J70 kick start in Cascais in the SailCascais Trophy, first stage of its Winter Series in the class
by Clube Naval de Cascais 20 Oct 2023 16:24 BST
13-15 October, 2023
Clube Naval de Cascais hosted last weekend the 3rd SailCascais Trophy, this time in J70. 13 boats from 5 countries took part in the event that marked the debut of J70 fleet racing in Cascais, and the first of six stages of their 2023/24 winter Series for the Class. A strong presence from the Spanish Atlantic fleet from Galicia was critical for the succes of the event. A team from Finland, Sweden and the UK also joined the lfast developing ocal fleet.
Top spanish team, MarNatura of Luis Bugallo with Enrique Freire, Pablo Garcia, Miguel Calvo and Miriam Oliva was the big winner leading from start to end with scores of 1, 1, 2, 2, 4, 1. An almost perfect series for the team from Galicia, a consistent top 7 at Worlds and Europeans. Local team and current J70 European Champions Solyd Property Developers/SailCascais of Vasco Serpa, Afonso Domingos, Diogo Pinto and Federico Melo finished second (2, 4, 1, 4, 3, OCS). In the battle for third Abril Verde of Luis Perez Canal with Carlos Sanmartin, Cesar Torné, Luis da Rocha and Juan Comingues also from the Real Club Nautico de Vigo, beat Swedish-Spanish team of GP Bullhound/Garm led by Per Romain from KSSS and Abril Rojo of Jorge Perez Canal also from RCNVigo.
An east/southeast light breeze inconsistent in direction dominated the first day. it was a long and difficult day at sea as the fleet only completed one race after several attempts that were abandoned throughout the day due to the conditions. In the only regatta raced victory went to MarNatura, with Solyd Property Developers in second. GPBullhound/Garm closed the podium.
The second day was business as usual in Cascais. The sun was back and a NW filled in allowing 4 races to be completed in the Guia course, west of the bay, in 10 to 12knts of breeze. 4 races, 4 winners. The first went to Marnatura of Luis Bugallo, that after a close fight with Abril Rojo of Jorge Perez Canal, got the upper hand on the last run by choosing the right hand side where the pressure prevailed. Abril Verde of Luis Pérez Canal closed the top three. Second race went to Solyd Property Developers of Vasco Serpa that took the lead by going on high mode in the first run. Marnatura followed and Jellyfish of British Tim Dickinson closed the podium. Race three went to Per Roman of Sweden with Gustavo Martinez Doreste that sailed a brilliant last run on wing-on-wing to pass Marnatura. Abril Rojo was third. Fourth race was for Abril Verde that chose the right hand side on the first upwind and led from start to finish. Their lead was never questioned. Pazo de Cea of Andres de Cominges beat Solyd Property Developers in the battle for second. It was a beautiful day out there. Easy. First start at 2pm and before 6pm last boat had crossed the line in the fourth race. After that the fleet conveyed in the club for a happy hour and socialize. Tomorrow a southerly breeze is forecasted and the first start is scheduled for 12pm.
The last day started with a solid 14knots SE breeze but the low clouds made the wind very unstable. MarNatura won the only race completed on the last day. Abril Verde of Luis Perez Canal beat GPBullhound/Garm over the finish line to take second in the race and third overall. Soly Property Developers/SailCascais were OCS on the race. A second race was cancelled on the first downwind as the wind became too variable and a third race was cancelled as the new SW was fading quick after the start. Marnatura got also top honours in the Corinthian division and on the first team helmed by a woman the prize went to Violeta Alvarez of Estela with Pablo Iglesias, David Madrazo and Gerado Prego from the Royal Yacht Squadron and Real Club Náutico de Vigo.
Next stop for the J70s in Cascais is on the 11th & 12th of November.
Full results available here.