The 47th edition of the Trofeo Princesa Sofía IBEROSTAR for Olympic, Paralympic classes and the Dragon class to be held from 25th March to 2nd April in the bay of Palma, registers a record participation in an Olympic year. Only two weeks to go for the major Mallorca sports event and near the entry deadline, the regatta has received a total of 775 entries, which will mean around one thousand sailors. In the previous Olympic year, in 2012, 580 teams participated in the regatta.
“Participation is normally lower in an Olympic year –explains Event Manager, Ferran Muniesa-, because Olympic sailors attend less regattas. In fact, all other events of the 2016 season are registering a much lower participation. This is the reason why, it has been a great surprise to see the Princesa Sofía IBEROSTAR will beat a record number of entries in an Olympic year and we will be having around the same number of entries as last year.”.
One of the consequences of this entry demand has been the increase of the Laser Class quota to 150. In the remaining nine Olympic classes, fleets will register a high participation in general and therefore some fleets will have to be split in groups. The ten Olympic Classes will meet in Mallorca, as well as Paralympic class 2.4mR and the Dragon as invited class.
The Organisation of the Trofeo Princesa Sofía IBEROSTAR has decided to increase to eight the number of racing areas to be set in waters of Mallorca “We normally had five to seven courses, this year we will fill the bay of Palma”, adds the Organisation spokesperson.
Organised by Club Nàutic S’Arenal, Club Marítimo San Antonio de la Playa and Real Club Náutico de Palma –the onshore venues for the different Classes -, racing at the 47 Trofeo Princesa Sofía IBEROSTAR will be held from Monday 28th March to Saturday 2nd April, Medal Race day. Also on 2nd April, the traditional prize giving ceremony will also take place to crown the absolute winner and winners of each Class.
But there will be much more at stake in this edition of the Princesa Sofía IBEROSTAR. The Mallorca regatta is an Olympic Qualifier event for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games and it is where the last nation slot for Europe and Africa will be decided. Furthermore, many nations –such as Spain-will use the event for their national Olympic selection.
Some of them have been training over the past days or weeks in the bay of Palma and this weekend they will participate in the Arenal Training Camps Trophy, the training regatta organised by Club Nàutic S’Arenal for the international Olympic teams that set their winter training venue here.
Furthermore, for second consecutive year, the 47 Trofeo Princesa Sofía IBEROSTAR is part of the Eurosaf Champions Sailing Cup, the Olympic Classes European Sailing Circuit.
More information and registration online at the event website
