Ocean Regatta International Tournament

With the attendance of 35 boats from Canada, the United States and Mexico and 350 crew members, the MEXORC 2008 Ocean Regatta was held over seven days of competition on the Riviera Nayarit.

The competitions in the Bahía de Banderas off the coast of the Riviera Nayarit included the Copa Quinta Real over 25 nautical miles, the Copa Gobernadores over 28 nautical miles, the Copa Marina Riviera Nayarit, which is a match race between two boats, the Copa Islas Marietas over 28 nautical miles and finishing off with other competitions over a determined course.

The event was supported by the Mexican Sailing Federation with the participation of the most important vessels on the Pacific coasts.

 

 

“We are very happy that this tournament has been consolidated as one of the most important in the world with the highest level of sailors and vessels taking part”, commented Ernesto Amtmann Aguilar, High Performance Director of the Mexican Sailing Federation and Chairman of the Ocean Sailing Association. 

On the first day of competition of the MEXORC 2008 Ocean Regatta, the US vessel Oriental Express stood out as the winner of class “A”, followed by Akela (USA) and Pendragon IV (USA).

 

 

Among the class “B” vessels, the fastest were Flojito y Cooperando (Mexico), followed by Jeito (Mexico) and in third place, Blue Blazes (USA).

The class “C” vessels stood out for their excellent and fast performance with Super Gnat (USA) taking first place followed by Velocity (Mexico) with Bandido (Mexico) arising third.

“We want events such as these to continue to be promoters of new nautical developments and new sailing talent in Mexico, which without a doubt have a great future and take on greater relevance everyday in our country because we have the best coasts, weather and winds for sailing,” he added.

On concluding the eighth regatta, all the vessels returned to their ports of origin to await MEXORC 2010. The final trophy was taken by the category “A” vessel Akela, from the United Status, while overall second place went to Morpheus (USA) followed by the Mexican yacht Bandido in third place.

 

 

“With the success of MEXORC 2008, we hope that the interest and support for sailing will continue to grow because Mexico continues to demonstrate its great sailing talent and weather conditions that allow the sport to be enjoyed for most of the year at a very high level”, commented the Chairman of the Mexican Sailing Foundation, Ralph Nelles. 

The MEXORC was held from March 1-8 with windward-leeward winds and during the competition, points were accumulated to take away the MEXORC 2008 cup, supported by important private companies such as Corona, Ixe, Mexicana, Grupo Marival, Paradise Village, Bacardi, as well as the Tourist Development Board (FONATUR), the Ministry of Tourism (SECTUR) and the Government of the State of Nayarit.

 

 

Text: Rafael Luna Grajeda ± Photo: Jay Ailworth.