Palma.—This year’s renowned Majorcan regatta which starts on 29 March and extends until 5 April is on course to be a record edition according to the organising team.
The number of registered nations up to now has been exceeded to confirm that the Princesa Sofia is a must event in the calendar for sailors from all around the world, despite the financial problems caused by the loss of the main sponsor only a few weeks ago.
Latest figures from the organising team show 623 boats and a total of 882 sailors from 55 nations, will enter the competition.
And Britain’s best will be there.
Around 80 sailors in 11 classes including some well-known faces such as Nick Dempsey (twice World Champion and Olympic medallist), Bryony Shaw (Olympic Bronze in 2008 and World’s Silver in 2013), Hannah Mills-Saskia Clark (2012 Olympic Silver and 2012 World Champion), Giles Scott (2011 World Champion and 2013 Princess Sofia winner) and Helena Lucas (2012 Paralympic Games Gold).
Luke Patience (2012 Olympic Silver) is also set to be in Palma, where he will make his debut in the 470 category with his new crew, Elliot Willis (twice World Champion) as they formed a new team just over a month ago.
"Good chances of challenging for medals"
"Most of the British team has been out training in Palma on and off for the last few weeks and many are now having a short break in the UK before heading back to Palma during the course of this week ready for the regatta," Lindsey Bell, British Sailing Team communications manager told the Bulletin ahead of the event.
"For the British Sailing Team, the Princess Sofia Trophy Regatta always provides a great start to the European sailing season, and a perfect opportunity to put all the hours of Winter training to the test at a major event where you have the chance to line up against all the best sailors from the rest of the world.
"As is common, a number of our teams have been training in Palma during the course of the Winter.
A great base
"Ferran Muniesa (race manager) and the team at Club Nàutic s’Arenal always make us welcome, and Palma provides a great base, easily accessible for us, and certainly with more favourable weather conditions to train in than those we can experience in the UK during the Winter months," added Bell.
"In terms of the number of medals targeted, Bell revealed there are good possibilities to achieve success in the different categories.
"We don’t set a result’s target for the World Cup regattas, but we would hope to leave Palma with medals across a number of the 11 classes that we will compete in.
World Champion
"Among a number of British sailors who could challenge for medals will be Giles Scott, who’ll defend his Princess Sofia title in the Finn class, and in the windsurfing events World Champion Nick Dempsey and 2013 silver medallist Bryony Shaw will be looking to push for the podium spots."
"Along with many other nations, the key event for the British Sailing Team this year will be the ISAF Sailing World Championships in Santander in September, so the Princess Sofia Trophy will provide a great early season test to see where we can work and improve ahead of the World Championships.
"We’re looking forward to a great event," said the Sailing Team’s communications manager.
No comments
To be able to write a comment, you have to be registered and logged in
Currently there are no comments.