Puerto Portals Dragon Winter Series premieres tomorrow its fourth edition with the participation of 40 ships representing 13 countries. The race is organized by the Club of Regattas Puerto Portals in cooperation with the Spanish Dragon Association, the International Dragon Class and the Balearic Sailing Federation.
The race starting time will be at 14pm on Friday, whilst on Saturday and Sunday the tests will start at 11.30am. A maximum of six rounds has been programmed, two per day, and from the fifth onwards, discarding will come into play.
The races will be between 50 and 60 minutes long and two circuits have been planned: one of four sections with two upwind and two downwind, and another of five sections with three upwind and two downwind.
Marta Reynés, Director of the Club of Regattas Puerto Portals and Sports Coordinator of the event, has highlighted the fleet’s great level when saying that ‘very powerful teams have registered, which have come to test new equipment for the European Dragon Class Championship, taking place in Puerto Portals next April’
The weather forecast for tomorrow is not very promising, being as the island is on yellow alert due to strong winds. Wind gusts above 30 knots are expected; this could leave the fleet on land. ‘If it were not possible to race on Friday, we will try to catch up by carrying out three tests on Saturday and Sunday’, pointed out Narta Reynés.
The Ukranian ship Bunker Prince, skippered by Evgenii Braslavets was the winner of the previous Puerto Portals Dragon Winter Series, and has confirmed its participation at Palmas’s Bay to defend the title. The German teams MeerBlick, owned by Otto Pohlmann, and Rosie, owned by Benjamin Morgen, who completed the last edition’s podium, will also be competing in Calvià’s waters.
Puerto Portals Dragon Winter Series, formed by three events, will take place from December to February, ending with the trophy award ceremony to the winner, as well as to the best of the categories Best Classic (for wooden boats) and Best Corinthian (non-professional crews).
The celebration of the race’s fourth edition, and the great success of the previous ones, consolidates the bond of the Dragon Class to Puerto Portals, which has become a European reference point for this category. In fact, more than thirty of the best teams of northern Europe have chosen Calvià’s marina as the place to carry out their wintering, due to its facilities, the good climate and the flight connections; all these aspects make of Puerto Portals an excellent base to train and compete during the winter.