Mixed doubles classes set to shine at the 54 Trofeo Princesa Sofía Mallorca by FERGUS Hotels
by Trofeo S.A.R. Princesa Sofía 26 Mar 03:30 PDT
28 March - 5 April 2025
John Gimson & Anna Burnet (GBR), Nacra 17 - Trofeo Princesa Sofía © Sailing Energy / Trofeo Sofía Mallorca
The mixed crews will once again demonstrate their competitiveness on the bay of Palma. The 470 Mixed and Nacra 17 classes, two of the ten that will compete for the 54 Trofeo Princesa Sofía Mallorca by FERGUS Hotels from March 28th to April 5th, will together muster 87 teams of 24 nationalities to the first event of the Sailing Grand Slam 2025.
Of the ten Olympic sailing fletes that will compete for the 54 Trofeo Princesa Sofia Mallorca by FERGUS Hotels, four are men's, four are women's and two are mixed crew. This line up of is the same as the medal fleets at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games which will be the same again in Los Angeles 2028.
The combination of male and female crew on board an Olympic boat is not new. The Nacra 17 (Mixed Multihull in Olympic vocabulary) debuted as a mixed class in Rio 2016 where victory went to the Argentine duo formed by Santi Lange and Cecilia Carranza, while the 470 Mixed (Mixed Dinghy) have been a mixed duo crew since Paris 2024 where Austrians Lara Vadlau and Lukas Maehr won.
470 Mixed
The starting grid for the 54 Trofeo Princesa Sofia Mallorca by FERGUS Hotels in 470 Mixed will feature 55 boats (crewed by 55 men and 55 women) of 17 nationalities. The German federation is the one fielding the largest number of crews, no less than ten, while the Spanish delegation will bring six. Among them, the 2024 world champion, Jordi Xammar, will compete for the first time in the Sofia with Marta Cardona. A few days ago Xammar and Cardona won the Mallorca Sailing Center Regatta, also held on the bay of Palma.
It will also be the first time for the duo formed by Silvia Mas and Alex Marsans. "We start the new Olympic cycle with great enthusiasm and a lot of desire, because in the end I have been two years away from Olympic sailing and sailing in big boats, which is nothing like this," confesses Mas, who returns to the 470 after making history with Sail Team BCN in the Puig Women's America's Cup. "I think I've learned a lot from the Women's America's Cup, so I'm looking forward to putting all this into practice."
Silvia and Alex showed had a good tune up last February at the Lanzarote International Regatta, where they started the week leading and finished with a superb second place. "I am very happy to start this stage with Alex. For us this first year of the Olympic cycle is important and at the same time it is not. Important because we want to be there in front, we want to show that we have a high level, but at the same time we are a new crew. I have been two years away from the 470 and Alex had never sailed in this boat in his life, so we are aware of the limitations. But we have a very high potential as a team; proving it is the goal in the Sofia".
Also noteworthy was the presence of the team formed by Neus Ballester and Alejandro de Maqua. Ballester was part of the crew with Silvia Mas in the women's America's Cup team.
Nacra 17
In the Nacra 17 fleet, 32 boats of 16 nationalities will compete. It will be an interesting combination of established crews such as the British Olympic silver medallists John Gimson and Anna Burnet, runners-up in the 2024 World Championship, or the Italians Gianluigi Ugoliny and Maria Giubilei, bronze medallists in the same World Championship) and new duos that are starting their Olympic career this year.
Sailing under the Spanish flag will be three new crews, those formed by Tara Pacheco and Pablo García; Daniel and Nora García de la Casa; and Olympic medalist Joan Cardona (Finn class bronze in Tokyo 2020) and former iQFOiL sailor Nicole Van der Velden.
The two classes will compete from Monday, March 31 until Saturday, April 5. The 470 Mixed will contest a maximum of ten qualifying races and a Medal Race among the top ten, while the Nacra 17 will hold up to 15 qualifying races before handing out medals in the Medal Race. Both finals will be held on Saturday, April 5.
The 54 Trofeo S.A.R. Princesa Sofia Mallorca by FERGUS Hotels is held under the joint organization of Club Nàutic S'Arenal, Club Marítimo San Antonio de la Playa, Real Club Náutico de Palma, Real Federación Española de Vela and Federación Balear de Vela, with the support of World Sailing, and is co-financed with the fund of the Sustainable Tourism Tax of the Govern de les Illes Balears.
The 54 Trofeo Princesa Sofia Mallorca by FERGUS Hotels is part of the Sailing Grand Slam 2025 along with the Semaine Olympique Française, the Dutch Water Week, the Kieler Woche and the Long Beach Olympic Classes Regatta.
More information at www.trofeoprincesasofia.org and www.sailinggrandslam.com.