue to have a name of its own in the world of sailing” .
The Count of Gondomar is organized by the Monte Real Yacht Club with the sponsorship of Banco Sabadell, an entity that has maintained its commitment to the competition for years. The trophy also has the collaboration of administrations such as the Pontevedra Provincial Council, the Xunta de Galicia and the Baiona City Council; and companies such as Ramada Storax, PSA Retail Vigo, Coca Cola, Terras Gauda and Martin Miller.
In the presentation of the event, this morning at a press conference, the mayor of Baiona, Carlos Gómez; the General Secretary for sports of the Xunta de Galicia, José Ramón Lete Lasa; the Deputy for Tourism of the Pontevedra Provincial Council, Ana Laura Iglesias and the manager of PSA Retail in Vigo, Daniel Martín.
44th COUNT OF GONDOMAR BANCO SABADELL TROPHY
Monte Real Yacht Club – July 25, 26, 27 and 28, 2019
:::::::::::::::::::::::: THURSDAY, JULY 25 ::::::::::::::::::::: :::::
11:00 REGATTA: Baiona – Carrumeiro – Baiona
11:00 REGATTA: Baiona – Camouco – Baiona
19:30 SEAFOOD DINNER AND TASTINGS
::::::::::::::::::::::::: SATURDAY, JULY 27 ::::::::::::::::::::: :::::
12:00 REGATTA: Return to Ons
19:30 SEAFOOD DINNER AND TASTINGS
20:00 CONCERT
:::::::::::::::::::::::: SUNDAY, JULY 28 ::::::::::::::::::::: :::::
12:00 REGATTA: Windward – leeward races (Cíes Islands anchorage)
18:00 PRESENTATION OF AWARDS at the Monte Real Yacht Club
>The competition can be followed live from HERE
