The 54th edition of the event, the first major all-classes regatta since the Paris 2024 Games, is offering precisely that opportunity. Thursday brought brisk, offshore winds gusting to 17 knots—challenging enough to separate those who stayed sharp over the winter from those just now restarting their engines.
Among those bouncing back after a difficult Games are Erwan Fischer and Clément Péquin of France. The 49er skiff world champions finished 12th at their home Olympics in Marseille. But in Palma, they’ve rediscovered the form that first elevated them.
“We sailed really well today,” said Péquin. “We tried to keep sailing on the good shift and in the good pressure as well. If you just sailed the shift it was not enough to pass boats. It was very tricky today. But overall I think we are sailing well, we are sailing fast and working well together on the boat, it is nice to sail like this. I think we are in a good position now.”
Instead of following the migration to southern training hubs like Lanzarote or Vilamoura, the French team trained in the colder waters of Quiberon Bay, with a fleet featuring a deep pool of young sailors.
“We have a big group and that means we improved a lot, doing a lot, a lot of laps, many many starts and we all improve together. It was very, very cold in Brittany in the winter but the youth squad are doing so well and profiting,” Péquin said.
The break between campaigns also brought some perspective. “We took five months off way from the 49er. We sailed the ETF multihull with Tim Mourniac and did some other sponsor sailing on Grand Surprises out of La Rochelle. It was all fun,” he added. “I started working as it is hard to live off just Olympic sailing and so I was working in the train station in La Rochelle. I have a contract with them, they help me a lot in our project and so I have to do 50 days a year with them. I am the manager of the guys who are doing the departures and arrivals of the trains, a world I knew nothing about!”
In the ILCA 7, Britain’s Micky Beckett remains on course for his fourth consecutive title in Palma, though teammate Elliot Hanson narrowed the gap with better scores in Thursday’s 15–18 knot offshore breeze. Beckett now leads by 11 points.
“It was windy and offshore,” Beckett said. “The gap has narrowed a bit to Elliot but I am really enjoying it, though my legs are tired. I like the sailing here, it always, always demands an ability to sail well in all conditions from the windy stuff to the light, erratic stuff and that suits me. I am good at everything rather than outstanding in one area.”
Singapore’s Max Maeder, the defending champion and Olympic bronze medallist in men’s kiteboarding, surged back to the top of the rankings with three firsts and a second.
“I have been practicing my starts over the winter and that is helping, I look ahead at the course and try and judge where the wind is coming,” Maeder said. “I am no expert sailor at all so the good starts I have been practicing is helping, and good speed is helpful. I have been doing a lot of work on my technical set up and speed, and this is the time you put in in the gym, you have the gym work the equipment tuning the better starts, all these things are working right now.”
In the iQFOiL classes, where athletes are adjusting to smaller rigs for the new Olympic cycle, Britain’s Emma Wilson looks unfazed.
“We had a decent offshore breeze, shifty, gusty, quite tricky and the windiest so far this week,” she said. “I love racing with this new rig, the 7.3 suits me quite well.” Wilson now leads by 22 points.
New Zealand’s Veerle Ten Have, returning after seven months away from competition, is sitting third overall. “It’s really good to be back, this is a great competition to check in on the fleet and catch up with friends again,” she said. “There’s a lot of new girls in the fleet which is great to see. I’m only 24 but I’m starting to feel like one of the old ones!”
Australia’s Grae Morris, the men’s iQFOiL silver medallist in Paris, found his form in the breeze with scores of 1,1,11,3 to take the lead. “It’s what I’ve done pretty much all my life, so it’s my happy place,” he said. “It’s been a while since the Games, so great to be back in Palma and discover the big fleet again. I’ve been up and down the bibs this week, started with yellow, then in the red, and back in yellow again after today. I’ve been feeling a bit rusty but been doing this my whole life so it’s starting to come back to me again.”
