The Spanish sailors Jordi fifth in Women’s Formula Kite.
With winds of up to 30 knots of intensity and large waves, only half of the disciplines called were able to compete on the opening day: 470 Mixed, Formula Kite Men and Women, ILCA 6 and ILCA 7. The rest (49er, 49erFX, iQFOiL Men and Women and Nacra 17) waited in port for the conditions to subside, but the Race Committee had to cancel the day for these classes for safety reasons.
The 53rd edition of the Princesa Sofía Mallorca Trophy by Iberostar is the first scoring event for the Sailing World Cup 2024 and is held under the joint organization of the Club Nàutic S’Arenal, the Club Marítimo San Antonio de la Playa, the Real Club Náutico de Palma , the Royal Spanish Sailing Federation and the Balearic Sailing Federation, with the support of World Sailing and the main Balearic public institutions.
In 470 Mixed, the Catalans Jordi and seconds in the provisional. Germans Malte Winkel and Anastasiya Winkel lead the classification.
In the Women’s Formula Kite, the Catalan Gisela Pulido debuted in fifth place; She signed a second and a seventh in the two completed tests and is just two points behind the leading trio, formed by the American Daniela Moroz – 2022 world champion -, the Australian Breiana Whitehead and the Chinese Jingyue Chen.
The Brazilian Bruno Lobo leads the Men’s Formula Kite classification, followed just one point by the Singaporean Max Maeder, winner in Mallorca last year. The Austrian Valentin Bontus completes the provisional podium, and the first Spaniard is the Valencian Jacobo Espí. The Catalan Berni Cortés scored a ninth in the third race of the day, but was unable to compete in the first two due to a material breakage due to the harsh wind and wave conditions.
In ILCA 7, the German Philipp Buhl, bronze in 2022, leads ahead of the British Michael Beckett – runner-up in the world in 2023 – and the Norwegian Hermann Tomasgaard – world silver this year -, who are just one point behind him. The Canarian Joaquín Blanco, in thirtieth position, is the best-ranked Spaniard, and Joel Rodríguez is 18 places further back.
In ILCA 6, the Belgian Emma Plasschaert, bronze in this year’s World Cup, is the first leader in the category after signing two partial victories. The German Hannah Anderssohn and the Italian Chiara Benini Floriani are in podium positions and the first Spaniard is the Andalusian Ana Moncada, located in thirty-sixth position.
This Tuesday, lighter wind conditions are expected, with which all of the 850 boats and 1,100 sailors participating in this record-breaking edition will likely be able to compete.