Royal Cork's Nigel Young of North Sails Ireland was on the podium at the weekend's Cape 31 European Championship in Palma, wearing a silver medal after three light-wind days of competition and an epic last day. The Bay of Palma finally turned it on for an epic Super Sunday — three races back-to-back and a nail-biting finish to decide the 2025 Championship.
Alessandro Rombelli’s Stig held their nerve to take the title at the Real Club Náutico de Palma, with Black Seal second and Flying Jenny third — just one point separating the podium after six races. Pacific Yankee finished just 1 point off the podium after also sailing a great regatta. Ten teams went into the final day with a shot at the win, showing just how competitive this fleet has become.
The 2025 Cape 31 European podium winners in Palma, with Ireland's Nigel Young, front row, fourth front left Photo: Laura Guerra
The regatta began with light-air patience as the fleet waited for the first seabreeze of the event. When it finally arrived, Shotgunn made it count — leading from the first top mark and opening the championship with a confident win. Jiraffe followed close behind in second and Stig completed the podium in third. A second race was started but had to be abandoned when the wind shut off.
The following morning, the fleet was up early chasing a gentle land breeze. The Race Committee called it perfectly — the first start went off at 09:35 in a gentle 6–8 knots. Flying Jenny led early after a beautiful first beat, but it was Stig who made the smart tactical calls down the final run to take the race two win of the regatta. Black Seal and Flying Jenny crossed just boat-lengths behind, with the newest team, Gecko D’Or, taking a brilliant 4th and the Corinthian team, Terrible Joy, 6th.
As the event progressed, Stella Maris stole the spotlight — dominating race 3 and leading to the top mark in race 4 before it too was abandoned when the wind faded. Their pace proved decisive in the middle of the fleet and added even more depth to an already competitive scoreboard.
Then came Super Sunday, and Palma finally showed its best side. The Bay delivered its famous Embat — a steady 7–9 knots — allowing three full races to close the championship in style. With everything on the line, Stig stayed calm and consistent to secure the overall victory and be crowned 2025 Cape 31 European Champions. Flying Jenny stormed back from a tough opening race with a string of second places to claim the final podium spot, while Black Seal pushed hard all the way to secure second overall.
The top Corinthian/1 pro team was Motions, owned and helmed by Lennard van Oeveren, who also claimed the 1 Professional / Corinthian title and 13th overall — an incredible performance in such a world-class international fleet.
Twenty-four teams representing thirteen nations made this the most international Cape 31 event yet. Full results are here.
