Big numbers for 52 Trofeo Princesa Sofía Mallorca promise an historic edition

51 Trofeo S.A.R. Princesa Sofía Mallorca, first event of the 2022 Hempel World Cup Series © Sailing Energy / Princesa Sofi´a Mallorca

More than 950 boats from 63 countries are pre-registered for the 52 Trofeo Princesa Sofia Mallorca highlighting the excellent health of the Balearics' showcase Olympic class event which is the first regatta of the Sailing World Cup 2023.

Preparations for the 52 Trofeo Princesa Sofia Mallorca are firmly on course and on schedule. The regatta will muster all ten Olympic classes which will compete in Paris 2024, on the Bay of Palma from the 29th of March to the 8th of April. The high level of pre-registrations means an historic edition is expected.

With just one month to go until the start of the competition, 952 teams and more than 1,200 sailors of 63 nationalities have already completed their pre-registration, an exceptional entry which confirms the return to pre-Pandemic levels, as the head or results management Pepe Cazador points out. After more than two decades in the hot seat as head of results for the huge Trofeo Princesa Sofía Mallorca, Cazador is certainly an authoritative voice when it comes to the statistics of the event: "The usual thing is that between the number of pre-registrations and the number of actual entries which turn up on the race courses there is a drop of around five per cent because of injuries, visa problems and so on. So I figure we can expect a final entry figure of around 900 boats."

It's a Pre-Olympic year

The pandemic of course has cut the Olympic cycle between Tokyo and Paris from the usual four years to three, an exception that has compacted the programmes of sailors, teams and federations, and affected events such as the Trofeo Princesa Sofía Mallorca, which could not be held in 2020 and 2021.

In 2022 it came back with a bang, bringing together more than a thousand sailors and nearly 800 boats, but there were notable absences such as China and Japan, which kept their borders closed, and Russia due to the world veto. According to Cazador, "The pre-Olympic year is always the strongest of the cycle, but the year before Rio 2016 we had 863 boats and the year before Tokyo 2020 we reached 869, so we can anticipate that this edition will be especially big."

Three classes are stressing the quotas: 49er, with 101 pre-registrations has a limit of 90; Formula Kite Men, with 122 against the limit of 100; and ILCA 7, with 185 applications received and 180 places available. "When this is the case, the last places are awarded on the basis of ranking to ensure that none of the teams with Olympic needs are left out."

It is the classes themselves and World Sailing (the international sailing federation) who stipulate the limits that are set in each category. "In Nacra 17, all 55 boats in the world have pre-registered, so the class is complete."

More than 60 countries

The distribution of participants by class and nationality shows a broad mix. The ranking by number of pre-registrations with one month to go is headed by ILCA 7 (185), followed by Formula Kite Men (122), ILCA 6 (118), iQFOiL Men (115), 49er (101), iQFOiL Women (76), 470 Mixed (67), 49er FX (61), Nacra 17 (55) and Formula Kite Women (52). By number of participants, France is the federation with the most teams (82), followed by Spain (77), Great Britain (64), Italy (62), China (59) and Germany (50). Another 13 countries are coming to Mallorca with a single representative: Brunei, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Saint Lucia, Lithuania, Monaco, Puerto Rico, Romania, Slovakia, Uruguay, Republic of Vanuatu and Ukraine, which this year will be represented by Sofia Naumenco in the competitive ILCA 6 class.

The 2023 Sailing World Cup 52 Trofeo S.A.R. Princesa Sofía Mallorca is jointly organised by the Club Nàutic S'Arenal, the Club Marítimo San Antonio de la Playa, the Real Club Náutico de Palma, the Real Federación Española de Vela and the Federación Balear de Vela, with the support of World Sailing and the main Balearic public institutions.

More information at www.trofeoprincesasofia.org.