Royal Astur Yacht Club

The Royal Astur Yacht Club (RCAR for his name in spanish language, Real Club Astur de Regatas) is located in Gijón, Asturias (Spain). It is the oldest and most important yacht club in Asturias.

It was established september 10, 1911. Royal patronage was granted by king Alfonso XIII of Spain soon thereafter. The king was a frequent sailor at the club´s regattas during 1912 and 1913 with his yacht "Giralda IV".

Races and fleets

From the first 6 metre and Sonderklasse sailboats to the actual 49er dinghy raced by the Alonso brothers, the club has seen fleets come and go, but probably the most regular boat at the club has been the Snipe. The snipe fleet, SCIRA number 152, has been active since 1943. Optimist and Laser fleets have become increasingly active in the past years. Besides dinghy sailing, larger One-Design boats at the club include a First Class 8 fleet.

More than 80 races are organized annually by the club, being the El Gaitero Regatta and the Carlos del Castillo Memorial the most important ones.

Notable members

Federico Alonso Tellechea, world champion in Cadet in 1998, and his brother Arturo are actually the top sailors flying the club´s burgee. They compete in 49ers.

Francisco Palacio Iglesias and Ángela Pumariega Menéndez won the spanish national junior championship and placed second at the 2002 junior european championship at Le Havre in the Snipe class. Ángela Pumariega Menéndez and Carmen Mateo placed second at the women´s national championship in Spain and seventh at the women´s world championship in 2008.

Pablo Vega-Arango Alonso was a crew member of the yacht "España" (ESP 22 of the International America’s Cup Class), the spanish entry at the Louis Vuitton Cup 1992.

External links

* [http://www.rcar.ues Official website]
* [http://www.alonso49er.com Alonso brothers RCAR 49er team´s website]