Fun in the sun at the Barcelona Puig

Barcelona says goodbye to its visiting legends of the sea as the 11th Puig Vela Clàssica finishes.
Halloween, Guia, Argos, Peter and Marigan are proclaimed winners.
More than 40 boats from seven countries competed over three days for one of the most prestigious trophies in the Mediterranean.
Unique meeting offers townspeople and tourists the most sophisticated spectacle of sailing.

Last weeekend saw the close of the Puig Vela Clàssica Barcelona XI edition. Classic and vintage boats of seven different nationalities competed over three days to win some early season Mediterranean trophies.

Despite the cancellation of the last race on the third and final day, the Puig regatta was a success, with a gathering of 40 boats with their crews creating a panorama of maritime beauty along the coastline – watched by thousands of tourists, locals and visitors to the historic city of Barcelona. The effect was one of a floating museum.

The wind offered varied and challenging conditions, gradually losing its strength as the regatta progressed. The last race was cancelled after the start had already been delayed – a sea breeze beginning from the South West never built enough strength to sail so at 2.30pm the committee decided to suspend the race and send the fleet back to its moorings of the Real Club Náutico of Barcelona.

This meant the final placings of yachts in the five categories had no changes from the day before, so the provisional leaders sailed back to the moorings already knowing themselves winners of the XI edition.

In Big Boats category, the Irish boat Halloween, by Mick Cotter and skippered by Iñigo Strez, saw its name for the first time since 2010 in the winners’ list. Moonbeam IV, skippered by Mikael Creach, asserted its best partial results to win the tie-breaker with Moonbeam III and took the second place. In fourth position Kelpie of Falmouth while Nordwind, debutant in Barcelona, closed the classification in fifth place.

The classics fleet had the most adjusted classifications in its two categories. The Classics 1, of greater length, have had in the Guia an emotional winner. His passionate ship owner, Ramón Rosés, had died a few days before the Puig Vela Clàssica Barcelona regatta started. One of his last wishes was for the boat and its crew to compete in this Xi edition, so the crew dedicated the victory to him. Yanira of Andrés Leon with also 5 points but worst partial results was classified in second place, able to overcome the Italian boat Corsario and the French boat Sagittarius, tied at 6 points.

In Classics 2 the victory of Argos of Barbara Trilling, has been unquestionable after its two partial victories, but the three following positions were decided by a single point. While Argos added 2 points to its result, Altamar computed 5 points, Margarita 6 and Diana 1 more.

Both categories of vintage boats had clear winners after two separate victories in the two contested races. Marigan of Tim Liesenhoff prevailed on the Cangreja Époque, inscribing for the third time its name in the list of winners of the Puig Vela Clàssica after its victories in 2009 and 2010. The second classified was Gipsy of Ricardo Rubio, followed by Freda of Miguel Rigo and Bon Temps of Santiago Godó. In the Bermudian Époque the Italian boat Peter repeated victory. The boat built by Claudio Mealli with Mauro Perlaschiar at the helm had already climbed to the top of the podium in the 2011, 2013 and 2014 editions. Jordi Cabau’s Mercury was second, preceding Irina VII and Islander, tied at points.

Final results

Vintage Bermudan

L-R: Claudio Mealli (Peter), Carla Rosés (Guia), Blanca Pie de Rosés (Guia), Mick Cotter (Halloween), Barbara Trilling (Argos) and Tim Liesenhoff (Marigan)