Consistency is keynote as Sofía moves to Finals phase

With classes moving into the Gold fleet phase today at the 54 Trofeo Princesa Sofía Mallorca by FERGUS Hotels on Mallorca’s Bay of Palma so the intensity stepped up and consistency became most important.

Runners up here to their teammates double Olympic champions Ruggero Tia and Caterina Banti last year Gianluigi Ugolini and Maria Guibilei seem set to carry on the Italians’ golden legacy. The two times Worlds silver medallists are seven points clear of the impressive, improved Chinese duo Huangcheng Zhao and Su Sha. Britain’s 2020 Olympic silver medallists John Gimson and Anna Burnett are third.

“Sailing in those conditions is very hard,” smiled Giubilei through her obvious exhaustion. “You have to move a lot on the downwinds, adjusting the gennaker all the time, it’s very stressful and you can never give up.”

The Round Up

In the 49er men’s skiff it was the first day of gold fleet racing for the top 25 teams, but the rise in quality did nothing to break the impressive stride of German crew Richard Schultheis and Fabian Rieger. They sailed a solid four heats in light to moderate and very shifty breeze, rounding off the afternoon with a race win before heading back to the beach in Arenal.

France’s reigning world champions Erwan Fischer and Clement Péquin are in second place and six points off the German lead. “It was exhausting for the muscles and the brain out there,” said Pequin. “The fleet was very tight so we needed to make good decisions.

“In the first race we started badly and rounded the top mark in about 15th. We did a lot of gybes on the downwind, maybe around six, and we were third or fourth at the bottom, so that was a really good moment for us.”

GBR’s Freya Black and Saskia Tidey lead the 49er FX Women’s skiffs.

Results: https://www.trofeoprincesasofia.org/en/default/races/race-resultsall