For 13 years now, the SAR Princess Alexia Trophy competition in the J80 class has been held without interruption on the island of Lanzarote, coinciding with the Canary Islands Championship in this same class
Lanzarote has been strongly committed to this sailing category for almost two decades, and has one of the most important fleets in the world, with a busy league in which divisions had to be made.
The economic crises have hit many skippers hard, forcing them to leave, but even so Lanzarote’s Association of J80 Owners has remained strong with every year fighting for a League, a Cup and, to top it all off, the SAR Princesa Alexia Trophy – Canary Islands Championship, with the invaluable collaboration of the Real Club Náutico de Arrecife.
Neither the initial economic crises, nor the more recent coronavirus crisis, have been able to overcome the enthusiasm and passion that sailors profess for this class, and last weekend saw its regional championship, with the presence of 13 boats putting on their best colours in the bay of Arrecife, where many sailing fans enjoyed the beautiful picture created by the gennakers filling in the wind, allowing them to reach vertiginous speeds.
A total of six races were planned, three for each day of the regatta, thus crowning the new champion, the one who will take over from Testaruda, the winner in 2019 and participating this year on board Team Mertxe. The trophy is a precious asset, but rather than for its economic value, more because of the difficulty of getting your hands on it. Up to now, in the 12 regattas already disputed, only four crafts have won it, and nine of the 12 were won by the same boat, the Hotel Princesa Yaiza skippered by Rayco Tabares, absent this year. The other three were won by the Testaruda, the Okupa and the JJ Palmensis.
On the first day of competition Miguel Ángel Lasso, of the Marina Rubicón I, made it clear that his intention was to fight for every possibility to add a prize that had resisted him last season when he won both League and Copa championships. His main opponents in Saturday’s battle were Alfredo Morales’s El Mateo and Rafael Lasso’s Marina Rubicón II, not forgetting the chances of Alfredo González’ Sorondonguillo or Aythami Quintana’s Team Mertxe.
On the second day the dominance of Marina Rubicón I, owned by CDN Castillo del Águila, was accentuated and with a second and a first place under her belt, she arrived at the last race with everything won, enjoying the walk of the champion, to obtain a total of eight points. Second place finally went to the Marina Rubicón II, which in the last regatta had to sail for silver against the Sorondonguillo. However, the victory of the boat from the south of the island left the sailors of the RCN Arrecife with no options, beating it with a 7-point difference.
A total of 13 vessels enjoyed two exciting days of sailing, with ideal conditions for practice, albeit better on Sunday than Saturday, during which they were already looking out of the corner of their eye at the league that will close at the end of the month with two clear contenders, Alejandro Morales’s Lanzarote Sailing Team and Aythami Quintana’s Testaruda.
