FINN star Giles Scott and the 470 men’s pairing of Luke Patience and Elliot Willis will be looking to continue their early season form when the Princess Sofia Trophy kick-starts the European sailing season today in Palma, Majorca.

The ISAF Sailing World Cup Miami gold medallists are among the 60 British Sailing Team athletes set to compete across 10 Olympic classes and the 2.4mR Paralympic class.

This 46th edition of the annual spring regatta provides the opening event in the EUROSAF Champions Sailing Cup series.

Miami silver medallists Hannah Mills and Saskia Clark, Ben Saxton and Nicola Groves, and Portland’s Megan Pascoe will also be in action in the 470 women’s, Nacra 17 and 2.4mR events.

Some 1,200 sailors from 65 nations have signed up for the Palma event, which will not only put sailors through their paces after the winter training period, but will also provide the final chance to qualify for the ISAF Sailing World Cup Hyeres (April 22-26) under the revamped new elite series rules where just 40 boats in each Olympic class will compete.

Portland-based world champion Scott, still enjoying an 18-month winning streak, will be joined in the heavyweight Finn class by four of his Podium Potential squad team-mates, with Patience and Willis aiming high once again in the 64-boat 470 men’s event.

Mills and Clark will be joined in the 470 Women’s line-up by fellow Podium squad pairing Sophie Weguelin and Eilidh McIntyre and Podium Potential crews Amy Seabright-Anna Carpenter and Jess Lavery-Megan Brickwood, while seven of the British Sailing Team’s Podium Potential sailors will look to shine in the 162-boat Laser event.

In the Laser Radial class, Chloe Martin will have fond memories of her 2014 Princess Sofia Trophy campaign when she claimed bronze, with fellow Podium sailor Alison Young also looking to challenge.

Podium Potential sailor Ellie Cumpsty is using the event as a warm-up for her title defence at the RYA Youth National Championships in Weymouth and Portland, where racing gets underway on Monday, April 6.

Izzy Hamilton and Tom Squires will spearhead the British challenge in their respective RS:X windsurfing fleets, while in the Nacra 17 multihull event, John Gimson-Hannah Diamond will have their eyes on Hyeres qualification.

Ben Saxton and Nicola Groves and Lucy Macgregor and Andrew Walsh will have high hopes in their respective partnerships, while Podium Potential sailors Tom Phipps-Nikki Boniface will be seeking a solid start to their new team after joining forces following the Miami World Cup.

Meanwhile, Charlotte Dobson and Sophie Ainsworth will aim for a repeat of their 2014 podium finish in the 49erFX women’s skiff event, where Kate Macgregor and Kirstie Urwin will also be in action for the British Sailing Team, while four Podium Potential crews will contest the 49er event with Dylan Fletcher-Alain Sign and John Pink-Stuart Bithell opting to skip the regatta.

In the 2.4mR Paralympic class, which gets underway on Wednesday, Miami silver medallist Pascoe and Paralympic champion Helena Lucas will expect to be pushing for the podium spots once again in the 17-boat fleet.