Lanzarote, the first event for Balearic pre-Olympic sailors

Olympic sailing returns this Friday, February 14, to Marina Rubicón with the fifth edition of the Lanzarote International Regatta, a competition that was born during the pandemic and has since established itself as the opening event of the international sailing calendar.

This 2025 edition will feature four Olympic classes—49er, 470 Mixed, ILCA 6, and ILCA 7—and, as a new addition, the event will also include dinghy sailing, with the Snipe class as an invited category.

The 49er class will be the first to compete, kicking off this fifth edition. The 49er regattas will begin on Saturday, February 15, and conclude on Tuesday, February 18, crowning the first champions of the Lanzarote International Regatta in this new Olympic cycle.

Among the competing crews from Greece, the Netherlands, and the United States, the Spanish pre-Olympic teamwill also take part, including Martín and Jaime Wizner (Galicia), Conrad Konitzer from Club Nàutic S’Arenal and his partner Antonio Torrado (Comunidad Valenciana), as well as Pol Marsans (Catalonia) and Pablo Llorens (Galicia).

From Thursday, February 20, to Sunday, February 23, the 470 Mixed, ILCA 6, and ILCA 7 classes will compete across two racecourses. Each class will race up to 10 regattas, followed by the Medal Race, in which only the top 10 crews will qualify. The Snipe class will also join the competition over the weekend.

The 470 Mixed class debuted as an Olympic event in Paris 2024 and will be featured for the third consecutive year at the Lanzarote International Regatta. Notably, a new Spanish crew will compete with the goal of representing Spain at the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics. This team is formed by Silvia Mas from Club Nàutic S’Arenal, who recently participated in the Women's America’s Cup, and her partner Alex Marsans.

The duo has been sailing together since December and is taking full advantage of Lanzarote’s ideal training conditionsfor water sports athletes: "We are here in January and February because we consider Lanzarote the best place for high-quality training: it has sun, warm temperatures, we can spend long hours on the water, and there are all kinds of wind conditions—both strong and light. Depending on the area, there are also different wave conditions. I think it's the most complete place for training and having a great pre-season," says Silvia Mas.

"I was considering not returning to the 470 class, but after the America's Cup in Barcelona, where Alex was part of the shore team, he suggested we start this project, and we saw that it could work. This year is a comeback for me after a year and a half away from the class, and for him, it’s a new class. But our long-term goal is Los Angeles 2028," she adds.

ILCA 7, formerly known as the Men’s Laser class, will be the largest fleet, featuring competitors from Austria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Ireland, Montenegro, Monaco, the Netherlands, Poland, Slovenia, Switzerland, and Spain, including Canarian sailors Pablo García and Samuel Jay. In the ILCA 6 women’s class, Canarian sailor Tara Pacheco will compete.

"This regatta is a unique opportunity for the best athletes to test their strength at the start of this new Olympic cycle,"stated Marina Rubicón CEO Rafael Lasso. "The goal is to establish Lanzarote as a center of excellence for world-class sailing."