The Trofeo Princesa Sofía Mallorca by Fergus Hotels is heading towards the final stretch

With the fourth day of competition in the 54th Trofeo Princesa Sofía Mallorca by FERGUS Hotels underway in strong Levante winds, the grand Mallorcan regatta enters the final stretch. The world's best sailors have put their best cards on the line in the waters of the Bay of Palma, and now there's just one more day to decide who will have the honor of competing in the finals of each class on Saturday 5th of April.

Among the Spaniards, Jordi Xammar and Marta Cardona (sixth in the 470 mixed), Conrad Konitzer and Antonio Torrado (eighth in the 49er), and Joel Rodríguez (eleventh in the ILCA 7) have a good chance of being in this fight, while Patricia Suárez and Melania Henke (fourteenth in the 49er FX) and Nacho Baltasar (eighteenth in the men's iQFOiL) will have to excel tomorrow to make it into the top ten .

Britain's Martin Wrigley and Bettine Harris will head into tomorrow's decisive round from the top of the mixed 470 standings , nine points clear of Germany's Simon Diesch and Anna Markfort, and with the comfort of having a very good starting line-up. The new pairing of Catalan Jordi Xammar and Mallorca's Marta Cardona has moved up a spot in the standings and is now sixth, 14 points off the podium, after posting a 5-12 split today. Catalans Silvia Mas and Alex Marsans, meanwhile, remain in twentieth, adding 6-24 to their tally.

In the 49er category , Frenchmen Erwan Fischer and Clément Péquin were by far the best crew of the day, taking the lead from Germans Richard Schultheis and Fabian Rieger. Mallorcan Conrad Konitzer and Alicante-born Antonio Torrado remain in the top ten , ranked eighth, after achieving a score of 9-4-17. The Wizner brothers climbed seven places to move up to sixteenth. They finished 14th in the first race, but then managed to score a stage win and a sixth place, which catapulted them up the standings.

Briton Michael Beckett remains unstoppable in ILCA 7 , although it wasn't his best day. With an eleven-point lead over second-place finisher Elliot Hanson, he appears to be aiming for his fourth consecutive victory in the Trofeo Princesa Sofía Mallorca by FERGUS Hotels. Gran Canarian Joel Rodríguez had a very good race, finishing sixth, but had to settle for twenty-seventh in the next race. He now sits eleventh, six points behind the coveted top ten .

Britons Freya Black and Saskia Tidey remain leaders in the 49er FX standings by a narrow margin over Denmark's Johanne and Andrea Schmidt. With a time of 6:23:4 today, the crew of Galician Patricia Suárez and Mallorcan Melania Henke improved six places in the standings, to 14th, while Canary Islanders Alicia Fras and Elena Barrio are 22nd.

In the men's iQFOiL category , Australian Grae Morris was the best rider of the day, climbing to the top step of the provisional podium. He holds a comfortable lead of up to 36 points over his closest rival, Italian Nicolo Renna. Mallorcan Nacho Baltasar had some very good races, finishing fourth and sixth, but also earned a 50th and a DNC ("Did Not Compete"), dropping five places in the provisional standings and placing eighteenth.

In the Nacra 17 , Italians Gianluigi Ugolini and Maria Giubilei held their own, leading the standings by five points over Chinese drivers Huancheng Zhao and Su Sha. Canarians Tara Pacheco and Pablo García did not compete today and dropped to twenty-third place. One place further back are Catalans Daniel and Nora Garcia de la Casa.

In the men's Formula Kite category , Singaporean Max Maeder once again excelled in Mallorcan waters, scoring three stage wins and a second place. He now heads into the final day before the Medal Series in pole position, 19 points ahead of Austrian Valentin Bontus. Valencian Alex Climent is in 25th place, four places ahead of Jacobo Espí.

In the women's iQFOiL, Britain's Emma Wilson wasn't intimidated by the strength of the Chinese team and today secured two second places and two first places. She increased her narrow two-point lead over China's Zheng Yan yesterday to 22 points. Andalusian Pilar Lamadrid improved her performance and is now twenty-sixth, while young Mallorcan Andrea Torres is thirty-fifth.

The ILCA 6 fleet is now led by Hungary's Maria Erdi, who has a ten-point lead over her closest competitor, Britain's Daisy Collingridge, who was yesterday's leader. Among the Spanish women, Isabel Hernández from the Canary Islands is the highest-placed, finishing thirtieth. Her first race of the day is noteworthy, as she crossed the finish line in eighth place.

Among the Formula Kite women , Frenchwoman Lysa Caval lost three places due to pressure from the Chinese fleet. Wan Li is the new leader, with Si Wang and Jingyue Chen in tow.

Today, Friday 4th of April, the day that decides who will advance to the Medal Races or Medal Series on the final day will be held. In all classes, the top ten determines this cutoff, except for the iQFOiL and Formula Kite classes, where only the top eight sailors will be eligible to race on Saturday in the 54th Trofeo Princesa Sofía Mallorca by FERGUS Hotels. According to the weather forecast, moderately strong Levante winds will continue to blow.

The 54th Trofeo Princesa Sofía Mallorca by FERGUS Hotels is jointly organized by the Club Nàutic S'Arenal, the Club Marítimo San Antonio de la Playa, the Real Club Náutico de Palma, the Royal Spanish Sailing Federation, and the Balearic Sailing Federation, with the support of World Sailing, and co-financed by the Sustainable Tourism Tax fund of the Balearic Islands Government.