The 41st Christmas Race faces up to the storm

27 December 2016

The Christmas Race has a style of its own. The rough North storm has been one of the main features this year and sailors had to show all their abilities in extreme situations with 30 knots winds, 40 knot gusts and most of all, 4 to 5 metre high waves.  

Olympic champion, Alejandro Abascal, first winner of the Christmas Race together with Miguel Noguer said: “For an Olympic Sailor, the Christmas Race is like reaching Cape Horn for an Oceanic sailor”. Crystal clear.

In this edition, Abascal’s statement seemed a prediction. Extreme rough conditions that even forced the cancellation of the middle day. The remaining days, strong winds, 4 metre high waves and a lot of adrenaline. The task of the PRO, Carles Palomares and the Race Committees was very effective specially to manage races with winds over 25 knots. And after the storm, comes the calm and the last day, Medal Race day, was a pleasant day with light winds and exceptional temperature on the first day of winter.

For several years top sailing federations such as the British and Dutch were clear on this. With the inclusion of the World Sailing youth classes, Palamós is the place for their teams to gain experience. This year, the Spanish Federation has again focussed on the Christmas Race. Seven sailors that competed in Rio 2016 this past summer took part in the 2016 Christmas Race.

 
The 41 Christmas Race finished with victory for Jordi Xammar and Nicolás Rodríguez in the 470 men class. The team won German crew Simon Diesch i Philipp Autenrieth in the Medal race and claimed overall victory.


Around 400 teams from 23 nations have participated in this edition of the regatta, showing the renewed interest in the Christmas Race. The Rio 2016 Olympic sailors have shown their potential with Italian sailor Francesca Clapcich and Belorussian competitor Tatiana Drozdovskaya, first and third in Laser Radial. And also victory for Argentinian sailor Facundo Olezza in the Finn Class.

In 470 women, French team Cassandre Blandini and Aloise Retornaz claimed victory and were also awarded the Trofeu Manuel Albalat, the Absolute Winner Trophy.

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