For the two J Class yachts which are about to line up at The Superyacht Cup Palma Richard Mille, today’s final training suggests that the owners and crews of both Rainbow and Svea are set for a fantastic duel.
Although during the last few days both crews have been training in perfect sea breeze conditions on Mallorca’s Bay of Palma, preparing for Thursday’s start to the record breaking 30th anniversary edition of the popular event, today was actually the first time that the new owner and crew of Rainbow have lined up against Svea which has been the dominant J Class over recent years.
But for all that Rainbow, with new owner Peter Harrison, CEO of Richard Mille EMEA, steering are still very new to their boat and the class, the two J Class yachts today proved to be very evenly matched over two ad-hoc practice races in 9 to 13kts of breeze. And with Palma forecast to deliver a dream diet of typical sea breezes for the duration of the showcase Superyacht regatta, crews and spectators are in for a treat.
Evenly matched
In theory Rainbow, slightly smaller and lighter than Svea, should be better in the gentler breeze but over a planned schedule of four windward-leeward races, two each on Thursday and Friday, and a coastal race, boat handling and manoeuvres could be as decisive as out and out boat speed. While Harrison’s Rainbow crew are mainly drawn from his Admiral’s Cup winning Jolt Sailing Team, including America’s Cup winner Ed Baird calling tactics with Ben Saxton as strategist, Svea may have a new tactician, Newport RI’s Tony Rey, but they have a few more settled, practiced crew in key positions.
If the teams left the dock at Palma’s Club de Mar this morning with an obvious sense of excitement and anticipation, that mood was only heightened by today’s final dress rehearsal races. And with Hanuman in the hands of a passionate new Italian owner, now docked only few hundred metres away, there is a keen sense that an exciting J Class renaissance is starting here and now.
Rainbow’s new owner Harrison enthused, “For me as a sailor, there’s nothing quite like it. You’re racing against America’s Cup sailors on boats that were originally built for the America’s Cup in the 1930s. It’s an incredible experience. What I enjoy just as much is seeing the reaction of friends and guests when they come aboard Rainbow for the first time, they’re genuinely amazed by it. It’s a very special way to experience the sport.”
Baird is delighted to be back in the J Class on the Bay of Palma, “Anytime the J class boats can get out and sail together everybody wins. It's just amazing to have these boats on the water. I have missed racing on the J Class for sure. And even just seeing the number of boats on the bay here that go out of their way to turn round and come at us and see us is cool. These are just such amazing pieces of equipment. And anything that the world can do to make sure these boats keep sailing has to be good.”
Learning, but learning fast
After docking Baird cautioned, “We are just learning you know how to sail the boat. Honestly it's a new boat to the team. Everybody from the driver to the trimmers to the bow team have got different things going on, different to the other boats that they've sailed on. So we are just learning. The biggest thing for us is that when we practise boat handling by ourselves we don't know how fast we're going. We don't know if we're if we're being too conservative with our timings. We don't know all this stuff until you go racing. You don't know what other what the other teams are capable of.”
Reporting on today’s learnings Baird recalled, “When the wind favoured their side they were they were gaining nicely and when the wind favoured our side we gained a little. So you know we’ve got work to do. But we should have some close racing and you know whoever makes a mistake is gonna pay for it because the other guys will be right there ready to capitalise.”
Likewise Svea’s Rey has years of Superyacht, J Class, and Bay of Palma experience under his belt but he is bubbling with excitement, “We have a great relationship (with Rainbow) and there is a great plan to flip ends each for the start of each race. And that's going to play into it because there's not much between us on speed which is always a surprise on big yachts like this. There's going to be times when we're probably a little stronger and some conditions where they're stronger. I'm not willing to say what that is yet!”
To date Svea has maintained a great track record at Superyacht Cup, winning in 2022 at her first regatta in the hands of her Swedish co-owners and more recently in 2024 when she lined up against Rainbow and Velsheda when the regatta was the first step towards the J Class Barcelona.
Racing is due to start each day at 1300hrs local time with two windward-leeward races of about 1hr 15 mins duration Thursday and Friday and a coastal race finale Saturday.