Halfway through the battle: ORC European Championship contenders push forward at Copa del Rey MAPFRE
July 31, 2025 - Palma de Mallorca, Spain - Today marks the halfway point of the 43rd edition of the Copa del Rey MAPFRE, and with the pressure building in Palma, the chase for the 2025 ORC European Championship titles is heating up. After four races, the current class leaders are BLUE (TP52, ITA) in ABANCA ORC 0, PEZ DE ABRIL (ClubSwan 42, ESP) in Sail Racing ORC A, TECHNONICOL (X-41 Mod., EST) in Ubico ORC B, and EARLY BIRD (Cape 31, GER) in Uber ORC C.
Following the demanding offshore race on Wednesday, Thursday’s programme brought the fleets back to windward-leeward competition, with up to three races scheduled. The first warning signal was delayed to 13:00 to allow crews recovery time, while the race areas were divided between Alfa (near RCNP) for Sail Racing ORC A and Uber ORC C, and Bravo (off Playa de Palma) for ABANCA ORC 0 and Ubico ORC B.
As predicted by French navigator Yann Chateau of TP52 PAPREC in the ABANCA ORC 0 class, “Today will see the thermal wind building to 12–13 knots in the Bravo area. If this is the case, everyone should get a full programme of racing, and be home for tea and cake.” The seabreeze delivered, and so did the sailors.
Tight battle for the lead in ABANCA ORC 0
ABANCA ORC 0 is proving to be the most closely contested class in the fight for the ORC European Championship title. After three days and four races, the standings show a tie at the top between the Italian BLUE and the American VESPER. The day began with a race win for Brazil’s CRIOULA IV, followed by a technical tie for second between VESPER (USA) and BLUE (ITA), which temporarily pushed VUDU off the top spot. Mauro Gestri’s team on VUDU briefly regained the lead with a second-place finish in the next race, but was disqualified ashore due to an incident with VESPER during the final mark rounding. BLUE now leads the class, tied on 13.5 points with VESPER. URBANIA, owned by Tomás Gasset, holds fourth and is the top-ranked Spanish entry. Meanwhile, the TP52 AIFOS, helmed by King Felipe VI, posted a ninth and eighth place finish and maintains eighth position overall.
“It was hard out there, so busy with the traffic. On the left side favoured track it got quite hard for boats coming into the windward mark on port!” remarked VESPER’s tactician Morgan Larson.
New leader in Sail Racing ORC A: PEZ DE ABRIL takes the spotlight
In Sail Racing ORC A, the Spanish PEZ DE ABRIL, skippered by José María Meseguer, is the new leader. The reigning Copa del Rey MAPFRE champion and current ClubSwan 42 World Champion claimed victory in the first race and followed it with a fifth-place result, bringing their total to 12 points and a three-point lead over World Championship runner-up NADIR, skippered by Pedro Vaquer, who posted scores of 4 and 2 today. Third place now belongs to another ClubSwan 42, the German ELENA NOVA, skippered by Christian Plump, who relinquished the overall lead after finishing 6th and 7th today. ELENA NOVA now sits five points behind the top spot heading into Day Four.
Current leader, José María Meseguer, summed up their day: “In the first race today, we thought the wind would do just what it did do. It didn’t turn out to be the typical day in the Bay of Palma that we were all hoping for, but the fact is that we got it right.
The second race was more complicated: the wind started to pick up during the break, and we thought we would be sailing with 15-17 knots, which was more or less the forecast, but that didn’t happen at all. The direction stayed at around 200, which was a bit strange, we chose the wrong sail, the wind dropped to nine knots and we suffered a little. In the end, we saved the day with a fifth place finish.”
“The top six finishers are ClubSwan 42s, so it’s like sailing in a one-design class but with other boats stealing your wind. There are a lot of factors that are not pure sailing. It’s the same for everyone, but you can’t sail your own race; there’s a luck factor that you can’t control.
It’s the end of the Mediterranean racing season, which has been long and intense but that means we’re very well prepared, which is why we’re in the lead now. But this can change in 24 hours. We know who our rivals are, we hope to finish in the top five and go into Saturday with options. For tomorrow, the conditions are quite similar to today’s, perhaps the typical more established bay conditions, the typical left-hand banana.”
