Palma, Apr 8 (EFE).- The Singaporean Max Maeder, who haggled in the new Formula Kite Men Olympic class, was the best among the almost 1,300 sailors who competed in the largest edition in the history of the 52nd Princess Sofia Mallorca Trophy by iberostar.
Jordi Xammar and Nora Brugman got the 470 Mixed bronze and were the only Spaniards on the podium of the great regatta that crowned the winners of each class and revealed the identity of the absolute champion.
The first major Olympic class test of 2023 confirmed Great Britain as the great dominator among the 66 participating countries, with six medals (four gold and two silver).
The British landed in Mallorca with 62 teams and representation in the ten classes. They were followed in number of metals by New Zealand and France, both with one gold, one silver and two bronzes.
The hopefuls for Olympic glory will meet again in Hyeres from April 22 to 29 for the next event of the Sailing World Cup 2023, the Semaine Olympique Française.
This Saturday, the traditional Embat from the Bay of Palma accompanied the best Olympic specialists in the world in the final day of the Princesa Sofía, the first qualifying event for the Sailing World Cup 2023.
After five days of competition for 976 crews and 1,259 sailors from 66 countries distributed over eight regatta fields, the final day brought together only the top hundred of each of the ten Olympic classes to reveal the identity of the champions.
745 days after the opening ceremony of the 2024 Paris Olympic Games, Sofia served as the starting signal for a season that is key to defining the first Olympic places.
In 470 Mixed, Jordi Xammar and Nora Brugman gave their all to defend last year’s title but they had to settle for bronze.
The Catalans came second in the Medal Race and managed to lead the final at times, mathematically aiming for gold while their main rivals, the Japanese Keiju Okada and Miho Yoshioka, were last.
The dream faded as the finish line approached, which they would finally cross fifth.
The Asians fared no better (ninth), but the comfortable advantage they accumulated allowed them to take the final victory. The decisive assault was won by the Germans Luise Wanser and Philipp Autenrieth, which was enough to snatch the second final place from Xammar and Brugman.
Diego Botín and Florian Trittel in 49er finished with a victory in the Medal Race, a psychological victory that earned them a place in the table and finished ninth overall.
The title went to the New Zealanders Logan Dunning Beck and Oscar Gunn, second in the Medal Race, accompanied on the podium by the Australians Tom Burton and Max Paul and also Kiwis Isaac Mchardie and William Mckenzie.
Two-time Brazilian 49erFX Olympic champions Martine Grael and Kahena Kunze took the Medal Race win to clinch the title at the Princesa Sofía, improving on their second-place finish from last year.
The Dutch Odile Van Aanholt and Annette Duetz (2022 champions) finished second, tied on points with the Argentines Maria Sol Branz and Cecilia Carranza.
In Formula Kite Men, the final victory went to Max Maeder. At 16 years of age, the Singaporean also won the absolute champion title thanks to an impressive scoreboard that closed with ten partial wins in 17 sleeves, including the last one.
Maeder is the second Asian athlete to win the absolute Sofia trophy after the victory in 2019 of Chinese Yue Ten, a windsurfer from the previous Olympic board, RS:X. Second finished the British Connor Bainbridge and third the French Axel Mazella.
In Formula Kite Women, the French Lauriane Nolot confirmed her excellent performance in the waters of Mallorca, signing her eighth partial victory of the week to be crowned champion of her class.
The British Ellie Aldridge and the French Poema Newland completed the podium of the women’s kite flying fleet.
The Dutch triple Olympic medalist Marit Bouwmeester arrived at the Medal Race in ILCA 6 wearing the champion’s crown achieved the previous day. The Australian Zoe Thomson and the Dutch Maxime Jonker completed the podium in this order, maintaining the positions with which they had entered the final.
In ILCA 7, the British Michael Beckett had also won before the final, defending the title obtained in 2022 and reaffirming his status as a benchmark in Sofia’s largest class (184 boats).
The battle in the Medal Race came down to the two podium places available. The last cartridge was used by the New Zealander George Gautrey to achieve second place ahead of the Croatian Tonci Stipanovic, Olympic runner-up in Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020.
In iQFOiL Men, the British Samuel Sills ended a good week by winning the final and taking the victory of Princesa Sofía with a five-point advantage over the German Sebastian Koerdel, second. Third finished the Israeli Tom Reuveny.
In iQFOiL Women, the British Emma Wilson had earned a direct pass to the final as the best of the previous series, and the bronze medal of RS:X in Tokyo 2020 did not fail. France’s Lucie Belbeoch was second, ahead of New Zealand’s Veerle Ten Have.
The Tokyo 2020 runners-up, the British John Gimson and Anna Burnet in Nacra 17, made their experience count, and with a second in the final they snatched victory from the Italians Vittorio Bissaro and Maelle Frascari. Gianluigi Ugolini and Maria Giubilei, also Italians, finished third, while Ruggero Tita and Caterina Banti, current Olympic champions and absolute winners of the 2022 Princess Sofia Trophy, stayed at the gates of the podium. EFE
1000336
pcl/cri/asc
