Many of the "usual suspects" are in the lead after the first half of the race in the Bay of Palma: Spain, the USA and Great Britain are leading the nations' rankings in the Trofeo. They are followed by Sweden, Italy, Australia, Poland, the Netherlands, Ireland and France. Behind them, Team Germany is in eleventh place among the 19 nations that currently hold at least one podium place in the opening regatta of the Sailing Grand Slam 2026.
Full house in Palma, Scheel/Feilcke second at half-time
In total at the Spanish classic more than 1100 male and female sailors are competing in ten Olympic disciplines. They represent 62 countries. This not only paints a highly multi-national picture of sailing, but also demonstrates the continuing strong appeal of the Spanish regatta magnet.
Two GER boats were on the podium at the halfway point. Their crews are already well known, but the current quality is still a positive surprise: Maru Scheel and Freya Feilcke from the Kieler Yacht-Club have catapulted to second place in the 49erFX women's category with three third places in a row recently. "It was very shifty and gusty out there today. It was important to find the right lanes. Maru did a very nice job," attested foresailor Freya Feilcke to her helmswoman. Maru Scheel is certain: "In the end, consistency will be the key in the new format."
Maru Scheel and Freya Feilcke start the fourth of the six days of racing in the "world champion sandwich", which ends with the double finals on the Saturday before Easter. The reigning Spanish world champions Paula Barcelo and Maria Cantero are tied on points in front of them. Behind them are the former world champions Vilma Bobeck and Ebba Berntsson from Sweden. Olympic sixth-placed Marla Bergmann and Hanna Wille from Mühlenberger Segel-Club have also sailed their way into the top ten. The duo from the Elbe opened the second half of the Trofeo Princesa Sofía Mallorca by Fergus Hotels from eighth place.
Ole Schweckendiek storms the Mallorca summit
Kiel's Ole Schweckendiek, who is only 21 years old, is also performing conspicuously well in the Bay of Palma. In August last year U21 World Championthe Ilca-7 helmsman is already heating up the big names in what is always the largest Olympic field of Olympic solo dinghies. The fact that he managed to do this in the first half of the year in predominantly stronger winds deserves a special exclamation mark. "We had really difficult conditions over the last three days, were on the water for eight hours once and six hours twice," said Ole Schweckendiek in the evening in Palma.
There was actually quite a lot of wind, which is not really my speciality. The work in winter paid off well. It's got a lot better." Ole Schweckendiek
After a total of six races, including the first Gold Fleet race, the up-and-comer from the Kiel Yacht Club remains in third place behind double Olympic champion Matt Wearn from Australia and four-time British Trofeo winner Michael Beckett. Schweckendieck has left 195 (!) chasers behind him so far. For Schweckendiek, however, this is no reason to take off. He says about the reasons for his outstanding performance so far: "I think I've really loosened up again."
I don't complicate things too much, I just do my thing, which is why it's going quite well." Ole Schweckendiek
"Quite good" is a good understatement. Schweckendiek was able to beat Matt Wearn in one of three group races and says: "It's definitely a good step that I can keep up with Wearn and the others in strong winds. It's really something special to be up there at the front. And to do so relatively consistently. That's a good intermediate result, but I also think that there's still a bit missing. I benefited a little today from the fact that it was relatively twisty and a bit tricky. So it wasn't a pure speed race. That was quite good."
Less wind expected in the second half
There was more good news for the young Kieler, as the winds are expected to ease in the coming days. "The second half should be lighter, with medium winds tomorrow and then light winds on Friday," says Ole Schweckendiek. He adds: "I'm looking forward to it, because that's my speciality." With Julian Hoffmann (Segelclub Alpsee-Immenstadt), a second perspective squad sailor from the German Sailing Team was also able to hold his own in the top ten at the halfway point of the Trofeo Princesa Sofía Mallorca in seventh place.
NRV helmsman Nik Aaron Willim and Justin Barth from the Berlin Yacht Club are also close to the top ten in eleventh and twelfth place. Philipp Buhl, meanwhile, had a brutal experience: after two days as the best German Ilca 7 helmsman, he fell to 30th place with a "DNC" for a missed race. The new test format for the Olympic sailors ensures that the points earned in the qualifying round are summarised into just one value - in Buhl's case, the best German intermediate result with just nine points - known as "CF PS" (which stands for "Carry Forward/Preliminary Series").
On top of that, the Allgäuer then had a serious 52 points for missing the race, which catapulted him out of the top ten for the time being. The heavy cold that had been plaguing Buhl for a week had taken its toll. However, in contrast to the "CF PS", this one black race result can be cancelled in the further course of the main round. Among the Ilca-6 sailors, Berlin Olympic starter Julia Büsselberg has so far shown that she is also a force to be reckoned with this season: the 25-year-old maths student occupied seventh place in the field of 147 starters after five races.
Strong German duos also in the 49er and the 470 Mixed
At the halfway point of the Trofeo Princesa Soia Mallorca, two German crews were also in the top ten in the 470 Mixed with Olympic participants Simon Diesch/Anna Markfort (7th) and Theresa Löffler/Christopher Hoerr (9th). The 49er men from the German Sailing Team were in an even better position: Moritz Dorau/Riko Rockenbach (Württembergischer Yacht-Club) and Richard Schultheis/Fabian Rieger (NRV/VSaW) will be attacking from fifth and sixth place on Thursday.
Then there's the kiteboarders, where Jan Vöster from the Württemberg Yacht Club and Olympic fifth-placed Jannis Maus from the Cuxkiters club are aiming to push further up the rankings in eleventh and 14th place. Click here for all the intermediate results of the Trofeo Princesa Sofía Mallorca. The closing words on this day belong to four-time Trofeo winner Michael Beckett from Great Britain. After finishing second in the first Goldfleet race of the Ilca 7 sailors on 1 April, he said: "April Fools? The whole day felt a bit like a bad joke, but unfortunately it wasn't."
Beckett explained: "The wind out there was so fickle that some of those wind shifts were just unbelievable. The number of times I took my jacket on and off is a new record. I ended up seriously dehydrated from baking in the sun for so long over the last few days. I'm bloody tired."
The trailer for the 55th Trofeo Princesa Sofía Mallorca shows what the season opener for the Olympic sailors is all about:
Tatjana Pokorny
Sports reporter
