Sailing is a big thing in the Spanish royal family, and a few sailing competitions, the Copa del Rey, the
H.M King Juan Carlos Trophy and
Trofeo SAR Princesa Sofia have been named for the royal family. King Juan Carlos is an avid sailor, and participated in the 1972 Olympics in München, Germany. The King participated in the dragon class.
His wife, Queen Sofia, is less competitive these days when it comes to sailing, but she too took part in the Olympics. She was a member of the Greek substitute crew for the 1960 Olympics.
Their children enjoy sailing and two of them have, like their parents, participated at the Olympics.
Their son, the Prince of Asturias,
participated in the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona, Spain. Here he competed in the soling class of the sailing competition – and came 6th.
His sister, Infanta Cristina, competed in the 1988 Olympics in Seoul, South Korea.
Cristina was, like her younger brother would be 4 years later,
the standard bearer for the Spanish delegation at the opening ceremony.
The Spanish royal family spend time every year on Palma de Mallorca, where sailing is one of the main pursuits they indulge in. The oone of the main yearly competition that takes place while the family is enjoying their Summer vacations in Palma is the
Breitling Regatta, in which
the King, the
Prince of Asturias and Infanta Cristina take part almost every year, aboard of the Bribón, the Aifos and the Azur de Puig respectively.
The remaining members of the family, including the children, watch the regata aboard the boat '
Somni', that was first used in 2003 or the yatch '
Fortuna'.
The Vikings were known for their voyages of the sea, and one thing the heir to the Norwegian throne did – was to learn to sail. King Olav V,
was an eager sailor for most of his life. He started competing as a 15 year old, in 1918 – with the boat “Teddy”. One of the biggest achievements of his sailing career was the gold he won in the 6m mixed sailing competition at the 1928 Summer Olympics in Amsterdam. In addition to being an avid sailor, he also fronted the organizational side of it, by being Chairman of Kongelig Norsk Seilforening (Royal Norwegian Yacht Club) and member of the board, as well as honorary chairman, of associations like International Yacht Racing Union.
A participant at Copa del Rey is King Harald of Norway. He has been sailing since a young age, and participated in several Olympics. Crown Prince Harald was
the standard bearer for Norway at the 1964 Olympics in Tokyo. In 1972 he and his crew came tenth in the Soling class. In 1966 he further followed in his father’s footsteps when he took over the chairman position in the Kongelig Norsk Seilforening. In 1987 he and his crew became world champions with the boat “Fram X” and in 2005 they won the European Championship with the boat “Fram XV”. Today the King sails “Fram XVI”.
The first time Queen Sonja of Norway met her future husband was at a camp for young sailors, where he pulled her scarf.
Sonja sailed as a young girl, and a while into her marriage. She also sailed in competitions. She mentioned that her most eager competitor as a sailor was her brother-in-law, Erling Lorentzen, as they sailed in the same class. Today, she prefers to leave the competing to her husband.
Their children, Märtha Louise and
Haakon Magnus, received training in sailing, but it never caught on like it did with their parents. Märtha Louise mentioned on a radio show that she was terrified the first time that she was supposed to sail a boat on her own.
Before their wedding Crown Prince Frederik of Denmark and, then, Mary Donaldson participated in a sail regatta against each other (and Denmark vs. Australia) in Copenhagen. Upon visiting Australia in 2005, the two repeated the experience. Mary and her boat won both times. Frederik is an avid sailor, and he is a member of ISAF's (International Sailing Federation) Events Committee and honorary member of Gråsten Sejlklub, The Royal Danish Yacht Club and The Royal Yacht Club of Tasmania. His wife is also a honorary member of The Royal Danish Yacht Club and The Royal Yacht Club of Tasmania.
Frederik of Denmark has, similar to his Norwegian relatives, Olav and Harald, engaged himself in the organization of the sport of sailing.
Danish Royal Watchers: Frederik at ISAF conference in Helsinki
Queen Sofia’s brother, and Frederik's uncle, Constantine of Greece was an Olympic sailing champion (Dragon class) at the Games of the 1960 Olympic Games in Rome.
The Dutch royals also enjoy their sailing, but they use it as a leisurely way to spend the time, and not competing in big international tournaments. The Prince of Orange received a small open sailboat as a wedding present from friends, and his mother, Beatrix of the Netherlands received a sailboat from the nation for her 18th birthday, De Groene Draeck. It was named for Piet Hein's ship of the same name. The Dutch royals had a photoshoot aboard the ship in 2006 -
http://www.theroyalforums.com/forums/f17/groene-draeck-photosession-6-may-2006-a-9569.html.
Prince Albert II of Monaco also counts
sailing amongst the many sport activites he enjoys.
Henri of Luxembourg reportedly also enjoys the sport - as do
his children.
