Balearic sailors take center stage at the Trofeo Princesa Sofía Mallorca by FERGUS Hotels

The pre-Olympic team and the 2032 team will compete in Palma in the first major international event of the season, featuring prominent Balearic sailors such as Marta Cardona, Paula Barceló and Conrad Konitzer, among others.

This week, the Royal Spanish Sailing Federation begins one of the key moments of the start of the season with its participation in the 55th Trofeo Princesa Sofía Mallorca by FERGUS Hotels, the first major international event of the Olympic cycle leading to Los Angeles 2028, bringing together more than 1,100 sailors and 900 boats from 62 countries. In this setting, the RFEV fields a broad team, with representation in almost all Olympic classes and a clear balance between experience and development.

In the mixed 470 class, one of the leading references of the Spanish team, the RFEV crews arrive strengthened after their recent participation in the European Championship. Particularly noteworthy are the reigning world champions and European bronze medallists Marta Cardona, from Club Nàutic s’Arenal, and Jordi Xammar (RCN Barcelona), as well as Silvia Mas, also from CNA, and Alejandro de Maqua (CN El Balís), still riding the momentum of their fifth-place finish at the Europeans in the early stages of their partnership.

“We go into the Sofía full of excitement and eager to compete. We’re coming from the Europeans, and it’s true that they are two major championships very close together, but the goal is to keep fighting for podium finishes and maintain the consistency of being in medal positions. We’ll work hard to try to achieve that,” says Jordi Xammar, Olympic medallist at Tokyo 2020.

The 49er and 49erFX skiff classes will once again be one of the main national focal points. In 49erFX, more than 60 boats will compete, with a well-established Spanish group led by current world champions Paula Barceló, from Club Nàutic s’Arenal, and María Cantero (RCN Gran Canaria), alongside Patri Suárez (RCN Vigo) and Melania Henke, from the Real Club Náutico de Palma, as well as Alicia Fras and Elena Barrio (RCN Gran Canaria), in addition to sailors from the 2032 program who continue their progression.

The 49er class will feature more than 100 boats and five Spanish crews led by Conrad Konitzer, also from CNA, and Antonio Torrado (RCN Torrevieja), who finished fifth at the last World Championship, as well as brothers Jaime and Martín Wizner (RCN Vigo), the reigning European champions.

In the Nacra 17 class, the Spanish team maintains a solid structure with Joan Cardona, from the Real Club Náutico de Palma, and Nicole Van der Velden as its main reference, accompanied by a growing crew within the RFEV’s 2032 team, Daniel and Nora García de la Casa (CN El Masnou).

The Spanish presence will be especially strong in the ILCA classes, where the RFEV is fielding virtually all of its teams in both the women’s and men’s categories. Thus, in both ILCA 6 and ILCA 7, the group combines established sailors from the pre-Olympic team with youngsters from the 2032 program. Leo Barreto from the Canary Islands (RCN Tenerife) is one of Spain’s main hopes, although his participation is affected by a recent injury.

In Olympic windsurfing, the Spanish team will also have a strong presence. In the men’s iQFOiL, among the more than 120 entries, there will be eight Spaniards led by Nacho Baltasar, from Club Nàutic Sa Ràpita, who competed at Paris 2024.

The Balearic sailor returns to competition after several weeks out due to injury: “It has been a tough month, coming back from an injury which, after an MRI, we saw was a bit more serious than we had thought, and it forced us to stop for a while,” says the Mallorcan sailor. “We didn’t know whether we would make it back in time, but it seems the body has responded well. The Sofía is the regatta I like the most, it’s at home, with my people, and I dream of making the podium here. I don’t know whether it will happen this year, but that’s always there.”

In the women’s iQFOiL, the Spanish entry includes several athletes from the 2032 team as well as Andrea Torres, from Club Nàutic s’Arenal, alongside established names such as Andalusian sailor Pilar Lamadrid, who arrives after dealing with a viral illness in the days leading up to the event.

Meanwhile, in the men’s Formula Kite, the Spanish sailors will be led by Alex Climent and head into the regatta with some technical adjustments to their equipment in the days beforehand, adding an extra element at the start of the competition.

The racing schedule for the Trofeo Princesa Sofía Mallorca by FERGUS Hotels will run from Monday, March 30th, to Saturday, April 4th, with six days of competition for most classes, while the kite and windsurfing disciplines will begin from Tuesday onward.

The work of the Royal Spanish Sailing Federation and its national teams, including the pre-Olympic team and the 2032 team, is made possible thanks to the support of a strong ecosystem of institutions and companies committed to sailing, the sport that has brought Spain the most Olympic gold medals.

The RFEV is sponsored by Iberdrola, Quirónprevención and Loterías y Apuestas del Estado. Its institutional sponsors are the Higher Sports Council, the Spanish Olympic Committee and Universo Mujer, together with the Port Authority of Santander and the Government of Cantabria (through the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Sport, Deporte Cantabria and the Regional Society for Culture and Sport). Official suppliers include Azul Marino, Nippon Express, Murimar Seguros, Marinepool and Enovis, while institutional partners include ADESP and World Sailing.