Trofeo Princesa Sofía: Top three in five classes - Kohlhoff/Stuhlemmer with opening gala

After the strong winds on Easter Monday, the Trofeo Princesa Sofía got off to a more moderate start on Tuesday. Because only five of the ten Olympic fleets were able to compete in winds of up to 28 knots on the previous day, the disciplines that were not required had to complete an extensive catch-up programme on Tuesday. This included the field of 48 foiling Nacra 17 catamarans with Paul Kohlhoff and Alica Stuhlemmer from Kiel. The duo started the Spanish classic with a gala performance in light to medium winds, leading the fleet after four races and 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 2nd place.

Kohlhoff/Stuhlemmer strong in light winds

The joy was clear to see for helmsman Paul Kohlhoff in the late afternoon at the boat park in S'Arenal. Being able to open the Olympic sailing season in often unloved milder conditions after long and hard winter training means a lot to his Nacra 17 duo, even if helmsman Kohlhoff said: "Of course, this was just one day that we don't want to overestimate. But we had four good starts in four races today in winds of around ten knots. Four top tens would have been good. Now it's just a bit better ..."

Wave lover Alica Stuhlemmer had regretted the day before that the Nacra 17 fleet was one of the five classes that had not been sent into the power play conditions. Things were more moderate on the courses on Tuesday, but, as Stuhlemmer said with a wink, "there was still some residual wave". The Olympic bronze medallists from Kieler Yacht-Club were in their element and showed straight away that they had done their homework after the surprising departure of their coach Marcus Lynch at the beginning of the year.

Ilca 7 helmsman Philipp Buhl lost the lead he had taken the day before with two race wins, finishing in 5th and 14th place, but continues to hold his own as the overall runner-up in the largest fleet of 193 single-handed dinghies. His summary of the day: "It was typical Palma conditions today: the usual start delay at the beginning, nice warm weather, little wind. A little later there was a nice little sea breeze before it died down again. The usual complicated decisions had to be made."

Buhl second in the gold fleet

The only small weakness of the day was Philipp Buhl's loss of ground on a downwind section. He smiled and said: "The conditions in the coming days will probably be similar. I can still get plenty of practice in." For the Ilca 7 helmsmen, the Trofeo Princesa Sofía marks the last of their three elimination regattas in the battle for just one Olympic ticket. In the duel with Nik Aaron Willim, Buhl led 26:12 after the first two races before the start. Both start for the Norddeutscher Regatta Verein, Buhl also for his home sailing club Alpsee-Immenstadt.

Nik Willim sailed upwind on day two of the Spanish week, finishing 8th and 3rd in 19th place. Nico Naujock from the Seglerhaus am Wannsee club also caused a positive surprise in Palma, finishing in the top ten after four races in ninth place in a field packed with world-class sailors. In the Ilca 6 women's category, Hannah Anderssohn defended fifth place with a four-point lead over Danish Olympic champion Anne-Marie Rindom after her brilliant start the previous day with 6th and 37th place.

Winkel couple defend 470 Mixed lead

The Trofeo in the Bay of Palma is the second of three qualifying regattas for Germany's leading 470 mixed crews. After the first test of strength, Simon Diesch/Anna Markfort, who finished fourth at the World Championships, were leading the exciting battle for an Olympic ticket. After three races in Palma, Malte and Anastasiya Winkel are still in the lead ahead of World Championship runners-up Vita Heathcote and Chris Grube (Great Britain) and the reigning Spanish world champions Jordi Xammar/Nora Brugman.

The biggest leap forward on the second day of racing for the 470 mixed crews was achieved by the 2022 World Champions Luise Wanser and Philipp Autenrieth, who catapulted themselves into fifth place with a second place in the only race of the day. Theres Danhnke/Matti Cipra (Plauer Wassersport-Verein) and Simon Diesch/Anna Markfort (Württembergischer Yacht-Club/Verein Seglerhaus am Wannsee) initially followed in eighth and twelfth place after three races.

Kiter Leonie Meyer in the top three

NRV athlete Leonie Meyer shone among the new Olympic female kiters on Tuesday, who was in third place on Tuesday evening after her previous series (6, 10, 1, 3, 2, 4, 17). The Trofeo Princesa Sofía marks the second of three qualifying regattas on the 2024 Olympic course for the unrivalled national Formula kiter, who has already secured her place in the Nations Cup.

For Leonie Meyer, it is "only" a matter of placing in the top ten nations at the end of the three qualifying regattas. She is well on course for this. However, the undisputed nationally good kiter also knows exactly what she wants to achieve at the Trofeo: "I would like to have a big buffer when I go to the World Championships. A lot can always happen with us kiters. If two people get tangled up, it can be over quickly." The final decision on Leonie Meyer's Olympic debut will be made at the World Championships in May, just like for the kite men. Leonie Meyer's team-mates Jannis Maus (Cuxkiters e. V.) and Florian Gruber (NRV) will be starting from ninth and eleventh place at the Trofeo Princesa Sofía on Wednesday.

In the iQFoil, Sebastian Kördel needed a bit of a run-up before he could celebrate a victory in the fourth race. The 2022 World Champion and 2023 World Championship runner-up had a surprisingly unfortunate start to the season with a botched World Championship and is now fighting for his Olympic start in the Trofeo. In 18th place after four runs, he will go into the following races on Wednesday hungry for more. Team-mate Theresa Steinlein (NRV) was in eleventh place after three heats in the iQFoil windsurfers.

High Olympic hurdles for German skiff sailors

At the Trofeo Princesa Sofía, special attention will be focussed on the German skiff sailors. Both disciplines, which were highly decorated three years ago in Enoshima with Olympic bronze and Olympic silver, are still missing the national starting place for the Olympic regatta, which all other eight disciplines have already secured. The best 49er and 49er FX crews could secure this national starting place at the Last Chance Regatta in Hyères at the end of April.

Before that, however, they also need to finish in the top ten nations at the end of the three qualifying regattas, which has long since become a huge challenge for the 49er sailors after rather poor results so far. And: For the skiff sailors, the Trofeo already marks the last elimination regatta, i.e. their last chance. The men still have to overcome the second qualification hurdle of the German Olympic Sports Confederation (DOSB) and must finish twelfth or better individually in Spain if they want to be considered as Olympic candidates.

At the start of the 49er series in Spain on Tuesday, Fabian Rieger and Tom Heinrich surprised everyone with two wins on the day and second and 11th place overall after four races. Jakob Meggendorfer/Andreas Spranger and Max Stingele/Linov Scheel will start their second day of racing on Wednesday in tenth and eleventh place. The best German 49er FX crews on Tuesday were Anna Barth/Emma Kohlhoff (Kieler Yacht-Club) and Marla Bergmann/Hanna Wille (Mühlenberger Segel-Club) in tenth and twelfth place.

Click here for the daily results and intermediate results of the 53rd Trofeo Princesa Sofía.

Ballermann! A look back at the opening races on Easter Monday in furious conditions: