Abanca ORC Class 0 sees the King of Spain, Don Felipe, drop to second overall after finishing fifth on Hispania after their 32 nautical miles coastal race which started with a circuit in the east of the bay, opening with a decisive five miles windward leg. For Australian newcomer to the Copa del Rey Jeremy Weir and his crew on the new Wally Rocket 51 Kilana II the coastal race turned into their first ever race win with what his hull number 3 of the new Wally one design. With Nick Heiner calling tactics they won on the water, beating Mauro Dottori’s Brazilian TP52 Caballo Loco by more than five minutes on corrected time. But Muro Gestri’s TP52 Vudu still leads the class.

Geneva based Weir smiled, “We did very well at the very beginning of the race, had a wobble in the middle and really did well near the end. We stayed close to the land and that made a difference. Our team has gelled together and it is not just about going out to win, we are looking to have some fun too, and we did that today.”

Taavet Hinrikus and Margus Uudam’s Carkeek 40 Nola stepped clear at the top of Sail Racing OCR Class A after a clear win today. Navigator Aksel Magdahl and tactician Hugo Rocha conspired to choose the right of the first, long upwind – against the majority choice of the fleet – and built themselves a big lead. The boat which was first launched in Cowes as Girls on Film now leads by four points over Swedish rivals Rán.

Hinrikus was happy with their day, “It was a fantastic day, great sailing in a great place. I think we go it right on the first upwind and that made the key difference.”

Magdahl adds, “It was a bit tricky on the first upwind, we did not know if it would be right or left but I said to Hugo (Rocha tactician) who made the final call that if the right paid it would pay big and it did. We went right and saw the TP52s up ahead struggling on the left and it really worked for us. It helped us commit on a very long, five miles beat. We were happy to see most go to the left and as usual in Palma it is difficult to go across because they start lifting on that side. That was the majority of the race for us.”

Uber ORC Class B was won by the ORC World Champions from Argentina, Julian Somodi’s PG 390 Katara. Overall the X-41 Maximo leads by half a point. Katara owner Somodi, was very pleased at the end of the day: “To be honest, things went well for us today. The team were very tactical and precise; our manoeuvres went perfectly and we managed to hold off those XR-41s with two highly professional crews. So I’m very happy with everything. We started at ten knots and then it dropped to eight and seven knots by the end. Palma is always my favourite place, but now it’s also my favourite in the championship.”

It was the Vrolijk 37 Project World which won the long race for the Azulmarino ORC Class C fleet but by beating Italian Cape 31 rival Django into third by two seconds after five hours of racing, it is Hendrik Brandis Cape 31 EarlyBird which now leads overall but only on countback. Four times winner at Copa del Rey Brandis said, “ We are pleased the main thing was beating Django by two seconds on corrected time after five hours. We actually give them a little time and were 19 seconds ahead on the water. We had time in the bank. Out boatspeed was good and we mostly stayed with the breeze which was important. We got the first upwind right, lost a lot at the island and then got it back to be first across the line.”

The ClubSwan 42s raced more windward leewards which saw Pedro Vaquer’s Nadir continue to string together an unbroken chain of first places. Vaquer explains that the competition is closer than it might seem: “We’re in the lead, but we haven’t achieved anything yet; this could all turn on its head at any moment. Everything comes down to critical manoeuvres decided by a mere boat’s length or half a boat’s length. Just as they’ve gone well for us, they could go wrong. We’ve tried out some new sails and changed our sailing approach compared to last year, and it seems to be working.”

The home team from the RCNP lead the Baleària Women’s Cup after Day 1 but Hatty Morsley’s Welsh team Merched y Mor lie third. María Bover, skipper of the Baleària Team RCNP, was pleased with the start of her title defence: “It took us a while to get into the swing of things with the boat, but as the day went on we settled in and felt very comfortable and, above all, we enjoyed ourselves: there’s a great atmosphere on board. That said, it’s only the first day and there’s still a long way to go. Today we’ve already seen that there are plenty of teams who are clearly capable of challenging at the front, which I think is a great new development this year.”