This Saturday, December 17, one of the most anticipated sailing events of each season returns. It is the one with the most spectacular and photographed image. The Biscayan waters of the Abra host once again, in the middle of December and at the door of the Christmas holidays, one of the most special and participatory regattas in the Cantabrian Sea: the traditional Regata del Gallo-Hyundai. A few days before the start of the winter season, this iconic test is held, which has become one of the great benchmarks of Biscayan sport for four decades. The marvelous image discovered by around 70 cruise ships sailing under the Hanging Bridge, with its wide colored sails unfurled in the wind, is photographed by hundreds of fans and passers-by who stand on both banks of the Ría, especially in Las Arenas and Portugalete. .
Starting at 12:00 on this date marked in red, if the weather conditions are benevolent, this incredible ‘platoon’ of cruiser class boats and J80 one-design boats will be seen, which will sail in the Gallo-Hyundai Regatta from the Benedicta de Sestao dock to cross the emblematic Bizkaia bridge. Once past this historic construction, a World Heritage Site since 2006, the crews and their boats head towards the waters of the Abra, where they will complete a route of around 10 miles to decide the last winners of the year 2022 in this organized event by the Real Club Marítimo of the Abra-Real Sporting Club. The passage through the mythical bridge will once again be the most spectacular, projecting a fantastic image in this annual sailing festival.
The proof is always one of the most anticipated by all sailors -there are approximately 500-, which make this Regata del Gallo-Hyundai the most popular event of each sailing season together with the Regata a la Inversa on May 1st. The final point of the 2022 regatta calendar programmed by the Biscayan Club once again invites many people to stand on the shores of Portugalete, Santurtzi and Las Arenas to photograph this wonderful group of boats. The most sought-after snapshot, the one that is later shown or framed, is that initial step of the regatta over the Hanging Bridge before heading into the waters of the Abra.
Almost the entire Biscayan fleet will be present this Saturday in a regatta whose culmination takes place later at the Real Club Marítimo del Abra-Real Sporting Club, with the awards ceremony for some social regattas of the year and the classic bean. In addition, the commodore of the Las Arenas Club, José Azqueta, will discover who wins the Gallo Award, for the most outstanding crew or sailors of the year 2022, and the Pata Award, for whoever is chosen for committing the mistake that has given the most speak in this sport of sailing during the competitions of another season that is already ending. In 2021 Mauricio Guibert’s ‘Akelarre’ won in the Regatta class, Juan Manuel Pereiro’s ‘Kribi’ in Cruise I, Rainer Miller’s ‘Kosamui’ in Cruise II and Igor Gil’s ‘Kiwi’ among the J80s. This Regata del Gallo is sponsored by Hyundai and with the collaboration of the Town Halls of Portugalete and Getxo, as well as the Bizkaia Ferry (Hanging Bridge).