The size of the Cup of the King of Vela and its multinational character make its celebration impossible
The size of the Cup of the King of Vela and its multinational character make its celebration impossible
The pandemic forced strong social and sports restrictive measures, "health responsibility" has always been the main focus of the Organizing Committee (Photo María Muiña)
The Real Club Náutico de Palma de Mallorca has just released a sad official statement that reads: After 38 years of uninterruptible celebration of one of the world's largest sailing competitions, 2020 will come to history for the postponement of the Copa del Rey Mapfre, in the opinion of its Organizing Committee, which chairs Emerico Fuster by "health responsibility".
An event like the King's Cup, with more than 2,000 participation figures from more than 30 countries and more than 3,000 people a day attending the competition, both at sea and on land, has to make health responsibility prevail over any sporting or social interest.
A hard punishment for the High Level 2020 Calendar
If yesterday was the Queen's Cup of Valencia announced its annulment, today the successful figures of the King's Cup have caused another... and is that the forecast for this year of 140 ships from 30 countries, a mass of participants and companions of five thousand people... of which three thousand would be spectators... have led the Organizing Committee to make a decision, which has been fought to avoid making it a reality until the last minute. Europe is running out of its main heavy sailing event this year, and it will have to wait until 2021 to see the Mallorcan show. On the other hand, the threat of annulment is less in other traditional races, but they do not have this number of ships, nor this huge foreign presence... and above all they can dispense with glamour... read a social part... well because they do not have it... well because they do not need it in an essential way. Regatas such as the Vizcaya Championship, or the Costa Vasca Regata, or the Conde de Gondomar Trophy, or the Mar de Maeloc Regatas (see Rías Altas, Finisterre and Rías Baixas), the Regata Juan de la Tosa or the Nautical Week of El Puerto, will have their problems... but they can probably be held without great difficulties, applying sanitary dye measures, with a drastic reduction in the social section, a maximum of 50 or 60 ships, with the creation of some classes as solitaries, A2 and A3 and possibly have to adjust the number of crew per boat as far as possible, in order to ensure that the overall figure is not high. Others, in the case of the Prince of Asturias Trophy will have problems in sight, essentially because the organizing club, the Mount Real Club of Yates of Baiona has such beautiful and very small facilities in space... so either it adapts its social planning to the current situation by the pandemic, and its sports operation... or they will have serious obstacles.
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