Copa del Rey de Vela: 40 years of the regattas that Felipe VI professionalized and that his daughter will not inherit

• AUSTERITY Felipe VI's 'new' boat for the Copa del Rey is 'second-hand'

• SUMMER The Copa del Rey de Vela, the 17 million euro regatta without a successor

The increasingly long days increase the public presence of the Kings of Spain.

From May to July, the Royal Family has events in the morning, afternoon and evening, since daylight hours allow for more commitments.

It is the end of the school year and in Zarzuela they sprint

.

It is not known what will happen on the agenda, but there is an appointment that everyone is counting on: that before the private rest of the Family, they

to spend a few days on the island.

Although throughout these eight years of reign Don Felipe has changed some traditions and has put an end to customs of the past, the week in Mallorca is something that, for the time being,

And it seems that it will continue like this as long as the Monarca sails and the Copa del Rey Mapfre continues to be celebrated.

A nautical competition that

Four decades with the Bourbons haggling over the Mediterranean.

"The presence of the Royal Family has always been a help for the Copa del Rey, that is unquestionable," Emerico Fuster, president of the Real Club Náutico de Palma, confesses to LOC.

The regattas are the only time of the year that the Kings appear in

.

The only opportunity to see the informal Monarch without favors.

Because in the sea there are no royal houses, only sailors.

That is why the

del Rey has never won a competition.

of the Real Club Náutico de Palma has not yet been produced

, as Juan Carlos I did, pushed by Pedro Campos, in 1983.

At sea, Don Juan Carlos made great friends, such as Campos himself, who is now his host in Sanxenxo;

or that of

who gave the honeymoon to Kings Felipe and Letizia.

For a time, Don Felipe also inherited his father's ways on the high seas.

Thus, he sailed on a sailboat belonging to the Caja de Ahorros del Mediterráneo and

Emerico Fuster, president of the Real Club Náutico CEDIDA

With the bankruptcy of the Fund and the need to give a more institutional image, the then Prince of Asturias began to professionalize his time in regattas and on the island.

Now he embarks on the

a 15-meter-long Swan50 that was refurbished in 2018. The Finnish firm Nautor Swan gave it to the Naval Regatta Commission so that the

captained by the King, would compete in different races.

The sailboat arrived in Porto Pi for Commander Jaime Rodríguez Toubes to tune it up.

Everything was thought of, even his name.

, like Don Felipe's previous ship, corresponding to the initials of the Sofia backwards.

And

for the anniversary of Magellan and Elcano going around the world.

The King haggles, then, on a Navy ship, with soldiers of different ranks and scales as crew.

although he has known many of them since he was a child.

The captain is Rodríguez Toubes, but in the water he also coincides with Natalia Díaz Rodríguez, Ricardo Álvarez Maldonado, Alejandro Álvarez Brasa and Ignacio Iturrioz.

Felipe VI camouflages himself among the rest of the crew of

of 20 different nationalities.

From July 30 to August 6, the King will appear on the days that his agenda allows him to at the Yacht Club wearing shorts, a polo shirt and shoes with non-slip soles.

Also with a backpack with lunch from the high seas.

In fact, the dates of the regattas are

as to when the Kings will settle in Marivent.

Some morning, like every year, Queen Letizia and her daughters, Princess Leonor and Infanta Sofía, will visit the Nautical Club.

They have not inherited the vocation for the sea from their father, their grandfather and their great-grandfather.

They are

of Don Juan Carlos and Doña Sofía who do not sail.

Nor do they follow the races aboard a friend's ship, since austerity in the House is the norm.

So, although Felipe VI maintains the tradition of sailing in Palma, the presence of the Family in the Copa del Rey is

"It would be good if the Princess took over, although I have never seen her sail, it is a sport that is learned quickly," encourages Fuster.

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• Philip VI

• John Charles I

• Palma de Mallorca