The Real Club Nautico de Vigo hosted this year’s edition of the Villalia Open de Espana for a fleet of 18 boats. It was an intense three days of sailing with a wide variety of conditions. Teams came from all across Spain: Valencia, Andalusia, Madrid, Palma in the Canary Islands, the Balearic Islands, Asturias, Catalonia, Cantabria, Barcelona, Santander and from all of Galicia. It was a fiercely fought nine-race series. Starting out by leading on the first day, the duo of skipper Jose Maria “Pichu” Torcida and tactician Rayco Tabares on Team NOTICIA never looked back and kept extending their lead. Their eight race-counters consisted of all podium finishes, winning two races. Pichu and Rayco’s team included Luis Martin Cabiedes, Francisco Palacio and Pablo Santurde. For the balance of the podium and top five, it was a battle. In the end, it was Luis Albert Solana’s PATAKIN that grabbed the silver based on their strong performance in the last two races. Solana’s crew included Alfonso Domingos, Karlo Hmeljack and Andre Kemp. Taking the bronze medal was Alfredo Gonzalez’s EUROFRITS-AVIKO TEAM just one point back. His team consisted of Daniel de la Pedraja Yllera, Jon Larrazabal Lallana, Alberto Padron Torrent and Alejandro Prego. Rounding out the top five was Luis Bagallo Arriola’s MARNATURA 1. Taking fifth position was Luiz Martinez Doreste’s MERCEDES BENZ SAILING TEAM. For more Spanish J/70 Championship information, visit http://www.j70vigo.com/es/default/races.