The Chinese “prima” of the Copa del Rey MAPFRE

At the end of October, the China Cup is celebrated in the Chinese province of Shenzen, a regatta with remarkable parallels with the King’s Cup MAPFRE. A representation of the event has moved to the Real Club Nautico de Palma to learn of its Spanish “prima” and, in step, to compete in class BMW ORC 1.

“Our intention is to learn and communicate,” explains Helen Liu, vice president of the China Cup. “The MAPFRE King Cup is one of the most respected and well-known regattas in the world, and the China Cup is Asia’s biggest regatta. Has not stopped growing since its first edition of 2007, and with the rapid development of sailing in China, we now have many sailors who want to travel and compete in top-level regattas such as the Copa del Rey. to see how”.

In its tenth edition, the 2016 China Cup brought together 138 boats, exactly the same number of participants competing this week in the 36 King’s Cup MAPFRE. But that is not the only parallelism between the two events. Both share a sports program that combines windward-lee and coastal tests, a lively social program, and in both is distributed to the fleet in ten classes.

Its 11th edition will be held between October 26 and 29 in Hong Kong and Shenzen, in southern China. There will be four days of competition with eight events, including a passage between Hong Kong and Shenzhen.
Boat in BMW ORC 1

Next to the delegation of the China Cup, Team China Wind Rider is traveling, competing this week aboard an A40 RC in the BMW ORC 1 class, the most numerous of the 36 King’s Cup MAPFRE. It is the second Chinese team in the history of the regatta, after Windward by Fan Yeliang, third classified in class Swan 60 in the 34 King’s Cup MAPFRE in 2014. Patronized by Yan Yuye, they arrive at the race with intention to learn in One of the best “masters” of the world-wide sailing and in step to create a link with the China Cup. At its 26 years of age, Yan Yuye is a professional sailor with 11 years of experience, and usually participates with Team Seawolf in Such as the Rolex China Sea Race, the Phuket King’s Cup or the China Cup itself.