Palma de Mallorca, Spain. Cypriot sailor Pavlos Kontides returns to competitive sailing on Sunday at the 55th Trofeo Princesa Sofia following a back injury. He will compete alongside around 200 other athletes.
Season opener in Palma de Mallorca
Kontides is aiming to “make the best possible start to the season,” the Limassol nautical club said. He participated in an exhibition race on Thursday and finished fourth.
Kontides’ best result in Palma came in 2023, when he finished fourth, while last year he placed ninth.
2026 series schedule
The Mallorca grand slam is the first of five events in the 2026 series, with subsequent races in L’Hieres in April, the Netherlands in late May, Kiel in June, and Long Beach in mid-summer, where Kontides won bronze last year.
Other Cypriot competitors
Another Cypriot in the same class, Emilios Poeros, the bronze World Youth Champion from December 2025, is also competing. Natasa Lappa and Marilena Makri are entered in the women’s race.
Background and training
Kontides, born in Limassol, is a two-time Olympic silver medallist in the Laser class, a former world champion in 2017 and 2018, and currently ranked third in the ILCA 7 men’s rankings. He is training under Jozo Jakelic while studying nautical science at the University of Southampton and has expressed his aim of competing for Olympic gold at the 2028 Los Angeles Games.
Will you be following Kontides’ performance at the Trofeo Princesa Sofia this season?
