Titles decided at 22nd Sandberg PalmaVela after thunderstorms and calm prevents last day racing

3 May 2026 - Palma, Mallorca, Spain - The German-flagged crew on Sven Wackerhagen’s Wally 80 Rose may have considered themselves underdogs when compared to the mighty Wally 100-footer Tilakkhana II, but they found some extra speed on the Bay of Palma and sailed smart to win four of their five races to win by three points ahead of Pacale Decaux’s crew, who took second. 

Tactician Jesper Radich on Rose was delighted at their success, “It feels amazing to win. We were fighting against really high quality opposition in Tilakkhana II, they are tough competition, a nice team with a well proven boat. I saw us as second in line for the win, we would have been happy to be just pushing them. But suddenly we found ourselves competitive. So that was amazing. What we did well this year is that we got together early as a team and were able to practice, we did one extra training day. We did some fine tuning on the rig and that gave us a big jump. I would give high marks to the team who sailed the boat really well, and to our owner who did a great job.”

The 13-strong TP52 class were poised to complete their series, looking to maximise their racing and training time ahead of their first 52 Super Series regatta of the season, which starts Tuesday on these same waters. But with no competition possible, 22^nd Sandberg PalmaVela is the first regatta win for Dutchman Pieter Heerema and his No Way Back team, most of whom won the 2025 Super Series title as Quantum Racing.

The new owner-driver smiled, “It feels really good. It is very unexpected to win this regatta. You can train all you like but the pressure in a real race is so very different. These last two days have been very good, it different now you are racing as the concentration is different, the intensity is different but the result is very good. We are where we are. So I have been learning to concentrate so mic more, to really stay focused and to keep on watching the speed and the angles. You get so much information and as the helmsman you have to filter it, sometimes you filter out the wrong things and you get told in no uncertain terms! I had no expectations here, I am new to the class and I am not 35 any more. You have to be humble. But I have enjoyed winning, but this is a great team to be with, not only are they super good sailors but they are nice people to be with.”

Brasil’s Crioula, owned by the Plass brothers Eduardo and Renato, took second place with the Italian team on Alkedo Vitamina led by Cameron Appleton finishing third.

The key ORC Classes Zero and 1 had already been won with a day to spare by James Neville’s Ino Veritas, a TP52 with Dean Barker calling tactics and Brit Jack Trigger as navigator. Ino Veritas, a custom TP52, had a perfect scoreline, counting five of their six wins, the British-flagged team has clinched the Sandberg Estates PalmaVela regatta title with a day to spare. 

Tactician Dean Barker acknowledged, “For our owner James (Neville), this boat only arrived a couple of weeks ago in Europe, and so it has been a bit of a scramble to have it ready, so this is a bit of a shakedown, a chance to learn the boat. It is for the Admiral’s Cup, and so there is a long way to go before then, but this is the first hit out and a good chance to do some racing. It has been great so far. It is a cool boat, and it all works really well with good systems. Marcus Blackmore and his guys did a really good job putting the boat together.”

Double Olympic 470 silver medallist Nick Rogers guided the blue-hulled Carkeek-designed Fast 40 Nola to win ORC Class 1.

Their storyline – working up a new boat on a Sardinia and Admiral’s Cup programme – applies to the Estonian-flagged Carkeek 40 Nola, which secured ORC Class 1 with a day to spare too. The Fast 40 which was built as Girls on Film has been returned to the Med for co-owners Margus Uudam and Taavet Hinrikus - who share the driving – and is a replacement for their Mat 1220. The team have British double Olympic silver medallist Nick Rogers on board as tactician bringing his previous knowledge of the boat.

Aksel Magdahl, strategist/navigator on Nola, explains, “It has been a very good baptism for the new NOLA, it is the first event, and we are running towards the Admiral’s Cup for next year, so this is a good start. We have put the boat through a reasonable refit and we might make some changes later but first PalmaVela and then Sardinia Cup. This is a good boat and the Fast 40 is good on IRC, this is a full blooded racing boat. We have prepared well with the boat we have done a couple of training gatherings in Cala Nova and Palma already. We sailed pretty clean but there is room for improvement. We were in the right place most of the time and that helps.”

In ORC Class 2 David Green’s Formula X, an Xr 41 won the nine boat division by just one single point whilst in ORC Class 3. 

Oscar Chaves and the Hyatt Hydra Youth team won ORC 4 in a Melges 32. 

Regular winners at PalmaVela and Copa del Rey Scott Beattie and the British crew of Just the Job, a J/97 prevailed in ORC 4 and 5. South African Palma based America’s Cup sailor Mark Sadler won the ORC Sportboat class with his son Nicolas in a Melges 24 Abracadabra. 

In double-handed classes, Martin Buick's (GER) Neo Roma 430 Mia Gioia, skippered by Yves de Block (NED), won ORC A2 0-3 class, while Sunfast 3300 Guaguanco IV, by Thierry Lallemand, took the victory in ORC A2 4-5.

In the Spirit of Tradition class David Grylls British flagged Flight of Durgan took the top prize.
From a strong, 10 boat Dragon class it was Ben Kolf’s Jupiter which composed an unbeaten string of four firsts and in the Flying 15s the PalmaVela title went to Victor Pérez and Mark Branagh on Femme Fatale.