The enduring appeal of Palma for superyacht owners

Fun on and off the water is an unbeatable combination at the Superyacht Cup Palma, writes Phil Riley

It’s undoubtedly the case that some long-running regattas, whatever their history and illustrious heritage, can on occasion become a bit ‘samey’, lacking surprise and the excitement of the unexpected. Having recently celebrated its 28th edition the Superyacht Cup Palma might seem a possible candidate for such an unwelcome label… But in reality in 2024? Not a chance!

On the ‘unexpected’ side there were one or two occurrences not predicted in the brochure, and the event once again delivered competitive racing and a jubilant social side ashore to maintain its ‘unique vibe’, as one skipper put it. In short: fun.

To start at the beginning, the first day of racing in the latest instalment of Europe’s longest-running superyacht regatta got off to a flying start with the trio of J Class competitors demonstrating their enduring appeal for sailors and spectators alike with two windward-leeward races out on the Bay of Palma. The always-competitive Svea took both race wins – ahead of the newly refitted Rainbow and the veteran Velsheda in each case – to make a clear declaration of intent.

“It was light out there today but there were two proper races and the race committee did a great job in getting us away,” said Grant Simmer, strategist on Velsheda. So far, so good.

However, the untypically overcast skies during Wednesday’s opener did prove to be something of a harbinger for what was to come.

During the afternoon photos of an increasingly orange sky over Palma filled social media, turning darker and browner into the evening and overnight. Welcome to Mallorca’s ‘Martian’ sky, aka ‘calima’ or dust in suspension. Unsurprisingly #SaharanDust was trending, and then falling in large quantities with rain to cover all below in a thin layer of mud.

Mud wrestling

While not a disaster the rare, though not unknown, deluge inevitably gave all the Superyacht Cup Palma crews a large chore to complete before racing resumed on the Thursday, when brighter skies and a bigger breeze greeted the arrival of the full SYC fleet to the action.

In Class A the 39m cruiser-racer Cervo marked her SYC debut appearance with a first race win, albeit benefitting from an early start penalty given to the mighty 59m ketch Maximus, which dropped her and her 50-strong crew to second just in front of the Hoek Truly Classics Vijonara and Atalante.

Defending SYC title holder Rose maintained her winning ways in Class B, ahead of the Nautor Swan pair Umiko and Dark Horse – who were only 51 seconds apart after more than two and a half hours of racing – with the new Y8 Calabash rounding up the group. All change in the J Class though, with Velsheda taking the win in front of Rainbow and Svea to leave everything to play for.

And then came a second twist of fate. One of SYC’s most enduring and endearing features has always been the seemingly uber-reliability of the Palma sea breeze, ever-present, built-in, a racing certainty. And in fairness to the wind gods, in 2024 the sea breeze was there. Aboard the camera RIB we found a solid 12-15 knots in the south of the Bay of Palma. Unfortunately, a northerly Mistral gradient wind, which is extremely rare for the time of year, stopped it going any further into the bay for the racing fleet.

And so it was for the first time since Superyacht Cup Palma moved to its now familiar June schedule 17 years ago, a day of racing was lost.

“We have perhaps been very fortunate over many, many years,” said SYC event director Kate Branagh. “We’ve had to shorten a couple of courses since we moved to June dates back in 2007, but this is the first time we had a day without racing results.”

Classic finale

Perhaps predictably, classic conditions returned for the finale of Superyacht Cup Palma 2024, with bright sunshine and a steady 10-knot sea breeze helping to deliver a pair of noteworthy outcomes – all set in motion with an unusual downwind start.

Firstly, the nimble and well-sailed 24m Wally Rose became the first successful SYC title defender since 2002, a tribute to the level playing field and fair competition the regatta relentlessly delivers. Her skipper, the affable and splendidly bearded Ben Potter, commented: “The whole day was magic and we could not have asked for better conditions, and the downwind start was something a bit different and really exciting.

“Of course it was great to be able to defend our title. We knew we had a lot to do and the rest of the fleet did not make it easy, but we got away well and it was just a case of making up time around the course. We’ll be back at the Superyacht Cup Palma next year I’m sure – we love the vibe and the organisation, which is great.”

Secondly, a remarkably close finish saw the giant new Vitters ketch Maximus take the Class A win from Cervo thanks to a win by a single second in the second and final race, the tie decided on countback. Evidence for the efficacy of the ORCsy rating rule doesn’t come much stronger than that outcome.

Over the moon

“Everyone is over the moon, it was fantastic,” said Maximus’s delighted skipper Lars Loftus. “We had a plan to sail the boat hard and clean, and we stuck to the plan and it paid off. There wasn’t one leg we weren’t pushing and I said to the guys ‘it isn’t over until it’s over, keep pushing’, and we did.

“It’s a testament to the guys who we brought on the boat that we have had the success we have had – a cast of thousands,” he joked in reference to the 15 permanent and 35 additional SYC crew on board. Given that racing Maximus is akin to having two superyacht sloops bolted together, you can see the need for the number of crew.

For the record, Svea recorded her third win to take the J Class in front of Velsheda and Rainbow. Level on points Velsheda went ahead of Rainbow on countback, though the latter’s welcome return to racing after a lengthy layoff was celebrated with the Spirit of the Event award.

So ‘unexpected’ aside, Superyacht Cup Palma again showed it has the knack of delivering a celebration of sail that owners, captains and crews just enjoy taking part in. Maybe the enduring appeal really is that simple – it’s fun.

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