More than 700 teams registered with a month to go before the 2026 edition of the Sofia
The 55th Trofeo Princesa Sofía Mallorca by FERGUS Hotels brings together the ten Olympic sailing disciplines to compete on the Bay of Palma from 27 March to 4 April. As the first scoring event for the 2026 Sailing Grand Slam, the circuit that brings together the world's leading Olympic sailing events, it is an unmissable event for those aspiring to glory at the upcoming 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles.
Since registration opened last December, the trickle of registrations has not stopped. With exactly one month to go before the start of the event, 713 teams have already pre-registered for the Mallorcan event.
‘Some classes are already full and others still have places available, but everything points to us enjoying a great edition,’ explains Ferran Muniesa, technical director of the Sofía. ‘We have started to welcome the first sailors, who are taking advantage of the weeks leading up to the event to sail on the bay of Palma. Many of them will compete in the Mallorca Sailing Centre (MSC), the regatta we offer as training prior to the Sofia, which attracts a growing number of boats every year.’ The MSC will be held from 12 to 15 March.
In this edition of the Sofía, the second of four to be held in the current Olympic cycle, the organising committee will adapt the competition to the new formats that will be used in the upcoming Games. The aim is for sailors to be able to compete in a configuration as similar as possible to that which will be used at the Long Beach and San Pedro regatta courses in the summer of 2028. "Both at the Sofia and at the other SGS events, we are working with the classes and World Sailing to study the best way to implement a format as similar as possible to that of the Olympic Games, which will mainly affect the final three days. Looking ahead to LA 2028, the times have been reduced in most classes, especially the 470s and ILCAs, and we have to adapt that change of pace to a long-format regatta. We will also be taking a leap forward in technology: we will be the first major event to use the Vakaros system, a qualitative leap that entails changes to the rules. In this edition, we will apply it in the 49er and 49er FX classes.”
More than 50 nationalities
The provisional list includes teams from 56 nationalities, reaffirming the international character of the Sofia. By country, Spain and Italy are the largest contingents with 57 each, followed by 45 from Germany, 44 from Great Britain and 42 from China. Bulgaria, Guatemala, Luxembourg, Morocco, Monaco, Romania, Slovenia, Slovakia, Thailand and Uruguay are represented by a single team each. At the moment, five delegations are represented in all ten disciplines: Australia, France, Great Britain, Italy and Switzerland. The Spanish team has pre-registered athletes in all disciplines except Formula Kite Women.
Institutional support
In the first edition organised by Bahía Activa, the Sofía will have unprecedented institutional support, as explained by Cati Darder, president of the Federación Balear de Vela (FBV, Balearic Sailing Federation): "We are very happy about the greater involvement of the administrations and their commitment to the Sofía, especially the Balearic Government and the Council of Mallorca. It is very satisfying to see that they understand the scale of the event, its importance in showing the world our ability to organise major sporting events, and its status as an international showcase for Mallorca and the Balearic Islands".
The 55th Trofeo Princesa Sofía Mallorca by FERGUS Hotels is organised by Bahía Activa (the foundation formed by the Real Club Náutico de Palma, the Club Nàutic Arenal, the Club Marítimo San Antonio de la Playa and the Balearic Sailing Federation) and is supported by World Sailing. The event is co-financed by the Balearic Islands Government's Sustainable Tourism Tax fund and sponsored by the Mallorca Responsible Tourism Foundation.
The 55th Trofeo Princesa Sofía Mallorca by FERGUS Hotels is part of the Sailing Grand Slam 2026 alongside the Semaine Olympique Française, Dutch Water Week, Kieler Woche and Long Beach & San Pedro Olympic Classes Regatta.
