Costa Blanca News: Moraira’s 300 Millas A3 goes to a Cartagena boat

CARMEN-ELITE SAILS was the overall winner of Moraira’s notoriously tough 300 Millas A3 race. The yacht, skippered by Jose Coello and crewed by Jesus Ros Ramon and Pablo Garcia Meca from Cartagena’s Real Club de Regatas, completed the route in 39 hours to take the Grefusa Trophy. The race was due to leave Moraira on January 22nd but the start was postponed by one day, owing to the weather conditions left by Storm Gloria. The 300-sea mile (555.6 kilometres) regatta course also had to be reduced to 230 sea miles (426 kilometres), taking the boats round the islands of Grosa, Benidorm and Tabarca.
After a very good start, Coello’s Sinergia 40 opted for the left side of the course, maintaining a very tactical race throughout the regatta’s 230 miles. The boats began spreading out before arriving at Isla Grosa by which time the wind was gusting at 22 knots (44.7 kilometres), to the advantage of the larger boats. Once round Isla Grosa, the wind dropped and was occasionally non-existent as the boats made for Tabarca, leaving some with no option but to drop out of the race. Those that remained had a long, hard haul back to Moraira, where the Alicante boat Vicente Garcia’s Plis Play was first in, followed by Ziving Badia and Brujo, both from Valencia’s Club Nautico. Carmen-Elite sails, the sixth to arrive, was the overall winner on corrected time, taking a €3,000 cash prize as well as the Grefusa trophy.