Four of five Irish boats embarking on Olympic sailing campaigns for LA 2028 are from Howth Yacht Club in County Dublin as the start of the 54th Trofeo Princesa Sofia Mallorca, the traditional opening of the four-year cycle, hoves into view.
The 54th edition of the Trofeo Princesa Sofia Mallorca will be held from March 28th to April 5th on the bay of Palma. Since entries opened last January, 700 crews from 53 countries have already confirmed they will race in the first event of the season, mustering all ten Olympic disciplines of the Los Angeles 2028 cycle.
From Ireland are ILCA 7 sailors Ewan McMahon, Green Rebel Howth campaigner, Rio and Paris veteran Finn Lynch from the National Yacht Club. Howth's sailors Eve McMahon and Sienna Wright will contest the ILCA 6, and Tokyo and Paris reps Robert Dickson and Sean Waddilove will compete in the 49er.
“The Sofia will be the first major multi-class regatta after Paris 2024 in which the aspirants to Olympic glory will be able to face their rivals,” explains Jaime Carbonell, Head of Institutional Relations of the 54 Trofeo Princesa Sofia Mallorca.
The list of pre-registrations includes a combination of new crews who will used the showcase Mallorca regatta as their launch pad for their race towards the next Games as well as many names that which already part of the history Olympic sailing. The Paris 2024 champions of Formula Kite Men (Austrian Valentin Bontus), Formula Kite Women (British Eleanor Aldridge), iQFOiL Men (Israeli Tom Reuveny) or iQFOiL Women (Italian Marta Maggetti) are entered along with other medalists from different disciplines and a good representation of up and coming young talent who will take advantage of this first multi-class event of the season to step up their preparation on to a top level race footing.
Traditionally, the first year after a Games is usually one with a lower level registration during the Olympic cycle: in 2009, first edition of the race towards London 2012, the Bay of Palma gathered 539 crews; in 2013, first towards Rio 2016, 600; and in 2017, in preparation for Tokyo 2020, 657. “Taking into account that background, we can consider that the figure of 700 pre-registrations with a month to go before the competition starts is a sign that it will be a very good edition of the Sofia,” concludes Carbonell.
The 54 Trofeo Princesa Sofia Mallorca 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.
