We came sixth place at the Princess Sofia Trophy! 

The longest running regatta in Olympic sailing, which was downgraded from the World Cup to the European Cup status, this year was attended like every year by the best in the world. 

The sailing conditions were very challenging for all participants. For the Bay of Palma, the wind was unusually gusty and unpredictable. The reason for this was a large low pressure system north of the island, which competed with the onset of daily sea breeze. Our weather was a mishmash of both systems and therefore very drehig and gusty. All the more pleased we were that we sailed us with consistent results to the Medal Race.

Our starting position for the Medal Race was perfect for an offensive tactic. So we made a risky start directly on the line back and led the race at the first mark. The Australian, who showed a bit more courage on the downwind, went on a corner and passed us. We rounded the leeward marks in second and sailed to this finsih despite difficult conditions to the finish.  Since the points differences through the top ten were small, we slipped upward through our super Medal Race to sixth place!

The Princess Sofia Trophy was doubly important for the German starter this year, because this regatta and the World Cup next week in Hyères count as elimination races for the pre-Olympics. The “pre-Olympics” are an important way to get more information about the sailing area in Rio for the organizers to collect a test regatta and for us sailors.

The qualification for the pre-Olympics is performed similarly, as the qualification for the right Olympics. Each team will sail for its result a certain score 25 to 1.  A placement among the top 3 scores more than the fourth place. The points of Palma and Hyères are counted together and the team with the higher score will be nominated by the DSV.

Through our sixth place at the Princess Sofia Trophy we collected 15 points and eleven points ahead to the next German team. This is a convenient starting point but we will race Hyeres without taking it lightly and be fully focused from the start.

The World Cup in Hyeres will take place from 04.20 to 26.04. Information found at:http://swc.ffvoile.com   (From experience of recent years is the site not up to date)