Ibiza JoySail starts in glorious style
19 September 2024 - Ibiza, Spain - Ibiza JoySail, now in its fourth year and one of the key events at the end of the Mediterranean superyacht calendar, started today in glorious style with an opening race around the island of Formentera, which lies to the south of Ibiza.
The eighteen superyachts, which vary in length from 70-195 feet, had been gathering Marina Ibiza for the past week, and today’s opening race did not disappoint, with tight racing the whole way around the 24nm course.
“We have had great racing today. The fleet had a fantastic start by just off Punta Prima, to the east of Formentera, an upwind leg was followed by the whole fleet under spinnaker in the bay of Mitjorn to the south of the island. The final leg of the 24nm course was interesting with boats under different sail configurations to the finish just off Punto Pedreras,” commented Nacho Postigo, Race Director. “It is great that there is such a wide range of boats, and such a healthy mixture of Corinthian and professional teams.” He concluded.
Today’s racing started just off Punta Prima at the south of Formentera with the Race Committee giving starting each boat two minutes apart. Nostromo, a Dubois 100, opened 2024 Ibiza JoySail racing calendar, while four-time entrant Moat, Swan 115 was the last to cross the start line.
Despite the wide range of superyachts, racing was tight, especially around the south of the island. The whole fleet underwent spinnaker crisscrossing for the nine miles across the Bay of Mitjorn, with some of the fleet opting for a course close to the shore.
The competitive nature of the fleet continued to the finish line, while Moat, the overall winner of the last three editions in the Performance Class of this race, crossed the line first place, in an elapsed time of 2 hours and 7 minutes. Maximus finished in second place, while Morgana closed the Performance class in third despite a close tussle with Bliss to the finish line.
The Ibiza JoySail fleet is divided into five classes and after today’s racing Moat leads the Performance Class, Open Season leads in Performance Cruising M, Bliss leads World Cruising XL, Gelliceaux Performance Cruising, L’Hippocampe in World Cruising L. Full results of today’s racing can be found here.
Tomorrow’s racing is due to start at midday (CET), and the details of the course will be published at 0900h.
While Ibiza JoySail held at Marina Ibiza, most of the fleet has been based at the STP Shipyard Palma, one of Europe’s leading refit and repair facilities. The open shipyard management model makes it unique the sector and allows clients to select which companies they wish to work with so that they have complete control of any refit and repair process.
Led by Postigo, the racing itself is organised by an outstanding technical and on-water team from STP Shipyard Palma, Marina Ibiza, the Club Náutico de Ibiza and the Real Club Náutico de Palma. The four days will feature coastal racing using the local topography as marks of the course, and a maximum of four races will be held during the regatta. The fleet will be divided into five classes World Cruising L, World Cruising XL, Performance, Performance Cruising M, Performance Cruising L.
