Paula Barceló and are María Cantero crowned 49er FX world Champions

Mallorcan Paula Barceló, from Club Nàutic s'Arenal, and María Cantero achieve the world’ title of 49er FX in their first competition together.

Spain has shown its overall domain in the olympic sailing 49er class, in the first World’s Championship of Los Ángeles 2028 cycle. Olympic champions Diego Botín and Florian Trittel have achieved gold in Cagliari’s waters, at the south of Sardinia, in their return to 49er 14 months after Paris 2024, while Mallorcan Paula Barceló and her teammate, María Cantero, have achieved the 49er FX world's title in their first competition together. 

Diego Botín (RCM Santander) and Florian Trittel (CN El Balís) arrived to the Medal Race with a loose points mattress, but the new format of the finals obliged them to win the final round to climb up the highest place of the podium.

The Medal Series began with the first regatta of the day, in which the best 20 crews competed. This new pre-final is a non-disposable regatta, with direct judgement at water, which defines the names of the four pairs that make it to the final round. Denmark, Holland, the United Kingdom and Spain were the ones that got to the final. 

The Cantabrian-Catalan duo made a great departure and endured the test, achieving their first 49er world title in a very fast Medal Race. “We had a very good departure in a regatta that was programmed to last 10-12 minutes, and from there, releasing the spi a lot because the thing was complicated, but we managed to keep the stick up”, has joked Florian Trittel. 

“This victory feels incredibly good,” continued the Olympic champion. “We’d been chasing a world gold in 49er for a long time, we already had a European title and an Olympic gold, but not the world one. We’ve worked our own way, with our team, and everything came together. So we’re very happy, even after trying out this new format,” he added.

Speaking about the new Medal Series format, Diego Botín stated: “We’ve experienced being on the other side in other competitions with a similar format, coming from behind. Obviously it’s not easy when you’ve had a solid week and are leading, and you realize that with this format the only thing you can really do is lose. But it’s true that sport needs to move in this direction, and if this format continues, most of the time the ones who deserve to win will win. Besides, this is a good moment in the cycle to try new things. We managed to win that final under a lot of pressure.”

The Dutch sailors Bart Lambriex and Floris Van de Werken, three-time world champions in the class, finished second. Completing the podium were the Danish team of Jonas Warrer, Olympic champion in Beijing 2008, and Mathias Lehm.

Returning to Olympic sailing 14 months after their Paris 2024 Olympic triumph, Diego Botín and Florian Trittel delivered a spectacular World Championship performance. The Spaniards led the standings from the start of the regatta (last Tuesday); they dropped to fourth during the second and third days, but by the fifth day they had regained the lead and never let it go, ultimately claiming their first world title.

Since joining forces, Botín and Trittel had medaled in all three previous Worlds they competed in: silver in 2022 (Canada), bronze in 2023 (the Netherlands), and bronze again in 2024 (Lanzarote).

Now, in 2025, the Cantabrian and the Catalan have finally earned the long-awaited World Championship gold, a title that had eluded them until now and which cements their dominance in the 49er class. This victory adds to their historic 2024 season, when they claimed Olympic gold at Paris 2024, triumphed in the SailGP circuit with the Spanish team, and received the World Sailing Award for Best Olympic Sailors of the Year.

The other Spanish team in contention, Conrad Konitzer, from Club Nàutic s’Arenal, and Anto Torrado (RCN Torrevieja), narrowly missed the grand final, finishing in a highly commendable fifth place.

Meanwhile, Paula Barceló and María Cantero have been crowned 49er FX World Champions in the waters of Cagliari, southern Sardinia, in what was their debut competition together. The Mallorcan and the Canary Islander began training as a team in January but paused competition for Barceló to finish her medical studies. This championship marked their first major event together, with Barceló also debuting as helm. It is the first world title for Cantero and the second for Barceló, who previously won in 2020 alongside Támara Echegoyen.

The Spanish pair fought for the title throughout the entire championship, consistently remaining on the podium. They started in first place, dropped to second on day two, and held third during the third and fourth days. On the penultimate day, they finished second, just two points behind gold and 20 points ahead of third place.

In the pre-final for the top 20 teams, they comfortably secured their place in the Medal Race, joining Sweden, Canada, and the United Kingdom, and entered the final showdown with bronze already guaranteed.

In the grand final, the Spaniards sealed the deal. They made a spectacular port-side start, crossing ahead of the fleet, and reached the finish line first, confirming their world gold ahead of the Swedish duo Vilma Bobeck (silver medalist at Paris 2024) and Ebba Berntsson. Completing the podium were the Canadian sisters Georgia and Antonia Lewin-Lafrance.

“This victory tastes like glory,” said Paula Barceló. “Since we went all-in in June, it’s been months of very hard training. We always worked with the dream of coming here to perform well, but we never really imagined winning the championship. We knew we had the potential, but it’s been an incredible week with very different conditions, and we were always up front, we never left the podium. It’s been amazing,” added the Mallorcan.

Regarding the key to their success, María Cantero explained: “We went out with the same attitude every day. Yesterday was the hardest part, but today we went out with determination and the will to get what we wanted. It was a race where only winning mattered, so we took some risks, starting on port and crossing in front of the fleet, but it had to be done, because no other result would do. The key was the team, not just us, but everyone around us. Making mistakes is allowed; we look for solutions together and move forward. It’s about the team we’re building together.”

Also performing well were Patricia Suárez (Galicia) and Melanie Henke (Mallorca), from the Real Club Náutico de Palma and the RFEV 2032 Team, who missed the grand final but finished a respectable 15th overall.

The Spanish Olympic Sailing Team is supported by the Consejo Superior de Deportes, the Spanish Olympic Committee, and Universo Mujer, and sponsored by Iberdrola and Quirónprevención. Official suppliers include Azul Marino, Murimar Seguros, Nippon Express, Marinepool, and Enovis.