Busy dress rehearsal before the 52 Trofeo Princesa Sofía Mallorca
by Trofeo S.A.R. Princesa Sofía 13 Mar 07:24 PDT
31 March - 8 April 2023
Busy dress rehearsal before the 52 Trofeo Princesa Sofía Mallorca © Bernardí Bibiloni /
www.bernardibibiloni.com
The Mallorca Sailing Center Regatta fulfilled its primary objective by offering a large part of the Trofeo Princesa Sofía fleet the opportunity to measure themselves against their rivals in competition mode whilse and the Bay of Palma reaffirmed its reliability for hosting Olympic class regattas.
Over 350 sailors and more than 200 boats competed over the weekend in the Mallorca Sailing Center Regatta, an essential event in the preparation programme for some of the best Olympic class racers in the world. The popular training regatta prior to the Trofeo Princesa Sofía Mallorca delivered for organisers and participants, who were able to test themselves at three weeks before the start of the first qualifying event for the Sailing World Cup 2023.
"The atmosphere was fantastic," said Ferrán Muniesa, manager of the Club Nàutic S'Arenal (CNA), co-organiser of the event together with the Club Marítimo San Antonio de la Playa (CMSAP), at the end of the regatta. "We've had sunshine, nice temperatures, people have really enjoyed it and all have been very grateful".
Magic bay of Palma
Six of the ten Olympic classes that will compete in the 52 Trofeo Princesa Sofía Mallorca from the 31st of March to the 8th of April raced. They did so on four regatta areas in the Bay of Palma, which proved typically excellent over the piece.
Muniesa reported. "We had two fantastic days of southwest-westerly winds from 17 to 22 knots, and the last day was unlucky, with a wind fight between the Mestral (northwest) and the Embat (thermal) that reduced the programme to a single race in four of the six classes". The regatta was scored over five races in 470 Mixed and Nacra 17, six in 49er and 49er FX, and eight in iQFOiL Men and iQFOiL Women.
The champions of the Mallorca Sailing Center Regatta were the Germans Simon Diesch and Anna Markfort (470 Mixed), Paul Kohlhoff and Alica Stuhlemmer (Nacra 17); the French sailors Nicolas Goyard (iQFOiL Men), Lucas Rual and Emile Amoros (49er); the Belgians Isaura Maenhaut and Anouk Geurts (49er FX); and the British Emma Wilson in iQFOiL Women. The complete results are available here.
With the Mallorca Sailing Center Regatta over, organisers and participants are already thinking about the next event that will bring them together in the waters of the Bay of Palma.
In the words of the manager of the CNA: "We are very, very happy to have been able to hold this warm-up prior to an edition of the Sofia that we know is going to be especially busy".
With only three weeks to go before the competition programme of the 52 Trofeo Princesa Sofia Mallorca begins, more than a thousand teams have already pre-registered for what is expected to be a historic edition.
The 52 Trofeo Princesa Sofía Mallorca is the first qualifying event for the Sailing World Cup 2023 and will be held from the 29th of March to the 8th of April under the joint organisation of 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 backing of World Sailing and the main Balearic public institutions.