470 Class at 55th Trofeo Princesa Sofia - Day 2
by International 470 Class Association 31 Mar 17:34 BST
30 March - 4 April 2026
470 Class at 55th Trofeo Princesa Sofia - Day 2 © Sailing Energy / Trofeo Princesa Sofía
New leaders in Palma as qualifying series ends
Matisse Pacaud and Lucie de Gennes (FRA) won two races in yellow fleet and moved into the overall lead. Newly crowned European champions Martin Wrigley and Bettine Harris (GBR) dominated their fleet (blue), winning both races and moving up to 9th place. The gold and silver fleets start tomorrow.
It was a fast day on the water for the 470 fleet during the Trofeo Princesa Sofía by Fergus Hotels. Two races were held in the Bay of Palma in shifty conditions. The first race had around 10 knots of wind, while the second race saw stronger breeze.
"The first race was not very windy, a bit less than 10 knots. The second one had more wind. It was really shifty, so we are happy with our day. I think the key was to stay calm because it wasn't easy, and you couldn't follow every shift. We just tried to keep it simple and be fast, and we are very happy with how we sailed today," said Matisse Pacaud.
"We usually prefer strong winds, as we feel very fast in those conditions. But we also see good improvement in light wind, which is nice. This is only our second event of the season after the Europeans, so it's very important for us. We are happy with the qualifying, but tomorrow is a new regatta with the new format. We just want to continue in the same way and keep the same process," adds Lucie de Gennes.
Italy's Elena Berta and Giulio Calabrò showed consistent performance and remain in second place overall. Roy Levy and Ariel Gal moved up to third after finishing 3rd and 4th in today's races.
Jordi Xammar and Marta Cardona dropped to fourth place after finishing both races in 8th position. Diogo Costa and Carolina João also lost ground, falling from second to fifth overall.
Tomorrow, the championship moves into the next phase, with the fleet split into Gold and Silver groups. The Gold Fleet will include the top 25 teams after the qualifying series.
Full results here