470 Class at 55th Trofeo Princesa Sofia - Overall
by International 470 Class Association 4 Apr 10:47 PDT
30 March - 4 April 2026
The 55th edition of the Trofeo Princesa Sofía, held last week in Palma Bay, marked the opening event of this year's Sailing Grand Slam. Jordi Xammar and Marta Cardona won the regatta.
Xammar and Cardona confirmed their victory with an excellent performance in the medal series. The Spanish duo stayed among the top teams throughout the regatta and increased their pace towards the final stage. On Saturday, they delivered almost flawless sailing, winning one medal race and finishing second in the other, securing the overall victory in front of the home crowd.
"The goal is to secure a medal in every competition we enter. We are very happy; in the end, maintaining the consistency to be on the podium at every regatta is something very difficult to achieve, even if we make it look easy. In today's finals, we delivered by scoring a first and a second place; it's something we are good at," said Jordi Xammar.
For Marta Cardona, the victory had a special meaning: "You never expect to win a Trofeo Princesa Sofía Mallorca so young, at just 20 years old. It is especially thrilling because it's here in Mallorca, at my club, Club Nàutic S'Arenal, where I first started sailing and where my Olympic career with Jordi began. I've always followed the Trofeo Sofía, and to get here and win it is the best thing that could have happened to me. My family and friends were here with me today."
Second place went to the British European champions, Martin Wrigley and Bettine Harris. Their consistent sailing in the qualifying series gave them a solid position going into the medal races, although the finals proved more challenging.
"We had a five-point gap on Jordi, so we tried to play around with him a little bit on the first race and ended up with a red flag on us, so yeah, not our finest moments. We finished the first race fourth; unfortunately, he won it, so the gap increased. In the last race, we managed to win. We had a pretty decent start, which makes life easier, and from that point, it was about sailing fast and staying clean. It was simple racing, but very close and really fun," said Wrigley.
A close battle for the bronze medal took place between the French teams. In the end, Matisse Pacaud and Lucie de Gennes secured third place after a tight fight with their teammates.
"We had great medal races in really amazing conditions, around 12 knots. It was super nice. We did a good first race, and in the second race we had a really good downwind, so we managed to finish third, and we were super happy about it," said Lucie de Gennes.
"We had an amazing week, we are very happy because we were leading just after the qualifying. It was our first time in the senior fleet, so it's amazing. Today was very tight with the other French team, but we are very happy to be on the podium for the first time here," added Matisse Pacaud.
Throughout the week, the sailing conditions in Palma Bay were excellent, and all scheduled races were completed. The sailors now move on to the next Sailing Grand Slam event in Hyères, France, where the French Olympic Week will take place from 18 to 25 April.
Full Results