A mix of established Rio Olympic campaigners and emerging young talent shared the top podium spots when the 48th Trofeo Princesa Sofia ended Saturday with a brisk 25–knots Mistral offshore wind which brought the 646 boat regatta to spectacular, challenging finale. Only one of Ireland's six boat team at the event made the gold fleet with four debutante 49er campaigns and a Finn finishing in silver fleet positions. Belfast's Liam Glynn ended the regatta in a creditable gold fleet position, 43rd from 143 in one of his first forays into the mens Olympic Laser class.
Ryan Seaton was 27th overall in the 49er class. Now sailing with new crew Seafra Guilfoyle from Royal Cork, the Carrickfergus Sailing Club ace also scored a 2 and a 3 in the last silver fleet races of the 59–boat fleet.
Howth Yacht Club's Robert Dickson and Sean Waddilove were 41th overall. Seán and Tadhg Donnelly from the National Yacht Club were 48th. Wet Dreams sailed by Mark Hassett and Oisin O'Driscoll from West Cork were 50th.
The strong wind annulled any final racing for the 49er class, cancelling what would have been an intriguing title tussle between the young British duo James Peters and Fynn Sterritt, Spain's Rio representatives Diego Botin and Iago Lopez and the new British pairing of Dylan Fletcher and Stu Bithell. But with no racing possible it is the first big regatta win in the 49er for Peters and Sterritt who had something of a nervous day, sitting one point clear of their Spanish rivals. Palma has traditionally been the least favourite regatta for the young pair, struggling here at times in the past, but it is now a favourite.
GBR took gold and silver in the 49er fleet and won two medals, silver and bronze in the Laser. Italy's Rio selection Francesco Marrai gave regatta leader Elliot Hanson the slip just before the start of the medal race and went on to win the class. Double world champion Nick Thompson won the medal race and took bronze.
Max Salminen of Sweden won the Finn class, emerging through Semi Final qualification to triumph in the new winner takes all five boat Final. Arguably the Finn class has been bravest in their desire to innovate and change. Turkey's Ailcan Kaynar was best in the Opening series and went directly to the Final but took third.
Top three, Olympic classes:
470 Men
1. Tetsuya Isozaki / Akira Takayanagi, JPN, 49
2. Carl-Fredrik Fock / Marcus Dackhammar, SWE, 50
3. Jordi Xammar / Nicolas Rodriguez, ESP, 51
470 Women
1. Afrodite Zegers / Anneloes Van Veen, NED, 35
2. Agnieszka Skrzypulec / Jolanta Ogar, POL, 38
3. Silvia Mas Depares / Patricia Cantero, ESP, 47
49er
1. James Peters / Fynn Sterritt, GBR, 68
2. Diego Botin Le Chever / Iago Lopez Marra, ESP, 69
3. Dylan Fletcher-Scott / Stuart Bithell, GBR, 81
49er FX
1. Jurczok / Anika Lorenz, GER, 47
2. Helene Naess / Marie Ronningen, NOR, 96
3. Kimberly Lim / Cecilia Low, SIN, 114
Finn
1. Mas Salminen, SWE, 44
2. Zsombor Berecz, HUN, 67
3. Alican Kaynar, TUR, 40
Laser
1. Francesco Marrai, ITA, 57
2. Elliot Hanson, GBR, 58
3. Nick Thompson, GBR, 61
Laser Radial
1. Dongshuang Zhang, CHN, 83
2. Viktorija Andrulyte, LTU, 92
3. Monika Mikkola, FIN, 98
NACRA 17
1. Fernando Echavarri Erasun / Tara Pacheco Van Rijnsoever, ESP, 52
2. John Gimson / Anna Burnet, GBR, 68.45
3. Lin Cenholt / Christian Peter Lubeck, DEN, 81
RS:X Men
1. Pawel Tarnowski, POL, 93
2. Ivan Pastor Lafuente, ESP, 44
3. Taehoon Lee, KOR, 114
RS:X Women
1. Zofia Noceti-Klepacka, POL, 24
2. Manjia Zheng, CHN, 60
3. Stefania Elfutina, RUS, 41