Thrilling Finals showdowns as ten Sofía titles decided on glorious Bay of Palma
The new format for the dinghy, skiff and multihull classes - on test for the first time – is now more designed to reward supreme consistency and the two-race Finals produced no shortage of drama and upsets. And still, the ‘sudden death, first past the post’ format favoured by the Kites and iQFOiL windsurfers still saw one long time leader who had accumulated a ‘picket fence’ of a dozen wins beaten to the Sofía title.
Sweden’s Nacra 17 winners Emile Järudd and Hanna Jonsson were the model of consistency through a very challenging week, holding the leaders yellow bib from the start of the week all the way through to today’s Finals Series when a fifth and a second was enough for their first major regatta win together, a first podium since 2023’s world championship bronze. They were cool under pressure on the race tracks and dealt with adversity off the water, both losing their respective grandfathers during the regatta but also fighting through a virulent bout of flu.
The Swedes left Argentina’s Olympic silver medallists Majdalani and Eugenia Bosco as runners up, Britain’s world champions John Gimson and Anna Burnett scraping to the bronze medal with an excellent last race win.
Jonsson smiled, “It has been a good week for us sailing wise on the water but both our grandads passed away in the week so it has been emotional off the water. We dedicate this victory to Henning and Roy. My grandad thought a boat was going too fast if it was moving more than 2 knots so he was never going to be a Nacra 17 sailor for sure!”
The Women’s Formula Kite finale saw France’s two times world champion Lauriane Nolot snatch victory from Holland’s world champion Jessie Kampman who has dominated the week.
“I am happy to win but I am not really the winner… Jessie was ahead of me all week she was the faster all week but I just won the race today.” Nolot volunteered, “This new format is so interesting for this, yesterday I had to keep it clear and rest as much as possible because I knew today everything is back to even. First or second (going into the final) does not matter so why would I push all week long, only the last day matters. I had a pretty good start, I think maybe a lot of the other girls did not know that we were starting, a protest was going on with the guys and I suppose they thought they would get the Men’s protest result and then send the Men’s Final, but we were off. We had no idea! There was no time to stress and I had the speed edge, I was fast.”
The Men’s Formula Kite final went the way of 19 year old Max Maeder (SGP), Olympic bronze medallist, who now matches ILCA 7 racer Micky Beckett’s record of four consecutive Sofía titles. Maeder won the overall Sofia trophy in 2023. Maeder reported, “I got a really good start, on time with speed and position to fight, putting all my training to good use on the water. And it is great to win again. All week I did not look at the positions or the results so it is good to come out on top.”
Wearn wins
Australia’s double Olympic champion proved unstoppable on his return to the ILCA 7 Men’s singlehander class. He won the second of today’s two single points Finals Series deciders to leave Britain’s Elliot Hanson – last year’s runner up – to second by ten points. A problematic final day for Beckett, who had several penalties in the last race, sees him third overall.
Wearn enthused, “I am feeling good in the boat, the fitness is one aspect, but the other is knowing where to put a boat on the race course which is the biggest thing. It was quite daunting at the start of the week coming back into a big fleet here. But I felt right at home as the week went on. Honestly today it was quite hard to know what to do. There were a few others who could potentially beat me so you have to go about your business and see how things go and then look at the second race. I was very happy that it was only Micky who could topple me and so it was a bit easier to control that situation. We will see how this folds in the future if we keep doing it, but it is a bit hard to know what to do.”
Micky Beckett wasn’t happy to see that run of four consecutive victories come to an end in Palma today, but said: “I’m not done yet. Now I’ve got to go and win in Hyères [South of France, later this month]. I was the only person in the last race who could still topple Matt [Wearn], so I got a bit of extra attention from him which is fair enough. But he won the last race and I was last after getting some penalties. I got one for hitting a mark, which I can understand, but the others I’m not quite clear about.”
Duelling
A spirited ILCA 6 showdown carried through from yesterday. Friends and training partners Ireland’s Eve McMahon and GBR’s Daisy Collingridge had engaged in a match race during yesterday’s last race but the two leaders’ tussle continued today. But McMahon sailed ‘the race of my life’ to win the second race today to triumph by a single point over Collingridge who was third last year.
Howth’s two times Under 21 world champion McMahon was delighted, “As a result this is pretty up there. It is one of the biggest regattas to win.”
