Cascais 49er & 49erFx Championship ACT II - Day 1
by Clube Naval de Cascais 7 Jun 2021 21:15 BST
7-12 June 2021
After the first training event in May, the best sailors in the world in the Olympic Classe 49erFx class rejoined in Cascais for the last racing before the Summer 2021 Tokyo Olympics Games.
This championship will serve as a barometer for the Olympics during this summer and as it has the participation of the European Champions in 2020, Tina Lutz and Susann Buecke, with the World Champions in 2020, Tamara Echegoyen and Paula Barceló, and the Gold medallists at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Martine Grael and Kahena Kunze.
With the first warning signal scheduled for 11am, the female Olympic fleet of 21 boats, the same number of boats that will be in Tokyo within 45 days, set out to sea around 10am to find an unfit race area to start the championship. The Race Committee also tried to change the location of the race course, from Guia Race area to inside the bay, but the area with the thermic wind, Cascais Bay, was not enough to fill the race area with the necessary conditions to hold a race.
Consequently, the organization sent the fleet to wait ashore for better conditions. These winds emerged and after lunchtime the female Olympic class sailors set out to sea to again to race in Cascais. With the wind at around 10 knots and shifting right, the favourable tactical options of the boats in front were always on the right side of the course throughout the first day.
At the end of three races and at the top of the overall is the duo from the United Kingdom, Charlotte Dobson and Saskia Tidey, who won the last race of the day. In second place are the Argentine duo of Victoria Travascio and Sol Branz with a bullet in the second race. With victory in the opeing race and closing the podium at the end of the first day are the Spanish team of Tamara Echegoyen and Paula Barcelo.
In total, five continents are represented - North America, South America, Europe, Asia and Oceania - a total of 19 nationalities will sail in Cascais Bay. The championship takes place in Cascais from 7th to 12th of June and 12 races are scheduled plus a Medal Race that will count for double points.
This championship is supported by Turismo de Portugal, Visit Cascais, Cascais City Council, Portuguese Sailing Federation, Cascais Marina and Vista Alegre. We also have the institutional support of the non-governmental association Sailors For The Sea - Portugal.
Full results after 3 races can be found here...