Not very long ago the smart people at Rondar had the idea that some European sailors might fancy a spin in their Viper 640 sportsboat as a winter break in a sunny place with wind, frequent flights, good food and perhaps a glass of wine. Only three months later 11 boats, some privately owned and some chartered out by Rondar, gathered for the third event in the series at the Real Club Nautico de Palma, Mallorca. The fleet was lined up ready for us when we arrived, launched by the impeccable RCNP and rigged and supported by a great team from OneSails Palma. One Sails even debuted a fleet’s worth of nice looking black carbon sails for the boats launched at this event.
The Viper is very popular in the USA, but has never previously got going in Europe. For those of us who did not know it before we set off in our rented boat, it turns out to be pretty sporty, with a powerful dinghy-style rig upwind and great downwind pace with a huge gennaker, both demanding quite a workrate from at least some of the crew, but with the security of a substantial bulb on the keel for the more exciting moments. There is no weight limit, but boats were using 3 or 4 crew depending on their size – and the size of their family. The boats are very even in speed, with cap shroud adjustment being the only real rig tuning option and the rest all down to sailing skill.
The idea of the Palma Winter Series is that owners can base their boats in Palma, stored and managed by OneSail, and either use them or charter them out for an event every month or so over the winter and spring for a long weekend’s racing within one of the RCNP’s regattas. The RCNP certainly proved to be fantastically equipped and hospitable to crews and shore crews, and the multitude of bars and restaurants of Palma old town a few minutes walk away meant that most crews’ nutrition programmes were put on hold for the weekend.
We had three packed days of excellently-managed racing in the RCNP 50 Trofeo Princesa Sofia, sharing a course with Dragons and J80s, but thankfully not mixing too closely with the huge Olympic selection regatta also on the bay. Palma Bay seems to have a pattern of switching on the sea breeze at around 2pm each day, so mornings at leisure were followed by back to back races finishing, with the breeze, in time for the free beer and barbecue by the pool. This pattern also gives a challenging mixture of wind strengths and directions as the breeze builds and swings, particularly on the last day where, shock horror, the sun went in and the wind swung around rather more with the odd rain cloud. Well, it is winter sailing.
It was great to see young local sailors keeping the RCNP boats up at the front, mixing it with ex-Laser World Champion Lawrence Crispin in his own Viper, but Lawrence sailing with his muscular son Luka and the expert Hector Cisneros showed consistency that no-one else could match, and took the event by a margin from David and Jamie Hitchcock with Ian Nicholson, who have also done quite a bit of Viper sailing before. Third were the first local team of Pedro Aragon from the RCNP, showing that it does not take a good sailor long to get up to speed in the Viper.
This whole event is a great concept, and very much the right boat and the right place for it to work. Palma is perfect for both a holiday trip and some serious sailing, and it is a rare privilege to be able to do both for the price of a short flight and a very reasonable charter fee. The next event is the Palma Vela, 10-12 May, when we hope to have the next 4 boats. Boats are available for charter or sale, contact heather.chipperfield@gmail.com if you want more details. Then, it’s the Finale from 17-21 June, when we will be welcoming our 4 Australian boats, with their sailors and friends. Details of these events, and chartering options, are at https://www.vipersailpalma.com/
Written by Heather Chipperfield
