It is four months to go until the next Superyacht Cup in Palma, and following on from the success of the record breaking year in 2007, entries are coming in fast for this favourite regatta. Over 20 yachts have registered since January and with spaces limited to between 30 and 35 in total, there looks like being plenty of demand for places on the dock.
Palma is a popular place for so many yachts returning from the Caribbean after the winter, with excellent facilities and services as well as being such a central location to start summer cruising all over the Mediterranean. The timing for SYC was changed from October to June last year to fall between the Louis Vuiton Cup and the America's Cup, and this successful move has been adopted for 2008.
The yachts will all tie up stern-to at Dique del Oeste providing a breathtaking backdrop to the regatta village. The historic Castillo de San Carlos over! looking the yachts and the Bay of Palma will be the picturesque setting for some of the evening social functions.
Several new boats are expected this year including Gaia, a recently launched 30.3m sloop built by Spirit Yachts of Ipswich in the UK and some of the regular participants such as Anny, Hyperion and Gliss. The immaculately prepared J- class, Ranger, is planning their return complete with 'mother ship' and full shore-support team. The new IRC class is also attracting more of the performance superyachts such as the Reichel Pugh, My Song and the Wally, Open Season.