Going into the final day of the Trofeo Princesa Sofía, medals and qualification is on the line. Three sailors are already assured of Palma gold though, with Great Britain’s Micky Beckett and Italian Olympic Nacra 17 champions Ruggero Tita and Caterina Banti sealing wins ahead of Saturday’s medal races.
Palma is a happy hunting ground for Beckett in the ILCA 7 class, who now has a hat-trick of wins at the event.
“Winning this three times in a row really is something very special, not least because it is the first world cup I did ten years ago and honestly then I got hammered.” Said Becket. “But to come back after the regatta was cancelled in 2021 and win three times in a row is incredible, I am a little bit lost for words and still surprised it is something I have been able to do. It is such a difficult class, every is here, every comes here and brings their A-game and so to come out on top of an entry of 193 is huge number of people to beat."
Italy’s has been strong in the Nacra 17 class for many years, with Ruggero Tita and Caterina Banti leading the charge, but even their compatriots Gianluigi Ugolini and Maria Giubilei cannot catch them, and go into the medal race 24 points behind the Olympic gold medallists.
“It was a strange Palma, I don't remember a Palma like this, a lot of light winds, but finally we got some good races, foiling races and light wind races. So, we're happy because Palma is the first event after winter training. It means we have done a good job with our training, but this is only the first step because we have many things to work on, to win the Olympic Games which is our aim this year.", said Banti on the win.
In the 470, 49er, 49erFX and ILCA 6 classes things are finely balanced.
France's Camille Lecointre and Jérémie Mion lead the Spanish world champions by a single point in the mixed 470 class, Spain's Diego Botin and Florian Trittel have a four point lead in the 49er class, while Italy's Jana Germanu and Georgo Bertuzzi lead 49erFX European champions, Helene Naess and Marie Ronningen from Norway, by a single point and Hungary's Maria Érdi leads the ILCA 6 class.
You can follow the medal race results as they happen on https://www.trofeoprincesasofia.org/
Mark has been managing sailing websites since 1996, always being at the forefront of technology, and now manages the combined Sail-World.com and YachtsandYachting.com network. He has covered events such as the International Moth World Championship and Cowes Week, focusing on the sailors' thoughts and words. Mark has been European Champion in the Farr 30 & J/24 class and has won numerous UK titles, and competes regularly in local and national events in dinghies and sportsboats.