Trofeo Princesa Sofía: Mallorca regatta magnet - World Cup with record fleet
Tatjana Pokorny
· 04.04.2023
967 teams from 66 nations have gathered in Palma's Arenal and Can Pastilla districts for the 52nd Trofeo Princes Sofía, featuring all ten Olympic sailing disciplines. 1,259 sailors will take part in the World Cup opener in the popular Balearic Islands to see where they stand in the pre-Olympic season after winter training. Almost 80 sailors from the German Sailing Team will be in action at the start of the season. These include the 470 world champions Luise Wanser and Philipp Autenrieth (Norddeutscher Regatta Verein/Bayerischer Yacht-Club), iQFoil world champion Sebastian Kördel (Norddeutscher Regatta Verein) and the 2020 Laser world champion Philipp Buhl (Norddeutscher Regatta Verein/Segelclub Alpsee-Immenstadt).
iQFoil world champion Kördel shines with a confident start
With the exception of the single-handed classes Ilca 6 and Ilca 7 (formerly Laser), the Trofeo Princesa Sofía off Mallorca is an important qualifying event for the German players in the Olympic classes: The placings in the Spanish classic are included in an internal DSV ranking list. Only the top-placed sailors in this ranking list will ultimately receive a starting place at the World Championship for all Olympic classes from 10 to 20 August in The Hague. Only the best in class will be able to buy a ticket for the Olympic test event in Marseille in the pre-Olympic year.
Day one of the eagerly anticipated first major regatta of the year for Olympic sailing was almost completely cancelled on Monday in light, shifty winds. Only part of the iQFoil men's fleet managed to complete two qualifying heats and a group of Ilca-7 sailors one qualifying heat. The reigning iQFoil world champion Sebastian Kördel got off to a confident start and opened the series with a win and a second place.
It's becoming more and more of a mental game in our format." (Sebastian Kördel)
The 32-year-old from Radolfzell wants to compete for an Olympic medal off Marseille in 2024. The former PWA pro said: "When it became clear that foiling would be an Olympic discipline, I decided to give it a go. Here I am and it seems to be going well. I won the World Championship last year. On some levels we all go the same speed. With the format we ride, it becomes more and more of a mental game."
Unlike the Olympic sailors, where the top ten teams take their points from the preliminary and main rounds into the double scored medal race, the iQFoilers are brutal in the final. Sebastian Kördel says: "We have a medal race in which the first to reach the line wins. You have to be mentally strong to withstand all the pressure. A world championship is decided in a single race, over how much - six minutes? We are now working with a psychologist in the federation. That helps a bit, but it's also new for me. I have a coach for the first time in my career for this campaign. It's good to be aware of this, to think about things and to constantly improve."
Philipp Buhl and Nik Willim want to be the German aces in the Ilca 7
Dutch Ilca 6 sailor Marit Bouwmeester is one of the international stars at the Trofeo Princesa Sofía. The young mother is back in the fleet and hungry for a fourth Olympic medal in Marseille in 2024 after winning gold in Rio 2016, silver in London 2012 and bronze in Tokyo. Off Palma, Marit Bouwmeester will face the reigning Olympic champion Anne-Marie Rindom from Denmark. In the Ilca 7 fleet, Philipp Buhl and Nik Aaron Willim, who finished fifth at the European Championships, will challenge Australian Olympic champion Matt Wearn and other top helmsmen from the outstanding fleet of 184 boats.
The Trofeo Princesa Sofía is the first World Cup regatta of the year. It is followed by the Allianz Regatta in the Netherlands and the Semaine Olympique Française off Hyères. Kiel Week is the finale and expects strong fleets in the Olympic disciplines, even if the Olympic test event in Marseille at the beginning of July will allow those qualified to sail past Kiel because the regattas are too close together.
Have fun at the prelude for unit classes and cruiser racers
Before the Olympic fleet kicked off, the Trofeo Princesa Sofía opened the nine-day mammoth series with a regatta for one-design classes and cruiser-racers. Sixes, J/80s, J/70s, dragons and ORC boats were required. Hanns Peter Burkhardt, Paul Burkhardt and Jorg Mössnang from Bodensee Yacht Club Überlingen sailed to third place in the small dragon fleet. Kai Mares and crew on the Italia 9.98 "Immac Fram" achieved the same place in the overall ORC classification. Marc Bezner's Club Swan 50 "Olymp" took fifth place here. The prelude to the Olympic Trofeo summit took place at the co-host Real Club Náutico de Palma.
