Hanuman continued her electric run of winning form on from the St Barths Bucket in March, by winning the first two days here in Palma, proving she likes the flat water just as much as the Caribbean swells. Helmed by Ken Read and manned by a very professional crew, Jim Clark’s Royal Huisman built replica of Endeavour II seemed unstoppable until she was forced over the line early on Friday’s penultimate race. Squeezed between Lionheart on the pin end and Ranger she couldn’t make the turn to get back to the line in the required four minutes. So although she commendably pulled over five minutes back on the fleet, overtaking Rainbow, she was awarded a point crippling OCS.
Lionheart has had a string of seconds and deservedly won the race after some skilled owner driving and tireless crew work including a couple of kite peels and spinnaker stitching during the fleet race. Lionheart leads Ranger by one point and Hanuman by two points going into today’s final race.
Those not lucky enough to see the action unfold live on Palma Bay can watch it online on Trac Trac’s website. www.tractrac.com

In the superyacht class fleet racing meanwhile Maria Cattiva – the Huisman built Bruce King design was the victor, with Highland Breeze the Nautor Swan 112 winning Class 1 and the Hoek designed Firefly taking line honours for the second time.

Aerial images courtesy of Ingrid Abery