For the second year, La Peña Sailing Club hosted the Peña Sperry Cup sailing competition on February 16 and 17, 2008, in Valle de Bravo, the wonderful location in the State of Mexico.
Founded in 1968, La Peña Sailing Club is one of the oldest in Valle de Bravo. This competition, which has been held for the last 15 years, has a traditional place in national sailing competitions.
207 competitors competed in nine categories: J24, Santana 20, Hobie Cat 16, Optimist, Laser, Laser Radial, JY 15, Flying Turn and 420. The opening ceremony was attended by the chairman of the Mexican Sailing Federation, a representative of the Municipality of Valle de Bravo, and commodores from other clubs and authorities.
Once on the water, the regatta was a complete success because Saturday’s weather was favorable with good conditions and winds of up to 12 knots. This facilitated the completion of all the activities contemplated in the competition program, which was followed by an exquisite lunch for more than 230 people, including participants, families, guests and judges. On Sunday, with winds of up to 15 knots, the participants’ performance was much more even than the day before.
This intense weekend for the excitement was followed by the prize-giving ceremony on Sunday afternoon on the completion of the day’s competition. All the classes received prizes and trophies were awarded for the first three places in each category.
The Optimist category had the most participation with 63 enrolments. This category is considered to be the training ground of sailing Mexico because the competitors are between 8 and 14 years of age. It is wonderful to see these children and teenagers in action because they are the promise of the future and will grow up to be the country’s future champions.
The festive ambience between the participants was not long in arriving since the sense of competition and rivalry went hand-in-hand with companionship, leaving a good feeling among the spectators.
Text: Viridiana Barahona ± Photo: Rodrigo Hernández Marco.