The prestigious international regatta circuit, comes to Galicia this year thanks to the efforts of the Monte Real Club de Yates de Baiona. The Galician Rías Baixas will host next May the second of five events scheduled for the 17th edition of the 44CUP. The competition is one of the 11 events on the regatta calendar of the historic Baiona club, which includes the classic Conde de Gondomar Trophy, Prince of Asturias Trophy and Terras Gauda National Sailing Awards.

The arrival of this competition to Galicia represents a new success in the efforts of the recently re-elected board of directors of Monte Real, at the head of which remain, in the positions of president and vice president, José Luis Álvarez and Alechu Retolaza; and the fulfillment of one of the objectives: to return MRCYB to a level of international prestige which it once had.

After having managed to attract the famous 52 SUPER SERIES to Baiona in 2022 and having hosted the J/80 World Championship in 2023, this year will be the year of the RC44, in a new commitment to One design racing with all the teams sailing identical boats.

The sailboat, created by who’s considered best skipper in the history of the America’s Cup, New Zealander Russell Coutts, is a top competition boat that costs around one million euros. The sailboat is carbon fiber construction, of 13.45 meters (44 feet) in length, with a large sail area and the most advanced navigation systems.

At the helm of these racing machines are shipowners with great economic potential, who hire their crews by recruiting Olympic medalists, America’s Cup crew members and sailors from the Round the World Sailing Tour. A complete cast of professionals from all over the world who guarantee spectacular regattas wherever they go.

In 2024, the the RC44 and the 44CUP will come to Baiona, bringing some of the best names in world sailing and figures that speak of an economic return that exceeds one million euros in the venues.

It will be the most international and one of the most important events in the regatta calendar of the Monte Real Club de Yates in 2024, in which a prominent place is again reserved for its historic Trofeo Conde de Gondomar and Trofeo Príncipe de Asturias, which this year celebrate 49 and 39 years respectively, and which will be held, as has become tradition, coinciding with the holiday of July 25 and the first weekend of September.

The Repsol Trophy changes month this year and moves forward to April 26-28, so as to not coincide with the 44CUP; and also in April will be the CdC Trophy (April 20), which this year coincides with the Cíes – Rande League, a new competition organized by several clubs of the Rías Baixas, including Monte Real, with two versions, a winter one (April 20) and an autumn one (September 14).

June will be the month of the Campeonato Gallego de A Dos (June 15), which Monte Real will organize for the 13th consecutive year; and July 25-28, in addition to competition with the Conde de Gondomar, there will be time for leisure with the fourth edition of the Ruta Rías Baixas, a Xacobean pilgrimage by sea.

The Prince of Asturias Trophy, in the framework of which the National Sailing Awards will once again be presented September 6-8; and the J/80s will once again have their own two leagues, the winter league (February 10 and 24, March 9 and 23, and April 6) and the autumn league (October 5 and 19, November 9 and 23, and December 14).

The organization of regattas is, together with the promotion of national and international nautical tourism, one of the main objectives of Monte Real, which has in nautical training its third axis of action. So much so that the Sailing School will once again have, in 2024, a prominent role in the club’s programming, with dinghy sailing and cruising courses, and adapted sailing activities that will include actions and activities for people with functional diversity, women victims of gender violence, children under guardianship or people with behavioral problems, among others.