Recalling today’s scraps, “I had a feeling the British girl who was leading after the first one (Daisy Collingridge, GBR) was going to come after me. I defended it really well and wiggled my way out of it. I knew I had no chance of dropping to bronze so I was going…. “right, I'm going to hand it right back to her. So I handed it back to her and we had a real good tussle.”
‘All fair in love and war…'
She finished, “We knew we are obviously really good friends, but we knew once we were out on the water that all is fair in love and war. We had a great battle and I had the race of my life. I said to my coach, right, I have to pull out a magic trick here and that's what I did. I had a great race and managed to get six boats between us.”
Canadians triumph
Whilst there was bitter disappointment for local Spanish favourites Paula Barceló and Maria Cantero who failed to convert their overnight lead to victory in an ultra-close 49erFX Women’s skiff shoot out. With just two points separating the top three going into the last day, Barcelo and Cantero won the first Finals race but then had a disastrous last one, finishing 10th. Meantime Canada’s Georgia and Antonia Lewin-Lafrance crossed the finish line in fifth, believing they might have a podium but totally unaware they had won…by a single point. Germany’s Sophie Steinlein and Catherine Bartelheimer and the Spanish duo Barcelo and Cantero finish tied, the Germans getting second on countback.
The sisters said, “We are so happy for each other and happy to fly the Canadian flag here. We were quite consistent, we did not have very many results in the top three but not many outside the Top 10. And it was a bloody challenging week. We have been sailing the FX since 2018 and not many regattas have been that difficult, the offshore conditions we did not see in training, you don’t see this very often. I think we managed to be good enough. This is a glorious moment winning a big regatta like this. We are so grateful to bring our sponsors and supporters and to it for them, and for family and friends and people who look up to us and follow us. It means a lot to be able to do this for them.”
Germany’s skiff champs
Germany’s Richard Schultheis and Fabian Rieger were a newly formed partnership when they finished runners-up last year in the 49er Men’s Skiff. Their fourth and a win in the second race today was enough to give them the Palma title after USA’s Nevin Snow and Ian MacDiarmid misread the first beat on the opening race.
Rieger, the winning crew, said, “We got better every day and picked up points every day I think and winning the medal race in a nice sea breeze today was super awesome. We are very different people and it are a good match. We work well on the water. Richard is super calm on board and does not rush to make decisions.”
While their 49er FX compatriots faltered, the Spanish favourites in the 470s delivered, Jordi Xammar and Marta Cardona winning ahead of European Champions Martin Wrigley and Bettine Harris (GBR) who triumphed last year but struggled in the early part of the week.
Cardona who sails for the home Arenal club said, “You never expect to win a Trofeo Princesa Sofía Mallorca so young, at just 20 years old. It is especially thrilling because it's here in Mallorca, at my club, Club Nàutic S'Arenal, where I first started sailing and where my Olympic career with Jordi began. I’ve always followed the Trofeo Sofía, and to get here and win it is the best thing that could have happened to me. My family and friends were here with me today."
French ace Nico Goyard won the Men’s iQFOil title and Tamara Steinberg the Women’s event, Goyard smiled “This is really good. Not only because it is the top spot, but because it is just validating all the work I’ve been doing behind the scenes and so many steps that I’ve been working on. I just feel like this is a new step going forward, and I’m just super happy about it, even more than the result itself — like what it means behind it.”
Steinberg concluded, “I’m really happy to win in Palma. It’s a quite special race. I think it’s one of the most important competitions for us and everybody is here, so it’s really lovely to compete here. The organisation was wonderful and, yeah, I had a lot of fun. For today, I came with confidence because I know those conditions are quite good for me. After the first over-early, I had a bit of luck that everybody was over-early, and then on the next race we all started at the same time. From then on I knew I just need to come out well out of the start and go fast, rely on my speed.”
The 55th Trofeo Princesa Sofia Mallorca by FERGUS Hotels is organised by Bahía Activa (the foundation formed by the Real Club Náutico de Palma, the Club Nàutic Arenal, the Club Marítimo San Antonio de la Playa and the Balearic Sailing Federation) and is supported by World Sailing. The event is co-financed by the Balearic Islands Government’s Sustainable Tourism Tax fund and sponsored by the Mallorca Responsible Tourism Foundation. The event forms part of the 2026 Sailing Grand Slam alongside the Semaine Olympique Française, Dutch Water Week, Kieler Woche and the Long Beach & San Pedro Olympic Classes Regatta.
