GP42 Cup begins tomorrow in Valencia

The fun, exciting and fast GP42 boats will steal the spotlight among the huge 130-strong fleet that participates in Valencia. We might not know who will win the Queen’s Trophy but we surely know who the king among the 11 classes is.

The starting gun of the opening race on Friday will be fired at 2:30pm, under a westerly land breeze, an unusual pattern for this time of the year.

Valencia’s famous sea breeze is forecast to kick in on Saturday and weather specialists predict it will stay for at least two days, blowing at around 10 to 12 knots. Racing in the weekend starts at noon and as a result we will most probably be able to enjoy three exciting races per day.

The fight for leadership will be intense and Tom Schnackenberg, navigator on Near Miss, expects very close and tough races. The legendary America’s Cup sailor knows the race area all too well, but so do most of the competing crews. For that reason nobody can claim to have an insider or local with better knowledge of the prevailing wind patterns. Crew work and boat speed will be crucial for all teams and as we have seen in the first two events of the circuit, there is no favorite in this race.

The Trofeo de la Reina will also be the maiden event for Caser-Quum, a newcomer to the QUEBRAMAR GP42 Cup. Javier Goizueta, boat owner, looks forward to sailing against the rest of the fleet and is optimistic about their performance. They will use Thursday’s training to test their brand new sails.

The Trofeo de la Reina is organized by Valencia's Yacht Club (Real Club Náutico de Valencia) and sponsored by Rolex. A total of 9 races are scheduled, 3 per day.
The remaining three events of the Quebramar GP42 Cup 2008 are the Copa del Rey AUDI MAPFRE in Palma (July 26th to August 2nd); the Trofeu Quebramar-Chrysler in Cascais (August 28th to 30th); and the grand finale, the Trofeo César Manrique in Puerto Calero (October 16th to 18th).

Quebramar GP42 Cup - Overall standings after 2 events
1. Desafío
2. AIRIS
3. Canarias Puerto Calero
4. Near Miss
5. MADRID
6. Roma GP
7. Seawonder 007
8. Roma GP
9. Caser-Quum
10. Fermax