Watch the Superyacht Cup in Palma de Mallorca from your own yacht

A laid-back southern Mediterranean vibe prevails at the Superyacht Cup. You can leave your jackets and ties at home, this is a shorts and T-shirt event. Uniquely, this regatta is contained within a fenced-in event village, proving that relaxed and informal can also mean ultra-exclusive. Away from the races, competitors and spectators alike expect a fabulous shoreside program. The event is known for its glitzy awards ceremonies, cocktail parties and dockside events, which all aid in creating a social and friendly ambience that’s in keeping with the regatta spirit of camaraderie and team spirit.

Drop-in on any superyacht regatta and you will note some high-profile professional sailors with well-earned star status based on their expertise as a designer, rigger, sailmaker or veteran of many racing events. They often have key positions as navigators, tacticians, crew bosses or helmsmen. These men and women made and maintain their reputations by doing their part to make the program successful, whether that is learning the race course and studying charts or learning the yacht and its gear and the abilities of the rest of the crew.

The Superyacht Cup will also see a day of J Class racing before the superyacht fleet takes to the water. The J Class is a different animal altogether. J Class yachts were the original America’s Cup racers. In 1929, tea magnate Sir Thomas Lipton commissioned the build of the first J Class yacht for his fifth and last America’s Cup bid. The boat was 36.58 meter Shamrock V, which was the first and only J Class yacht to be constructed in wood.

J Class yachts are bred for racing, and it is their one design class that makes them so ideal for the sport. When you see Js out on the racecourse, the first thing that catches the eye, besides their staggering beauty, is that the race is so close! When the J Class yachts started racing in the 1930s, it was under the Universal Rule, which used waterline length, displacement and sail area to control the rating. Nowadays, the fleet is made up of an intriguing mix of refitted originals and new-build replicas, some outfitted with luxurious interiors. The new J Class Rating takes this into account, using a computational model that considers hull design, mast and sail plan to give each yacht an adjusted time. Even still, the relative difference in performance of Js is small. The J Class racing is thrilling, action-packed and always a fight to the finish. Sleek, slim and seeming to just slip through the water, the J Class yachts turn heads wherever they roam. While they were designed as racing beasts, these boats are undeniably beauties. The J Class yachts are also proven ocean-goers and many have comfortable, luxurious interiors, making them far more welcoming for long voyages than a modern, flat-out racing yacht.

Js tend to try and keep the same crew at least for the season and, where possible, year on year. Keeping the team together reduces the amount of practice time needed before a regatta. J Class entries Topaz, Ranger and Velsheda are confirmed to be competing in Palma. Will you be rooting for Topaz this year? She got her start as more of a luxurious cruising J Class yacht and is working her way toward a devoted racing sail inventory. Built from a 1935 Frank C Paine A design, Topaz is a newer J, launched in 2015. She has the longest waterline of all the J Class yachts, with the highest keel aspect ratio, giving her more stability and righting moment.

With its sparkling social program, idyllic weather conditions and thrilling off-shore racing scene, the Superyacht Cup Palma is one of the most hotly-anticipated events for the Mediterranean yachting community. Will you be watching from ashore during a private event or onboard your own yacht, sipping your favorite cocktail? You can do both while on charter in the Balearics and on top of this, also soak up everything this blissful Spanish island has to offer!