The highly tuned machine that is the 35 Copa del Rey MAPFRE is fired up and running smoothly. Today are completing registration and the RCNP is busy with, teams briefing, meeting and presentations. The bay of Palma is seeing the first training sessions on the water and pontoons around the club and the marina are filling quickly. The whole place is buzzing and that is the way it will stay until next Saturday.

 

For the 35th consecutive year, the Real Club Náutico de Palma is all dressed up in the Copa del Rey MAPFRE colours. Banners, posters, flags and a big red carpet welcome greet us at the entrance of the club to remind us we are in one of the hallowed competition sailing venues now in its full pomp. From now this renowned club space will be filled with guests, sponsors, partners, media and – of course – about 1,400 sailors competing at this 2016 edition.

Day of meetings and presentations
The program of the 35 Copa del Rey MAPFRE started today and won’t finish until next Saturday. This first day involved meetings and presentations, such as "Red Eléctrica de España", sponsor of the defending champions in the Air Europa X-35 class and promoter  of the “Enlace Red Eléctrica” awards, which will be presented to the leaders in each class at the halfway point of the competition next Wednesday.

The restaurant El Náutico hosted a meeting of the partner brands in an initiative to share experiences, explore synergies and take advantage of the great promotional opportunities offered by the Copa del Rey MAPFRE.
At the organizational level, the Race Committee held a special meeting regarding on water safety, really strengthened on the four race courses and with special measures in the GC32 area, the flying catamarans whose high speeds and limited manoeuvrability mean a big step up in safety measures..

Registration, tune up and training
Over 200 people who form the organization of the 35 Copa del Rey MAPFRE are working without a break. In the race office, competitors of all categories began today to complete the registration formalities and confirmations, while the one-design classes had their first day of crew weighing and checking sails measurements. They will all complete the process tomorrow.

The boats started to occupy their mooring positions in the pontoons. Several teams took advantage of the day to get a feel of the conditions on the waters on which they will compete throughout the week; others have preferred to stay ashore to tune up their machines and plan. If they all meet the entry and registration requirements, we will enjoy an exceptional competition among 126 teams from 19 different countries.

Tomorrow, final rehearsal
Sunday is the final rehearsal day and most of the fleet will head out to the Bay of Palma to make the most of the last practice day. The competition program will start on Monday for seven out of the eight competing classes and in three of the four race courses at 13h00. Only the GC32 class will wait until Wednesday for its highly expected debut.