Fleet 152 Gijón

Fleet 152, Real Club Astur de Regatas, Gijón, Spain By Jose C. Alegria History Snipe sailing in Spain started at the northern ports of the Iberian peninsula, with Vigo, Bilbao and Santander leading the seniority ranking. Gijón soon followed, and a 5 boat fleet was finally reached on may 1943 at the Real Club Astur de Regatas –RCAR- (Royal Astur Yacht Club), when the club added two Snipes to the three already being sailed by club members. Their official sail numbers given by SCIRA were: 4659, "Mapi-Ali", owned by Manuel Fernandez Coll 4660, "Viejo Lobo", owned by Marino Magdaleno Laca 4661, "Chicharro", owned by the club 4662, "Parrocha", owned by the club 4663, "Antela", owned by Carlos del Castillo Bertrand One of these members, Carlos del Castillo Bertrand, who was a Snipe sailor his whole life and also fleet captain, is honored in our days as the fleet's most important yearly competition is named after him, the "Carlos del Castillo Memorial Trophy". ...

Fleet 152 Gijón Image

Fleet 152, Real Club Astur de Regatas, Gijón, Spain

By Jose C. Alegria

History

Snipe sailing in Spain started at the northern ports of the Iberian peninsula, with Vigo, Bilbao and Santander leading the seniority ranking.

Gijón soon followed, and a 5 boat fleet was finally reached on may 1943 at the Real Club Astur de Regatas –RCAR- (Royal Astur Yacht Club), when the club added two Snipes to the three already being sailed by club members. Their official sail numbers given by SCIRA were:

  • 4659, “Mapi-Ali”, owned by Manuel Fernandez Coll
  • 4660, “Viejo Lobo”, owned by Marino Magdaleno Laca
  • 4661, “Chicharro”, owned by the club
  • 4662, “Parrocha”, owned by the club
  • 4663, “Antela”, owned by Carlos del Castillo Bertrand

One of these members, Carlos del Castillo Bertrand, who was a Snipe sailor his whole life and also fleet captain, is honored in our days as the fleet’s most important yearly competition is named after him, the “Carlos del Castillo Memorial Trophy”.

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Above: Snipe 4663, “Antela”, at the fleet’s clubhouse walls, where names of “”Carlos del Castillo Memorial Trophy” winners are engraved.

The fleet was assigned number 152 by SCIRA.
As the fleet increased, the club decided to promote Snipe sailing by creating his own shipyard with a club employee as boatswain, so that club members could get cheaper boats. They just had to pay for the materials. The first boat out of the Snipe shipyard was number 8896, “Medusa”, in 1958.

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Above: First Snipe out of the fleet’s own shipyard, in 1958

Regattas also increased in number and quality and the club decided to resume its “Royal” tradition by asking recently appointed Prince Juan Carlos for his patronage of a new Snipe competition, the Copa de Su Alteza Real el Príncipe Juan Carlos (His Royal Highness Prince Juan Carlos Cup). The Cup was hosted between 1963 and 1986, achieving official international status by the Spanish Sailing Federation in 1973, and SCIRA’s top ranking (3 stars) in 1976.

The fleet also hosted 2 South European Championships (1992 and 2014), 2 Iberian Championships (1973 and 1993), 4 Spanish Nationals (1966, 1974, 1986 and 2011), 2 Spanish Junior Nationals (2003 and 2011) and 1 Spanish Women’s Nationals (2011).

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Above: First Club facilities

June 7th, 1987, when gale warnings were not issued as effectively as they are now, a terrible gale hit the race course, placed as usual, in front of Saint Lawrence Beach, when a fleet regatta was taking place, with the severe consequences of 4 sunken boats and 2 more completely destroyed. Red Cross and Coast Guard boats were able to rescue every sailor, but most of them did not sail any more in the following years because of the tough experience.

It took many years to resume the fleet’s activities, and the Prince Cup was folded.

Step by step, the fleet recovered by adding new boats and younger members. In 1999, a new regatta was created to recall national attention, the “Carlos del Castillo Memorial Trophy”, and young sailors in Gijón chose the Snipe again as their one-design class. Fran Palacio and Angela Pumariega (who would end up winning the gold medal in match racing at the London 2012 Olympic Games) won the Spanish Junior Championship in 2001 and 2002, taking second place at the Junior European Championship in 2002. In 2015, Pepe Palacio and Fran Palacio placed second in the Grand Master Division at the European Masters Championship, and Carlos Ordoñez and Maria Mendoza took 9th place at the Junior World Championship in 2015 .

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Above: Fran Palacio & Ángela Pumariega

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Above: Alfonso Cabezudo & Jaime Fernández de la Vega, Pepe Palacio & Maria Palacio, Fran Palacio & Carlos Ordoñez

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Above: Carlos Ordoñez & Maria Mendoza

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Above: 2011 Spanish Nationals, with 71 boats

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Above: 26 boats from 4 nations (ITA, FRA, POR and ESP) came to Gijón for the South European Championship in 2014

Today

Last season, between March 7th and November 21st, 2015, the fleet had 56 races scheduled over 28 days of competition. That is, 2 races per day in every case of the 8 regattas organized. Due to weather conditions, 11 races had to be abandoned.

 

Regatta

Scheduled races

Races completed

Boats entered

Spring Trophy

12

10

6

Saint Catherine Trophy

4

4

4

Saint Peter Trophy

4

4

6

Summer Trophy

12

11

10

Carlos del Castillo Memorial

4

3

16

Asturias Championship

4

4

7

Town of Gijon Trophy

4

3

9

Autumn Trophy

12

6

8

Fleet information can be found by entering the facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/Snipe152/
and at the regional site: https://sites.google.com/site/snipeasturias

Snipe Fleet Number

152

 

Club

Real Club Astur de Regatas

 

Location

Gijón, Spain

 

Boats paid 2015

10

27913, 28278, 28622, 28666, 28741, 29321, 29921, 30204, 30243, 30950

Members paid 2015

15

Jose Alegria, Alvaro Alegria, Santiago Alegria, Jaime Alvarez-Hevia, Alfonso Cabezudo, Luis Diaz, Jaime Fernandez de la Vega, Elisa Fernandez, Cristina Fernandez, Sara Garcia, Maria Mendoza, Carlos Ordoñez, Jose Palacio, Francisco Palacio, Francisco Silvela

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Let us know the story and the activity of your Fleet.

Topics:

  • History of the fleet: When the fleet was founded? Most important sailors and fleet captains
  • Where is it located? Where do you sail (Racing area)?
  • How many boats and sailors? Who are they?
  • Which regattas has the fleet held in the past? Are there annual regattas or events?
  • Social events: does the fleet organize parties, dinners, clinics, promotional events etc.? Do you have a site, a mailing list or a FB page?
  • Programs or ideas for the next future
  • Also, please send photos

 

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