Benidorm Bay kicks off the 52nd edition of the Christmas Sailing regatta this weekend

This weekend, the first phase of the 52nd edition of the Christmas Sailing Regatta will take place in the waters of Benidorm Bay. Organised by Benidorm Yacht Club, the event is sponsored by the Benidorm City Council and supported by the Valencian Community Sailing Federation. Specifically, on December 13th and 14th, the Dinghy regattas will be held with 420 and ILCA class boats. The second phase, featuring the Children's Sailing Regattas in the Optimist class, will take place on January 10th and 11th, 2026.

The Councillor for Sports, Javier Jordá, along with the president of the Benidorm Yacht Club, Jaime Samper, and the sports coordinator, Rafa Madaleno, presented this new edition on Wednesday. The club representative highlighted that it is "one of the oldest sailing competitions held in Spain and the Valencian Community, now boasting over half a century of history."

Javier Jordá stated that these Christmas Sailing Regatta events represent "one of the most deeply rooted competitions on our calendar" and that they "generate a great deal of interest from families, clubs, and individuals who come to the port area to enjoy this regatta, attracting many sailors from across the Valencian Community."

The classes participating in each phase are divided into the Dinghy Class, with the 420s, which are double-handed boats, each crewed by a male or female sailor competing in the Under-19 and Under-17 classes. This race counts towards the regional ranking. There will also be a regatta for boats of the former Laser Class, now ILCA, in its ILCA 4, 6, and 7 categories, which will be a local and regional event.

As for the children's regattas, boys and girls between 8 and 14 years old will participate in the Optimist B category, which will count towards the Valencian Community's regional ranking for Class B. Additionally, Optimist A and C sailors will participate as guest classes.

These regattas will count towards the selection of the teams that will represent the Valencian Community in national competitions.

Approximately 250 sailors are expected to attend, coming from clubs throughout the Valencian Community. This will undoubtedly create "a beautiful image of our city, as is traditional at this time of year, with the incomparable backdrop of Benidorm Island," officials stated. The Councillor for Sports invited Benidorm residents and visitors to "enjoy these regattas," while the Yacht Club expressed their hope for "good weather conditions and favourable winds for the planned races."

Thirty sailors from the Yacht Club's Sailing School will participate in the children's and dinghy regattas, in the 420, ILCA, and Optimist classes, hoping for victories for the Yacht Club and the city. Specifically, the participants will be Guti, Mara, Merce, Miguel, Iván, Kate, Marc Antoni, Jorge, Diego, Gabi, Marc, Dani, Sergio, Ricard, Aaron, Vasilisa, Lucía, Elisa, Eugeni, Carlos, Eric, Denis, Álex, Erick, David, Darío, Fernando and Gabriel.

Program of activities

This weekend's program of activities will begin on Saturday, the 13t,h at 9:30 a.m. with the opening of the regatta office. The races are scheduled to start at 12:00 p.m. on Saturday and at 11:00 a.m. on Sunday. Once the competition has concluded, the awards ceremony will take place around 4:30 p.m. on Sunday.

The competition will be held in fleet format, by class, with a total of six races per class. The lowest-scoring class may be discarded after four races have been completed.

Benidorm Yacht Club has expressed its gratitude for the support of the collaborators and sponsors of this Nautical Christmas, including the Alicante Provincial Council, the Benidorm City Council, the Valencian Sailing Federation, the Valencian Government – ​​Comunitat de l’Esport, Generali Insurance, Grupo Bali, Grupo Mal Pas, and R.A. Benidorm.

For his part, Councillor Javier Jordá congratulated the Nautical Club for “keeping this regatta alive with so much history and tradition” and thanked them for “their effort and commitment throughout the year to promoting nautical sports in our city from different disciplines, such as sailing, rowing or windsurfing,” among others.