An action packed day 1 at the 44Cup Marstrand.

Following a promising start and positive performance during training, the Spanish team’s position was adversely affected by two significant penalties - one in the second race and another in the third—that directly impacted their standings. To top off an already complicated day, a broken line during the final race caused a crew member to fall overboard, forcing the team to slow down and ultimately finish the day in 12th position.

The team showed strong pace and good manoeuvres during segments of the first race, but gradually lost rhythm and positions due to the penalties, especially during tight mark roundings. In Race 3, despite a solid tactical start, protested decisions and a critical gear failure sealed their result. The day ended with the team in 12th place, highlighting the urgent need to climb back up the leaderboard in the coming races.

Tactician Alfredo González summed up the day: “We had a day with very strong points, such as the starts, and others that we are already working on, like boat speed. In races 2 and 3 we were in the top five group, but we were penalised at both gates. We’ll carefully review those situations so they don’t happen again.”

Wednesday’s weather report looks like its going to be tough as well with projected gusts of up to 23 knots and steady northwest winds (290–300º), demanding maximum focus on trimming and manoeuvres. While the day was visually stunning, the conditions punished every error and left no room for recovery.