All of the medal winners from the Sydney Olympics were in Palma this week for the 34th Princess Sofia Trophy.

Big names like Ben Ainslie, Iain Percy and Steve Mitchell, Shirley Robertson, Ian Barker as well as Ian Walker, who was in town wearing the mantle of Shirley Robertson's coach, took part.

Heavy cloud filled sky and almost no wind delayed the start for each of the ten classes as well as the sleek Dragonn fleet.

The classes were sent out on to the bay to wait for breeze. It came and went, leaving visibility at almost nothing. This was the scenario for the next four hours.

The high performance 49er class, split into two groups for three days of qualifiers, succeeded in getting two races in for one group.

Chris Draper and 49er Olympic medallist Simon Hiscocks proved their ISAF ranking of second and held on to fourth place at close of the day. Locks Heath's Paul Brotherton and crew Mark Asquith, from Stubbington, were not quite able to surpass them due to some settings problems.

Managing an 11th, Brotherton commented: "We know what we've got to do. We finished first equal with Draper and Hiscocks in Barcelona last week so we know what we are capable of."

Ranked number seven, Alister Richardson and Peter Greenhalgh in the 49er class didn't get the chance to dip their toes in the water as they were in round two when the wind died. They were left on the beach champing at the bit.

Draper and Hiscocks finished day two in fourth place on 24 points behind the Spanish world champions with Brotherton and Asquith in eighth, but a mere four points behind them.

The sexy new asymmetric spinnaker-suited Tornado class was packed with British teams.

Ian Barker and Dan Newman, Leigh McMillan from Cowes and Mark Bulkeley from Southampton were out to give old hats Southampton's Hugh Styles and Adam May a run for their money.

Twice the multihull fleet was sent out and twice recalled.

Youngsters McMillan and Bulkeley were feeling confident about their capabilities back in the dinghy park: "Our strategy this week is consistency. The top guys have had bad results on each regatta so far. We perform well in 14 knots and above but we're not worried about the light conditions," commented McMillan.

As Britain basked in an overdue heatwave, the European island of Mallorca continued to suffer the brunt of a cold front loaded with rain and breeze which took its time to materialise but which built into a whipping 25 knots.

Leigh McMillan and Mark Bulkeley, true to the letter of their confidence at the beginning of the championship, scored a first in the opening race of day two. Meanwhile, Lymington star Ben Ainslie clocked up another first to finish the day in pole position on ten points.

Fellow Hampshire gold medallist Iain Percy, racing the Star with teammate Steve Mitchell, opened the regatta with gear failure and a tenth. They came back with a bullet on day two followed by a sixth, due again to gear failure on their new boat. However, the pair were upbeat and admitted that teething problems would invariably occur.

Friend and Finn sailor Andrew 'Bart' Simpson was heard to be taking radical steps with his mast after a disastrous day on the water.

Day three of the Princess Sofia Trophy in Palma was greeted with a good breeze beneath heavy skies. It was snorkels all round for the Star class out on the bay of Palma.

Winchester's Iain Percy and Steve Mitchell secured themselves a first to open the day holding back the Danish competition. An uncharacteristic fifth followed due to the finish boat moving anchor and their misjudging of the line. However, they came back with another bullet to slot them in second overall in the standings after three days of racing. "We're not worried," commented Percy coming ashore, "The French team is down and we are all having our bad days. We've pulled out some bullets."

Meanwhile over on the female keelboat Yngling course, Shirley Robertson from Cowes, racing with Sarah Ayton and Inga Leask, raised her overall game with two thirds. "We had trouble when the mainsail dropped twice after the start today," she continued "it is a steep learning curve for us all in the boat."

She added: "We began working with Ian Walker just two weeks ago and already we have seen great gains. He has brought a wealth of experience to our campaign."

Robertson and the team closed the day in third.

Olympic veteran Cathy Foster, whose host club is the Royal Lymington, had a difficult day in her chartered Yngling and clocked up a 19th and 22nd. However, previous results have shown that they could come good. Having performed very well finishing third in her last regatta she and her crew are the dark horses.

Lymington's Ben Ainslie continued to dominate the Finn class standings. His 3,8,1 scoreline kept his lead on 14 points, six clear of his Belgian rival and a further ten above third place. Fellow Finn sailor Andrew Simpson could not dig his way out of his problems and is lying in 19th, while Charlie Cumbley is in 22nd and Chris Brittle in 25th.

Over on the Tornado course, Southampton's Hugh Styles and Adam May led the standings in the Brit camp and are lying in fourth overall with Leigh McMillan and Mark Bulkeley in sixth.

It was Groundhog Day all over again on the 49er course as rival pairings Chris Draper/Simon Hiscocks and Paul Brotherton/Mark Asquith closed on equal points. There are now two days of final gold and silver fleet races.