Edu Ferrer 6th in the XXV Palamós Optimist Trophy and in the Excellence Cup

If we thought that Torrevieja was very demanding and a lot of fun, Palamós was so demanding that even mentioning «fun» is out of the question. It was beyond fun, it was intense, two times intense, difficult and spectacular. It’s been years since we had such an amazing event in Palamós, with nine races completed for the Gold Fleet and eight for Silver and Bronze. The first day was beyond the physical limit of 90% of the fleet (it doesn’t mean it was impossible, it means everyone needs to get fit!), with 20-25kts Southwesterly winds and huge waves that made everything extremely difficult. On the second day we could relax a bit because it was blowing «only» 17-20kts from the SW, and the waves were one metre smaller than the day before. And on the third day we had the light offshore breeze we needed to make sure that the sailors at the top of the overall were those able to excel in all conditions.
Edu Ferrer worked really hard on the first two days, which were difficult for him, and proved that he had learnt his lesson in Torrevieja. With five outstanding races (23-16-32-6-14) and a DNC due to a block failure during preparatory signal on Saturday, on the last day he stuck to his ambition even if he was placed 52º overall. It would be hard to go up to top places, but he did it! He started with a fantastic race which would have been a bullet if his «archfriend» Nacho Dávila hadn’t nailed it at the finish line (congratulations Nachete!) but Edu got over it quick and got a 6th and a 2nd in the next two races. «Lola, I feel good, I feel so good!» was his catchphrase during the whole day, with a huge smile.
This meant that Edu finished the XXV Palmós Optimist Trophy sixth overall, with 378 boats, nine races and outstanding rivals. He also won the Nations Cup, awarded to Spain thanks to the results of the four best sailors of each country in the overall, which included Edu, the Palamós champion Albert Torres (RCN Palma) and the brothers Pablo and Quique Luján (CN Jávea). He also finished sixth in the Excellence Cup, a trophy which awards points for the results in four international events in Spain: Palma, Gran Canaria (even if Edu didn’t compete there), Torrevieja and Palamós.
The rest of the team had a good event as well! Max Urquizu was very strong on the first two days, scoring 12-18-19-16-35 in the strong breeze, a condition in which he is very comfortable but in which he hasn’t shown his full potential yet. On the third day, Sunday, he started well scoring a 15th, but then he lost his bearings in the offshore breeze, risked a bit too much and didn’t get it right. However, we loved his epic celebration on the last race, where he finished 83rd! We love your sense of humour, Max, it is important to be able not to take yourself too seriously sometimes! In any case, Max’s result in the overall, 48th, is an excellent result and we all know that.
Jan Sanfeliu suffered a lot during the first two days, but with his optimism he was able to congratulate himself for his efforts. And he was right. He still needs to improve his tecnique in strong breeze, but he is working hard and that shows in his results: with the exception of a DNF in the second race, he finished all tough races in the first half of the fleet, and that is difficult. On the last day he started off well with an 18th, but he is still struggling with offshore winds and lost it in the second beat. However, his progress is good, because he improved significantly last year’s performance in this same event (359th of 457 boats), even if this year the event was twice as long and tough.
The Maltese sailor Jake Satariano, from the Malta Young Sailors Club and whom we already love as a member of the CMA team, was out of this world during the first day. Only 11 years old and a true lightweight, he managed to score 39th and 31st in the toughest two races (the second and the third). Very good performance from Jake, even if on Saturday and Sunday the tricky conditions of the course made it difficult for him to be on top. We already know that he is an enfant terrible, that he likes to make friends with the naughty ones (but he behaves) and that he has enough autonomy (and character) to present a protest all by himself, without his coach, and win it. We hope to see you very soon Jake!
We’d like to conclude with our little gentleman, Pedro de Peñaranda, who in his first international event (and what an event!) proved that he is a fighter and sailed all races in conditions that he had never sailed before. The races were 45 minutes long, three races every day, and you had to be mentally strong to sail them, even if his results show a DNC on the second and third. On Saturday Pedro was already «weathered» and he sailed like a pro. But the best was yet to come on Sunday, sailing in the Bronze Fleet. After the first race, in which he didn’t get the course right, he nailed the strategy and sailed beautifully to round the weather mark in second place. Offshore conditions, however, are tricky, and Pedro couldn’t hold to his second and finished 16th. A very good result, in any case, and which was a great conclusion to this event. We’d like to congratulate Pedro for his perfomance, as well as his coach Juan Ramos for preparing him so well! He took it seriously, he adapted perfectly to the team, and he was autonomous to have all his gear shipshape.
Congratulations everyone, and we hope this experience proves useful next weekend!!
Results