53rd Trofeo Princesa Sofía Mallorca by Iberostar will muster all 10 classes which race at Paris 2024
More than 300 teams representing over fifty countries have already registered to compete at the 53rd edition of the Trofeo Princesa Sofía Mallorca by Iberostar, the first regatta of the year that will muster all of the ten sailing classes which will race at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.
The hotly anticipated showcase regatta will be held from 29 March to 6 April on the Bay of Palma.
There are two months to go until the first starting signal signals sound to open the 53 Trofeo Princesa Sofía Mallorca by Iberostar. The Mallorcan classic, considered a world benchmark for Olympic classes, will be the first regatta of the year to bring all ten disciplines of the Paris 2024 Games together on the same racing waters and as such represents a key event in the athletes’ final preparations for their Olympic dream. From 29 March to 6 April, the world’s best specialists in the women’s disciplines ILCA 6, 49er FX, iQFOiL Women and Formula Kite Women; the men’s disciplines ILCA 7, 49er, iQFOiL Men and Formula Kite Men; and the mixed 470 and Nacra 17 will compete on the bay of Palma.
Since the opening of registration in mid-December, more than 300 teams representing 51 countries have already registered, the advance guards for a fleet that will turn the Bay of Palma into the epicentre of world Olympic sailing.
“We are in an Olympic year, and the Sofia will be the first multi-class event in which all the participants in Paris 2024 will meet up to race at before the start of the Games next July,” explains Ferrán Muniesa, the event’s sporting director. “It will be a key event in the Olympic arena, a real dress rehearsal where the athletes will be able to test themselves against their rivals that they will meet on the Marseille race course. Moreover, for many countries, it is a definitive date for selecting their representatives for Paris 2024”.
That is the case for the host nation, Spain, as confirmed by the director of Olympic preparation of the Real Federación Española de Vela, Xisco Gil: “It will be practically the only competition in which the entire Spanish team will be competing. It is one of the highest level competitions in terms of participation and countries, and it will allow us to see how we are doing in the final stretch towards the Games. On the other hand, it is the last observation competition for those classes in which the Spanish representative for the Games has not been chosen and it will help us to know if the men’s Kite is in a position to qualify the country two weeks later, in Hyeres. Without a doubt, it is a regatta of reference”.
The 53 Trofeo S.A.R. Princesa Sofía Mallorca by Iberostar 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 World Sailing and the main Balearic public institutions.
More information, www.trofeoprincesasofia.org.
