2.4mR class competing in Palma. Supplied image.
by Neus Jordi
Over 600 teams from 53 nations have already registered for the Trofeo SAR Princesa Sofia MAPFRE, first European event of the ISAF Sailing World Cup for Olympic and Paralympic events to be held in Palma de Majorca from 2nd to 9th April.
With less than two weeks for the beginning of the most important Olympic classes event held in Spain, the 42nd edition registered a record participation of nations. Korea, Kuwait and Singapore are some of the new nations represented at the Trofeo SAR Princesa Sofia MAPFRE, which in previous editions had registered around 40 to 45 nations.
“The fact of seeing new nations and having reached the impressive number of 53 nations confirms that the organisation of the Trofeo SAR Princesa Sofia MAPFRE in on the right path –says the event General manager, Jaume Carbonell-. It is the third year the event is part of the ISAF Sailing World Cup, something possible thanks to the support of the main sponsor, MAPFRE”.
Besides the number of entries, the 42nd edition of the Trofeo SAR Sofia MAPFRE also registers a high quality. Olympic medallists, World and Continental champions will meet in waters of the Bay of Palma with less than one year to go for the London 2012 Olympic Games. In fact, the event is one of the stops to obtain the Olympic passport, the main goal of most sailors during 2011.
In order to get ready for such an important competition, some of the sailors that will participate in the Trofeo SAR Princesa Sofia MAPFRE will take part this weekend in the Arenal Training Camps Trophy, the event organised by Club Nàutic S’Arenal as training for the third event of the ISAF Sailing World Cup.
Twelve classes will participate in the 42 Trofeo SAR Princesa Sofia MAPFRE. The RS:X men and women are back to Club Marítimo San Antonio de la Playa, which will also be the venue for the Laser Standard and Laser Radial. Club Nàutic S’Arenal will be the venue of the Finn, 49er and 470 M & W, while the Star and Elliott 6 – women’s match racing- will be based at Real Club Náutico. The Paralympic events, 2.4mR and Skud 18, will be based at Escuela Nacional de Vela Calanova.
The 42 Trofeo SAR Princesa Sofia MAPFRE is the third event of the ISAF Sailing World Cup, following the celebration of Sail Melbourne (Melbourne, Australia, in December) and Rolex Miami OCR (Miami, United States, at the end of January). The next event after Palma is Semaine Olympique Française (Hyères, France, at the end of April), Delta Lloyd Regatta (Medemblik, The Netherlands, in May), Skandia Sail for Gold (Weymouth, Great Britain in June) and Kieler Woche (Kiel, Germany in June).
The Trofeo SAR Princesa Sofia MAPFRE is sponsored by MAPFRE for sixth consecutive year and is organized by Club Nàutic S’Arenal, Real Club Náutico de Palma, Club Marítimo San Antonio de la Playa, Escuela de Vela Calanova and the Balearic and Spanish sailing federations. The institutional sponsors are the Govern de les Illes Balears, Palma City Council and the collaborators are Consejo Superior de Deportes, the Spanish Sports Federation for people with Physical disabilities, Ports de les Illes Balears, the Ministry of Environment, Baleares Ports Authority and Acciona.
Trofeo SAR Princesa Sofia MAPFRE