TECHNONICOL takes control in Ubico ORC B
In Ubico ORC B, the Estonian TECHNONICOL has emerged as the new team to beat. The crew, led by Mati Sepp, who had finished fourth in both previous races, posted a first and third today to climb to the top of the standings. They now lead by eight points over Italy’s SIDERACORDIS, and by 8.5 points over the 2024 ORC European Champion, fellow Estonian SUGAR 3.
“We have a fast boat, and a fast boat always gives you chances, so for us it was easy today,” said Mati Sepp. “We got ahead and the wind came from our side, we were clear each time and that really helps us stay clear of traffic. I guess that helps.
With this boat, we won the 2018 European Championships, and we were X-41 World Champions in 2010—so we know the boat well. I won the Copa del Rey in 2007 on an X-35. We are all from Estonia, and the team's core raced the World Match Race Tour for some years—the bowman, trimmers and I as helm.”
EARLY BIRD remains in control in Uber ORC C despite new challengers
The third day of racing in Uber ORC C proved that EARLY BIRD is not unbeatable—though just barely. The German team, the only one in the fleet to have won every race up to this point, recorded two second-place finishes today but retained their overall lead. The Cape 31, owned by Hendrik Brandis, now holds a six-point lead over the Italian SARCHIAPONE FUORISERIE, winner of today’s second race, and an 8.5-point lead over the Spanish NUNOTA CAFIVER, owned by Antonio Porres, who won the first race of the day.
“Everything went well today,” stated Hendrik Brandis. “It was good—we had two good starts and were on the right side each time, and we built our lead. But the most challenging thing was the traffic. Even though we were starting 15 minutes behind Class A, we were sailing into the fleet. That was not easy.”
Racing continues tomorrow, Friday, at noon, with more windward-leeward races scheduled for all four ORC divisions. If the full programme is completed, the discard rule will come into effect after the second race of the day, allowing each team to exclude their worst result from the overall standings.
Top 3 Standings – After 3 days and 4 Races (Provisional)
ABANCA ORC 0
- BLUE (TP52, Bonfiglio Mariotti / Fabrizio Boromei, ITA) – 13.50 pts
- VESPER (TP52, David Team, USA) – 13.50 pts
- URBANIA (Soto 52, Tomas Gasset, ESP) – 24.00 pts
Sail Racing ORC A
- PEZ DE ABRIL (ClubSwan 42, Jose Maria Meseguer Huertas, ESP) – 12.00 pts
- NADIR (ClubSwan 42, Pedro Varquer, ESP) – 15.00 pts
- ELENA NOVA (ClubSwan 42, Christian Plump, GER) – 17.00 pts
Ubico ORC B
- TECHNONICOL (X-41 Mod, Mati Sepp, EST) – 12.00 pts
- SIDERACORDIS (X-41, Pier Vettor Grimani, ITA) – 20.00 pts
- SUGAR 3 (Italia Yachts 11.98, Ott Kikkas / Sandro Montefusco, EST) – 20.50 pts
Uber ORC C
- EARLY BIRD (Cape 31, Hendrik Brandis, GER) – 6.00 pts
- SARCHIAPONE FUORISERIE (Italia Yachts 9.98 F, Gianluigi Dubbini / Piero Biasi, ITA) – 12.00 pts
- NUNOTA CAFIVER SAILING TEAM (Vrolijk 37, Antonio Porres / Mon Canellas, ESP) – 14.50 pts
The 43 Copa del Rey MAPFRE, including ORC European Championship 2025, is organized by the Real Club Náutico de Palma (RCNP) by delegation of the Real Federación Española de Vela (RFEV), with the sponsorship of MAPFRE, the institutional sponsorship of the Govern de les Illes Balears, the Palma City Council, with the collaboration of the Autoritat Portuaria de Balears and the Federación Balear de Vela. This ORC European Championship 2025 is under the overall jurisdiction of the Offshore Racing Congress (ORC).
Follow the 25th ORC European Championship 2025 - 43rd Copa del Rey MAPFRE:
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