Following two days of the Superyacht Cup 2014, running in the fascinating Mediterranean yacht charter destination – Palma in Spain, the owners, captains, crews, as well as designer of the five attending Claasen yachts, Andre Hoek, have much to be proud of. Wednesday, June 18, the opening day of this prominent gathering of sailing superyachts, saw an amazingly exciting race between the five J-class yachts that was neck and neck throughout. The Claasen-built sailing yacht Lionheart ultimately shared the King’s 100 Guinea Cup with luxury yacht Hanuman, after finishing tied on corrected time.

Claasen yachts at the Superyacht Cup Palma 2014 - Photo courtesy of Claasen Shipyards - Stuart Pearce

Yesterday also saw another thrilling race between the Js, and Lionheart came out clear winner in the second windward-leeward race of the series. Lionheart took the lead on the second beat and extended progressively to win by 65 seconds ahead of superyacht Rainbow after three laps of racing.

Meanwhile, yesterday also saw the 21 other yachts make their debut in Palma in the Pantaenius Race. Facing progressive changes in pressure and wind direction, it was the teams which had the best handle on the big picture and could second guess the changes which rose to the top of the three classes.

Superyacht Cup Palma 2014 - Photo courtesy of Claasen Shipyards - Stuart Pearce

And it turned out to be a very satisfactory day indeed for the four Claasen boats in the fleet. Luxury yacht Heartbeat was the winner of Class 3, coming in four minutes ahead of her nearest rival. Drumfire yacht came third and charter yacht Atalante fourth. Meanwhile, superyacht Firefly came third in Class 1, with Ganesha yacht coming first thanks partly to the local knowledge of navigator Nacho Postigo.