2026 Princess Sofia Regatta: 21-strong New Zealand sailing squad set for major test as international season starts

New Zealand’s Olympic hopefuls will take centre stage when racing begins at the Princess Sofia Regatta in Palma de Mallorca, with a 21-strong Kiwi contingent launching their international campaigns at one of sailing’s premier events.

Contested on the Bay of Palma, the regatta is the first major test of the global season and an early benchmark on the road to the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games. Over six days, nearly 900 boats and boards will compete across all 10 Olympic classes — with the New Zealand squad offering a compelling blend of proven international experience and emerging talent pushing for selection.

Conditions in Palma are expected to include unseasonably cold, offshore northerly winds. Photo / Sailing Energy

Leading the charge is Nacra 17 sailor Micah Wilkinson, a bronze medallist at Paris 2024 alongside Erica Dawson, who returns to elite competition with new crew Kate Stewart. Wilkinson is one of four Kiwis in the fleet with Olympic experience, alongside Lukas Walton-Keim, Greta Pilkington, and Veerle ten Have.

But it is the emerging names who could make the biggest impact this week.

Young windsurfers Stella Bilger and Aimee Bright have been in impressive form since finishing first and second respectively at the under-23 world championships last year, while Eli Liefting — competing in the men’s iQFOiL — claimed bronze at the same event a year earlier.

Greta Pilkington is the sole Kiwi competitor in the ILCA 6. Photo / Sailing Energy

There is also significant depth across several fleets. The ILCA 7 class features a three-strong Kiwi lineup in former combined world championship bronze medallist George Gautrey, Caleb Armit and George Pilkington. At the same time, the 49er skiff sees three New Zealand pairings — Francesco Kayrouz and Hamish McLaren, Mattias Coutts and Oscar Gunn, plus Sam Bacon and Blake McGlashan — entering an increasingly open field. With Paris 2024 silver medallists Isaac McHardie and Will McKenzie no longer campaigning, and rising talents Seb Menzies and George Lee Rush absent in Spain, the opportunity is there for new combinations to stake an early claim.

Elsewhere, Walton-Keim is joined in the men’s kitefoil by Toby Wigglesworth and Lochy Naismith, while Lucy Bilger represents the women’s fleet. In the ILCA 6, Greta Pilkington flies solo, and in the men’s iQFOiL, Liefting is joined by Blake Hinsley. Ten Have, Bright and Bilger round out a strong women’s windsurfing trio.

Conditions this week could prove pivotal. Forecasts suggest unseasonably cold, offshore northerly winds sweeping across Palma, creating shifty and unpredictable racing — the kind that rewards instinct as much as preparation. Compounding the challenge is a new competition format placing greater emphasis on final-day performance, increasing pressure across the fleet.

Racing begins with the boat classes overnight (NZ time), before the board fleets join the programme.

Click here for more information.