Ireland’s Olympic skiff crews gained valuable early-season racing in the Bay of Palma at the cut-short Mallorca Sailing Centre Regatta, a key warm-up for the Trofeo Princesa Sofia later this month that proved such a promising start for the Irish ILCAs.
Olympians Robert Dickson and Sean Waddilove, fourth at the Paris Olympic Games, competed in the 49er fleet but were hampered by inconsistent results across the six-race series and did not compete in races four or five. The Howth and Skerries pairing finished 44th overall in a fleet of 68 boats.
A bright Irish performance came from the Royal Cork and National Yacht Club U23 pairing of Ben O’Shaughnessy and Ethan Spain, who placed 35th overall and among the leading U23 teams after six races.
In the women’s skiff fleet, Erin McIlwaine and Ellen Barbour represented Ireland in the 49erFX U23 category, finishing 29th overall from 52 entries after four races in the shortened series.
Also competing was Royal Irish Yacht Club sailor Saskia Tidey, now campaigning for Team GB with helm Freya Black, who finished 24th overall in the 49erFX fleet.
FX Fleet — The 49erFX fleet lines up in Palma Bay at the Mallorca Sailing Center Regatta, a key Olympic-class warm-up before the Trofeo Princesa Sofia later this month Photo: Bernardí Bibiloni
Racing on the final day was cancelled due to strong winds in Palma Bay, meaning the results from the previous day stood. The regatta attracted more than 300 boats from 41 nations and served primarily as a training event ahead of the Olympic-class season.
In the overall results, Nevin Snow and Ian MacDiarmid of the USA won the 49er class after completing six races, finishing ahead of Switzerland’s Sébastien Schneiter and Arno De Planta, with Poland’s Dominik Buksak and Mateusz Gwozdz third.
The 49erFX title went to Spain’s Paula Barceló and María Cantero, who prevailed after four races in a fleet of around fifty boats. Canada’s Georgia and Antonia Lewin-Lafrance finished second, with Hong Kong’s Emily Grace Polson and Tiffany Mak third.
With the Mallorca Sailing Centre Regatta complete, attention now turns to the 55th Trofeo Princesa Sofia Mallorca, which will run from 27 March to 4 April.
The event forms the opening stage of the 2026 Sailing Grand Slam and is expected to attract more than 800 teams and 1,200 sailors from 62 nations, competing across all ten Olympic sailing classes.
For Ireland’s skiff sailors, Palma provided a first benchmark of the season — and a final tune-up before the major Olympic-class test that follows later this month.
