Flying Finns win SAILING Champions League qualifier in Vilamoura, Portugal
by J/Boats 1 Apr 2023 17:20 BST
23-26 March 2023
SAILING Champions League qualifier in Vilamoura, Portugal © Prow Media
The first of three SAILING Champions League qualifiers took place last weekend in Vilamoura, Portugal for a fleet of twelve sailing clubs from across Europe.
All twelve clubs had already qualified to participate based on their national standings at the end of 2022.
Hosting the regatta was the CN Vilamoura on their fleet of six matched J/70 one-design class sailboats. The format was simple, sail for two days as many races as possible as the initial process to "qualify" the top four teams for a four-race grand finale.
After two days of sailing, standing atop the qualification leaderboard was the Esbo Segelforening Team from Finland. They were led by skipper Lucas Karlemo with a crew of Victor Mesterton, Anton Eklund, and Emil Lindbloom. Their 25 pts total gave them a commanding 10 points lead over the next team. Sitting in second in the points qualifier process was the French team from Sport Nautique et Plaisance du Havre.
The French were led by Baptiste Galaup, with a crew of Thimote Polet, Theo Constance, Antonin Robe, and Petronille Lescanne. Just one point back in third place with 36 pts was the Austrian team from Burgenlandischer Yacht Club, led by Stefan Glanz-Michaelis, with a team of Clemens Kruse, Thomas Czajka, and Valentin Unger. The fourth and final qualifier was the Swedish team from Segelsallskapet Amalsviken. The Swedish team was led by Tomas Skalen, with a crew of Fredrik Pettersson, Fredrik Edgren, and Frida Jansson.
The grand finale on Sunday proved difficult to complete due to the difficult, very light wind conditions. In the end, the standings of the qualifiers remained the same despite the completion of just one race for the finale. In that race, the Finnish team won anyways, followed by the Swedish crew, and the Austrians in third place. However, when you add up the qualification points and the final points, it was still Finland on top, with France in second and Austria in third place.
More information here.