The start of the fifth stage was brought forward to 17:00 today in the bay of Funchal.
The third edition of the international Discoveries Race starts today for the fifth and final stage, connecting the city of Funchal to the city of Las Palmas, in Gran Canaria.
The departure of this last stage, which has a route of about 283 nautical miles, was scheduled for 19:00, but it was brought forward to 17:00.
“We hereby inform all the enthusiasts and followers of the Discoveries Race Regatta that after the Technical Meeting held today, it was decided to bring the start time forward to 17:00”, can be read in the message left on the facebook of the Madeira Sailing Association, an institution that is part of the organization of this international event that has been in charge since the first edition of the European Sailing Confraternity.
There will be six boats on the starting line and it will be mounted between the pier of the City of Funchal and the lighthouse of the South pier of Pontinha.
After the departure, the boats will have to go around a course buoy (near the Barreirinha Bathing Complex), heading towards Las Palmas de Gran Canaria.
Regarding the classifications, the Madeiran vessel ‘Swing’ by José Augusto Araújo leads the classification in the ORC class and is the strongest candidate to win the title, a feat they achieved in the previous edition, in 2019.
The Fernão Magalhães trophy may return to the ‘hands’ of Madeirans as in 2019. It should be noted that this trophy is delivered to the winning vessel in real time, in the sum of the five stages.
As for the OPEN class, the vessel ‘Atlantis’ owned by Iván Prieto, winner of the fourth stage that linked Sines to Madeira, led the way in the classification.
In addition to the competition itself, this international event has a strong social component aimed at all sailors and elements linked to the organization.
In this sense, and during the stay in Madeira, the organization carried out several initiatives, including a visit to the Quinta das Cruzes Museum (residence of João Gonçalves Zarco, discoverer of Madeira Island), as well as a tour starting at Mercado dos Lavradores, “ old area” of the City, going up by cable car to Monte, passing by cable car to the Botanical Garden with a visit to this garden.
Just yesterday, the delegation was received at the City Hall in Funchal, in the early afternoon, while the awards dinner was held at the ‘O Lagar’ restaurant during the night.