The newly renovated marina of Port Calanova are sponsoring Olympic champion Iker Martinez on his new challenge, breaking the sailing around Mallorca world record. Together with his team, he has been training in the marina, home port of the National Sailing School, and is now ready for the epic quest.
The tour around Mallorca comprises 160 miles (almost 300 kilometres) which must be tackled non-stop. The route involves difficult spots such as the northern coast of the island, where participants must sail close to the Tramuntana mountain range. The current record was accomplished on April 2005 by the German Maxi boat ‘UCA’, with a total time of 17 hours, 14 minutes and 39 seconds.
The so-called Four Stripes Challenge (‘Desafio Las Cuatro Barras’), promoted by Real Club Nautico de Palma, was opened this year to new types of sailing boats, establishing six categories in three different divisions. Martinez will compete with his M32.
Their boat is in red code since last Monday, standing by for a more favourable weather forecast to start the challenge. It seems like the clouds that have rolled over the island this week will start clearing on Sunday, when they will probably enter orange code, which means 48 hours before green code, when the crew can set sail.
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