The Princess Sofia Trophy regatta in stunning Palma de Mallorca is arguably the largest – and most loved – Olympic classes regatta in the calendar. It also happens to be the 2023 season opener – and what a season this promises to be. Racing starts on Monday, April 3, and runs until Saturday, April 8.
There have been a few smaller regattas over the winter period, but this is the first biggie, and the who of Olympic sailing will be at it. More than 1,300 sailors from 67 countries are set to compete.
As regular Afloar readers will know, Irish Olympic sailors have already been in action this year at the ILCA European Championships. Finn Lynch finished 13th overall (but a top-10 European finish), and Eve McMahon scored 16th.
The pressure is starting to mount with Paris 2024 a little over a year away. Each nation will want to get one over on its rivals, while the athletes themselves will be looking to not only better their international competition but also stake a claim to the sole place in each of the ten classes for Paris 2024.
Palma Bay is known for its ability to chuck all sorts of weather at sailors, which always makes for an exciting week.
Competing for Ireland in the week-long regatta (Monday, 3 to Saturday, 8 April) are Rio Olympian Lynch and Ewan McMahon in the ILCA 7 and his sister Eve in the ILCA 6.
In the 49er skiffs are Tokyo Olympians Robert Dickson and Seán Waddilove, and rivals for the single Paris 2024 berth Séafra Guilfoyle and Johnny Durcan.
Dun Laoghaire's Saskia Tidey of the Royal Irish Yacht Club, an Irish Rio 2016 Olympian, competes for Team GB with Freya Black, who will be looking to avenge their 2022 that saw them miss out on the 49erFX medal race by a single point.
The official website featuring results and the full entry list is here, but if you want to track the progress of the Irish, the best place to do so is Afloat.ie. We will update you daily on the results and feature the event's best Irish photos.