- As winner in the X-35 class in 2015, the team starts off as favourite and is looking to be on the podium again
- The Company will again sponsor the ‘Enlace’ (Link) Trophy, which will be awarded to the top finishers in each class at the midpoint of the competition
Red Eléctrica de España will take part, for the seventh consecutive year, in the Copa del Rey de Vela (King’s Cup sailing competition), which is being held for the 35th time and will take place from 1 to 6 August in the waters of the Bay of Palma. Through the sponsorship of the X-35 one-design sailing yacht that bears its name and of the regatta sailing team, the Company consolidates its support for this sporting event and its social commitment to the Balearic Islands.
The Red Eléctrica de España, skippered by Javier Sanz, will start off as favourite after being crowned winner in the X-35 class in last year’s competition with a 17-point advantage over the second-place finisher, whereby facing a major challenge in the competition this year.
About 130 boats from 19 countries will compete in the 35th edition of the Copa del Rey de Vela, across 8 classes: ORC 1, ORC 2, IRC 1, X-35, J80, Maxi 72, Swan 45 and GC32. As a new inclusion this year, in addition to the winners of the various categories, there will be 2 overall winners: one for the one-design class and another on corrected time.
The “Link” Trophy
For the third consecutive year, Red Eléctrica will sponsor the 'Enlace’ Trophy, whose name refers to the submarine electricity interconnection projects between the islands carried out by the Company in the Balearic Islands. The trophies are awarded to the crews who, at the midpoint of the competition, are leading the competition standings in their class.
The X-35 class competition
The Red Eléctrica de España sailing yacht competes in the X-35 one-design class, a very attractive class as the race is settled between boats with identical characteristics and in real-time.
In this edition, the Red Eléctrica de España will compete as the winner of the X-35 class in the 2015 edition and will face seven other sailing yachts competing under the flags of Spain, Italy and the Netherlands.
The racing yacht and the crew
The Red Eléctrica de España is a one-design racing yacht designed by Danish engineer Niels Jeppesen, characterised by its manoeuvrability, speed and competitiveness, especially leeward. At 10.61 metres long, 3.27m wide and 2.15m keel length, it has a displacement of 4,300 kg and four sails with a surface area of 211.6 m2 (mainsail 40.1, genoa 33.9; Furling genoa 31.9, and spinnaker-all purpose 105.7).
The crew of the Red Eléctrica de España, skippered by Javier Sanz, President of the Royal Sailing Club (RCN) of Palma and President of the Organising Committee of the Copa del Rey, is a very compact crew characterised by the ability to work as a team and the experience of all its members. In addition to Javier Sanz as helmsman, the team is made up of David Madrazo (tactician); Rodrigo Sanz (bowman); Marcos Iglesias (spinnaker trimmer); Alberto Viejo (pitman); Carlos Martínez (genoa trimmer); Javier Sanz Junior (mainsail trimmer) and Eduardo García (mastman).
The Press Office of Red Eléctrica publishes all written and audio-visual information via the Twitter account @RedElectricaREE.
Also on Facebook through the account RedElectricaREE.