April’s episode of World Sailing Show recaps a star-studded 53rd Princess Sofia Regatta
The April episode of the World Sailing Show begins in Palma, Mallorca, where sailors in all 10 Olympic classes took to the waters for the 53rd Princess Sofia Regatta.
- Onboard INEOS Britannia as it capsizes during testing for the 37th America’s Cup
- Spotlight on Singapore’s kite sensation, World and European Champion Max Maeder
- SailGP heads to New Zealand for the Christchurch Grand Prix.
- Fleet sets sail in Rolex China Sea Race from Hong Kong to Subic in the Philippines
- Round up of all the action from across the sport
Olympic selection was the name of the game for many, and the event began with 470, Kites and ILCAs. The World Sailing Show meets husband and wife duo Anastasiya and Malte Winkel of Germany, who led the 470 Mixed race after the first two days of racing.
The big names in the Nacra 17, 49er and 49erFX also shone in the Mediterranean sun, showing the form that will make the upcoming Olympic Sailing Competition an exciting spectacle across all events. The World Sailing Show hears from Great Britain’s Micky Beckett, one of the favourites in the ILCA 7 and Australia’s Mara Stansky who will also be aiming for medals in the ILCA 6 at Paris 2024.
Formula Kite will make its Olympic debut at the 2024 Games, and both USA’s Daniela Moroz and Singapore’s Max Maeder will be looking to add to their impressive haul of accolades. The World Sailing Show hears from both as they continue preparations for Marseille.
Next the World Sailing Show joins the crew of INEOS Britannia, Great Britain’s 37th America’s Cup challenger as they test their new smaller test boat, the T6, before making the journey to Barcelona for this year’s competition. Plans suffered a setback as it capsized in Palma where the team is based during testing and had to be recovered while the shore crew assessed the damage. That meant that planned upgrades had to wait, but skipper Sir Ben Ainslie remains optimistic about the progress the team is making.
The World Sailing Show then catches up with Singapore’s kiting sensation, Max Maeder, who, at just 17 years of age, is already the World and European Champion. He won his first competitive tournament in 2018 but it was in 2021 when he took the sport by storm and will be looking to add Olympic Gold to his impressive list of honours this summer. He talks about how he got into kite surfing, what enjoys most about it, and his aims for the Olympics.
Season 4 of SailGP is nearing its close, and after the Sydney Grand Prix the teams remained in Australasia for the next event in Christchurch, New Zealand. A dolphin caused racing to be abandoned on the first day but when racing resumed it was the home team that picked up the victory and take the overall series lead from neighbours Australia with just four events remaining.
A fleet of 21 boats left Hong Kong headed for Subic Bay in the Philippines as part of the Rolex China Sea Race. The 565 nautical mile race saw a fierce battle between TP52 Happy Go and Standard Insurance Centennial V, but it was Happy Go who ultimately triumphed, finishing the Race just five minutes ahead of her rival to take both Line Honours and the IRC Overall win.