Trofeo Princesa Sofía Mallorca: Warming up on the Bay of Palma

Trofeo Princesa Sofía © Sailing Energy/RFEV

From today until next Sunday, the Mallorca Sailing Center Regatta musters over 260 boats of 34 nationalities to race in six classes on the Bay of Palma for a regatta event which will be the real dress rehearsal for the 51st Trofeo Princesa Sofia Mallorca.

Six of the ten Olympic classes that will compete in the 51 Trofeo Princesa Sofía Mallorca will compete in this eagerly awaited Mallorca Sailing Center Regatta the traditional training regatta prior to the Sofia, from the 10th to the 13th of March.

"It is a warm-up regatta with a real training spirit so the boats are allowed to test material. There are not the usual controls of the Olympic class competitions," says Javier Zaynoun, director of the Trofeo Princesa Sofía and co-organiser of this event. "It is a regatta that the sailors like very much, as they can take advantage of it to test material, fine tune their starts for example and compete on the race course with rivals that they will meet in the Sofia, but without the pressure of the Sofia."

Around 400 sailors

The Mallorca Sailing Center Regatta 2022 brings together six Olympic classes with a fleet of over 260 boats and close to 400 sailors of 34 nationalities. The list of entries shows the participation of 72 boats in ILCA 6, 59 in ILCA 7, 37 in 49er, 35 in 470 Mixed, 30 in FX and 10 in Nacra. "This participation shows the good health of the Sofia," says Zaynoun, "Despite its status as a training regatta, the number and quality of participants could well be considered an international event. For the teams, it is another good reason to extend their visit to Mallorca and take advantage of the excellent biking and to visit other parts of the island,... Discover Mallorca."

It is worth highlighting the participation of several national federations, which take advantage of the exceptional conditions in Mallorca in March to hold concentrations of their Olympic teams and compete in the Mallorca Sailing Center Regatta as part of their preparation. This is the case of the Royal Spanish Sailing Federation and the German Sailing Federation, who have been training in the Bay of Palma for several days. For the Spanish sailors in the ILCA 6, FX, 470 and Nacra classes, this is the first race that counts towards the new Iberdrola Women's Sailing Cup of the RFEV.

The Mallorca Sailing Center Regatta officially begins on the 10th of March with the registration of participants at the Club Nàutic S'Arenal and the Club Marítimo San Antonio de la Playa, the two organising clubs. The competition takes place from Friday, 11th March until Sunday, 13th March, on three regatta courses set up between Can Pastilla and El Arenal.

More information, at www.mallorcasailingcenterregatta.com.

The 51 Trofeo Princesa Sofía Mallorca is the first qualifying regatta for the Hempel World Cup Series 2022, organised by World Sailing the International Sailing Federation.

The 51 Trofeo 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 backing of the main Balearic public institutions.

More information at www.trofeoprincesasofia.org.