We followed them day after day in one of the toughest and most competitive regattas in the Mediterranean: Change Transparent and Miss K Checkmate, owned respectively by our members Alberto Franchella and Marco Babando, gave life to a long head-to-head battle in the hard-fought ORC A fleet of the 44th Copa del Rey.
In Palma de Mallorca, in a top-level fleet of approximately 100 boats, the conditions and competition put crews and boats to the test. In the end, the Estonian yacht Nola won the class, ahead of Hispania and the other top contenders in the fleet.
For Alberto Franchella, at his seventh participation in the Copa: it was once again a regatta as challenging as it was exciting.
“A very tough regatta – 8 windward-leeward and 1 long – with 100 boats, top-level crews, and no one willing to give up 10 cm of water. It’s physically exhausting but exhilarating. We’ll definitely be back in 2027. Thanks to my guys who performed brilliantly: Mago, aka Davide Marrella, had 9 excellent starts, two of which were heart-stopping; the Tigre di Ventimiglia was always on point; Puma was at the mast with Federico in the bow; Patrick was a master of wedges and shroud turns; Nicolò and Federico were the two who called countless sail changes; and then the very young Giulio, Filippo, and Francesco, nicknamed Tiratori Scelti for their determination in the gybe sheets.
Change got off to an uphill start: on Monday, we broke a winch, thus losing the training session. But Captain Zaoli Jr. harassed Harken to the point of exhaustion, then flew to Malpensa, bivouacked at the airport, and returned to Palma at dawn with the spare part. Once assembled, we were off to a flying start, right on time, at the start line for the first race. A slow start, but then steadily improving, race after race, we improved our rankings. One more week and we would have finished tenth…
To give you an idea of the level, in our class the Carkeek 40 and GP 42 racers gave you 10 minutes in a race of an hour or so. Also because the ORC rating no longer works, failing to fulfill its mission—the equal chance to win—as a correction factor, especially in the most demanding applications of scoring, such as in the constructed course, where enormous complexity does not correspond to equal usefulness. It was difficult for everyone, starting with King Don Felipe who with Hispania (formerly Vesper in a pristine state) had to settle for second place, as did Niklas Zennstrom, a great sailor and visionary entrepreneur, with his new Ran. Even our Django, owned by Lombardi Stronati, was unable to defend the podium it had enjoyed for two-thirds of the week.
It was also an intense experience for Marco Babando, at his first Copa del Rey at the helm of Miss K Checkmate: “It was a wonderful experience to participate in one of the most competitive regattas in the Mediterranean, in perfect weather conditions. You never stop learning, and that’s what makes our sport unique. An experience to repeat!” Marco wanted to thank his entire crew—Danilo, Checco, Lollo, Max, Roby, Mirko, Gianfri, Edo, Alberto, and Martina—and give special recognition to the Change Transparent team and Alberto Franchella, with whom he and his teammates competed intensely and competitively on the water all week.
Two different experiences, one at the seventh participation and one at the debut, united by the same passion for sailing and the desire to compete at the highest levels.
Congratulations to Alberto, Marco and all our members and athletes on board!