ISAF Sailing World Cup Mallorca 2014 – Day three preview

by Daniel Smith on 2 Apr 2014 ISAF Sailing World Cup Mallorca 2014 qualification series has concluded and sailors are ready for final series racing at the Trofeo Princesa Sofia.

Around the boat park at 09:30 local time light winds were present but the forecast looks solid for the day ahead. The morning north easterly is scheduled to shift to the south east and with winds predicted in the region of 8-14 knots and temperatures around 17 degrees it could be a glamorous day on the water.

The points across the one Paralympic and ten Olympic events are tight with no sailors grabbing the bull by the horns and taking control.

Live tracking from ISAF Sailing World Cup Mallorca kicks off on Wednesday 2 April and you can follow all of the action from the gold fleet racing on event website.

2013 World Champions Peter Burling and Blair Tuke (NZL) were the model of consistency on the final day of qualification. They recorded triple seconds to head into the gold fleet fourth overall. The points are tight in the 49er with six separating the top five boats.

On the day ahead Burling said, 'We kind of think it will be relatively similar to yesterday maybe a little further right but there’s a lot more cloud around and it’s a lot lighter so it could be more of a sea breeze, we’ll have to wait and see.

'We like to think we’re pretty strong across the board. We’re managing to be pretty consistent when it’s shifty and fluky in that offshore stuff like yesterday but we’re getting better all the time in the lighter steady stuff so we’re pretty happy to sail in whatever’s out there and take it on.'

With nine races scheduled over the final series and three single point races on the final day Burling is happy with where they’re at after the first two days, 'It’s pretty early days in the regatta still and there’s a pretty big gold fleet so we’re just happy to be close to the top after a pretty tough qualifying.'

Gold fleet racing commences at 11:00 local time in the 49er, Nacra 17, Men’s and Women’s RS:X, Men’s and Women’s 470, Finn and Laser.

The Laser Radial will commence at 14:00. Silver and bronze fleets will follow shortly afterwards. The 2.4mR start their first of two races at 12:00.

Numbers in the gold fleet are as follows:

Men’s 470 – 39
49er – 25
49erFX – 25
Laser – 60
Laser Radial – 45
Finn – 40
Nacra 17 – 37
Men’s RS:X – 36

Event website: click here