Bribon – the King of Spain’s brand-new TP52 – has won the Trofeo Alicante, the first regatta of the 2007 Breitling MedCup circuit which took place from 12-17 June.

She topped the 23-boat and won the regatta by 8 points from Peter De Ridder’s Mean Machine after the final race was cancelled due to lack of breeze. As well as an overall win Bribon lifted the Santa Monica Trophy for the best performance in the two coastal races.

Bouwe Bekking who skippered the boat for this regatta chatting about the cancellation of the final race said: “When we saw the wind drop. By two o’clock we knew it was not going to happen but it was just a case of keeping on concentrating until the end. This morning I had just told the guys we should go out today and enjoy it no matter what happened. It is a surprise for us to be here because we were so late with the boat. When you only have two days sailing before you come here and some of the crew only saw the boat here for the first time, then you do not really expect to win the first regatta, so I just wanted us to enjoy it.”

“We have a bloody nice owner and he deserves this. The King called him and sent his best to all of us, he is very happy.

“We have just got better and better each race, getting to know the boat. We have a massive job list to get through, but the boat is definitely quick and this shows we have pace.”

Peter de Ridder’s Valle Romano Mean Machine won the Corinthian Trophy, taking second place overall, and the 2005 champion crew of Vasco Vascotto aboard their new Botin & Carkeek-designed Mutua Madrilena finishied third overall. De Ridder added: “It is going to be so hard this year, with lots of ups and downs. Bribon winning with a sixth place average across the regatta proves that.”

Results
1 Bribon (J Cusi, ESP, Judel-Vrolijk 2007) 35pts
2 Valle Romano Mean Machine (P De Ridder, MON, Judel Vrolijk 2007) 43pts
3 Mutua Madrilena (V Vascotto, ESP, Botin & Carkeek 2007)
4 Artemis (R Coutts, SWE) 54pts
5 Patches (E Conneely, IRL, Reichel Pugh 2007) 58pts