Jordi Xammar and Marta Cardona win their first medal at the French Olympic Week regatta

The Catalan-Mallorcan duo formed by Jordi Xammar and Marta Cardona (Club Nàutic S’Arenal) has claimed the runner-up position at the French Olympic Week in the mixed 470 class in Hyères, after finishing second in the Medal Race. Patricia Suárez and Melania Henke (Real Club Náutico de Palma) finished fifth in the 49er FX, and Nacho Baltasar (Club Nàutic Sa Ràpita) came fourth in the IQFoil class.

In mixed 470, Jordi Xammar and Marta Cardona earned their first medal together in an international circuit regatta. After finishing sixth at the Trofeo Princesa Sofía — their first major competition together — the French Olympic Week has allowed them to continue developing their newly launched Olympic campaign. Their five podium finishes across eleven races in Hyères show their progress. With a second in the Medal Race, sailed in moderate winds, Xammar and Cardona take the silver medal and confirm their potential for the Los Angeles 2028 cycle. Germans Simon Diesch and Anna Markfort finished sixth in the final but had already secured the overall win the day before. Italians Giacomo Ferrari and Alessandra Dubbini completed the podium.

“We are very happy with this silver medal,” said Xammar. “It’s only our second championship together, so finishing second is a big success—there wasn’t much more we could have asked for. Except for one British crew, all our main rivals were here in Hyères, so this podium finish means a lot. Plus, it’s been a generally windy week, which could have been tricky for a new team, but we performed well even in extreme conditions. The European Championship is in two weeks, so this result is very important.”

In 49er FX, a fourth-place finish in the Medal Race helped the Galician-Mallorcan team of Patricia Suárez and Melania Henke hold onto fifth place overall—an excellent result given this was only their second regatta together. Belgian sailors Isaura Maernhaut and Anouk Geurts won the event, joined on the podium by Americans Paris Henken and Helena Scutt, and Canadians Georgia and Antonia Lewin-Lafrance. The Spanish duo missed the bronze by just five points.

“We’re very happy with both the result and our performance throughout the week,” said Patricia Suárez. “This result shows our team’s potential and that we’re on the right path. We haven’t trained together for long, so being able to compete with the best shows that we must keep going this way. We’ve experienced all kinds of conditions and proved we have no real weaknesses. There’s still a lot to refine, but overall, the week has been very positive. We completed all the races, and the conditions in Hyères are always tough, so it’s reassuring to know we were able to keep up.”

Balearic sailor Nacho Baltasar delivered four solid days in Hyères, including three first-place finishes and two more podium positions. With that scoreline, he entered the men’s iQFOiL Medal Series in fourth place, earning a direct pass to the semifinals. A second-place finish behind France’s Louis Pignolet allowed him to advance to the final, competing for medals against Pignolet and the top two from the qualifying series, Australian Grae Morris and Chinese sailor Kun Bi, who both advanced directly to the final. The Asian sailor proved most consistent in the finals and took the gold in Hyères, with silver for Morris and bronze for Pignolet. The Mallorcan windsurfer came close to repeating his win from last year in Hyères, where he claimed the bronze during the Olympic year.

The Spanish pre-Olympic sailing team is funded by the Spanish Sports Council, the Spanish Olympic Committee, and Universo Mujer, and sponsored by Iberdrola and Quirón Prevención. Official suppliers include Azul Marino, Murimar Seguros, Nippon Express, Marine Pool, and Enovis.