King Felipe VI of Spain is competing this week in the 44th Copa del Rey MAPFRE, the prestigious sailing regatta running August 1 through August 8 in the Bay of Palma, off the island of Mallorca. He is racing aboard the Hispania, a high-performance racing yacht recently acquired by the Spanish Navy (Town & Country).

The regatta officially launched on Saturday, August 1, with an institutional presentation in the grand hall of the Real Club Náutico de Palma — the yacht club that has organized the event for decades — and the traditional ribbon cutting. More than 100 boats and competitors from roughly 20 countries are on the water this year.

The Copa del Rey, Spanish for "King's Cup," dates to 1905, when King Alfonso XIII first established it. The modern version was revived in 1982 under King Juan Carlos I, Felipe's father, who was an Olympic sailor and won the competition five times himself. Felipe has raced in it many times over the years. He has never won.

For American readers thinking of this in terms they know: imagine a sitting president suiting up for an America's Cup race — except the office is hereditary, the family has been at this for over a century, and the king's father was an Olympic-grade competitor. Felipe, now 58, learned to sail as a boy and has kept at it through his reign. The Spanish royal house, Casa de Su Majestad el Rey, documents him presiding over the trophy ceremonies for the 32nd, 34th, 39th, 40th, and 41st editions of the race. He closed out last year's 43rd Copa del Rey as well.

The regatta is sponsored by MAPFRE, the Spanish insurance company, and is one of the Mediterranean's most important sailing events each summer. It takes place every year between late July and early August off Palma, Mallorca's capital city.

After the regatta wraps on August 8, Felipe's schedule does not slow down. He is scheduled to travel to Colombia for the country's presidential inauguration, trading the cockpit of a racing yacht for a diplomatic platform.

What makes the Copa del Rey unusual among royal traditions is how literally the king's name sits on the trophy. The event belongs to the monarch by definition — it was founded by one, revived by another, and the reigning king both competes in it and hands out the prizes. Felipe has handed the trophy to winners at the Ses Voltes venue in Palma, a waterfront space near the city's harbor. Whether he ends up receiving one himself is a question the wind and the competition will answer by week's end.