The bay of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria hosted the celebration of the fortieth edition of the AECIO Trophy, one of the most important Optimist class competitions held in the Canary Islands. The Real Club Náutico de Arrecife had 15 sailors participating, who performed very well. Lola Carrión was proclaimed runner-up in the U13 female category, and young Leandro de la Hoz was the third-placed finisher in the U11 male category.
The Real Club Náutico expedition that participated in the AECIO Trophy was made up of Lola Carrión, Rosalía Lasso, Santiago Bravo, Marta Rizo, Valentina de la Hoz, Yeico Díaz, and Julián Suárez in the U13 category. In the U16 category, Fayna Tavío, Gonzalo Presa, Pelayo Sánchez, Luisa Lemes, Alfonso Garcías, Carmen Presa, and Julia López competed. And in the U11 category, Leandro de la Hoz participated. Throughout the weekend, they were accompanied by coaches Carlos Hidalgo and Hugo Robayna.
The AECIO Trophy featured four days of competition, held from Friday morning to Monday midday. The sailors had to face all kinds of weather conditions on the racecourse, with light and strong winds, rainy days, and days with heavy waves. These conditions tested the preparation of the nearly 200 sailors who participated in the event organized by the Real Club Náutico de Gran Canaria.
Lola Carrión achieved the most outstanding result for the Real Club Náutico de Arrecife sailors in the AECIO Trophy. The consistency shown in the five races of the qualifying phase earned her a spot in the gold group, sailing alongside the best sailors. Finally, Lola Carrión was proclaimed runner-up in the U13 female category and took 17th place in the overall standings.
Leandro de la Hoz also climbed onto the podium in the U11 male category, with the Real Club Náutico de Arrecife sailor taking third place in his category. It is worth highlighting the good performance of Alfonso Garcías, who had chances going into the final day, but a penalty and a poor second race, due to the continuous shifts in wind direction, relegated him to 37th overall, despite being the second to finish the last race of the competition.
