470 Open European Trophy & Master's Cup 2026 - Day 3
by International 470 Class Association 17 Sep 17:56 BST
14-19 September 2026
470 Open European Trophy & Master's Cup 2026 - Day 3 © 470 Olympic Class / Karolina Soltaniuk
The third day of the 470 Open European Trophy & Master's Cup 2026 in Portorož was dominated by heavy rain, unstable winds and two thunderstorms.
The challenging weather postponed the racing schedule, but the Race Committee managed to complete just one race in light and highly variable conditions.
The fleet was scheduled to start racing at 13:30, but competitors had to wait for the storms to pass before heading out on the water.
"We finished the third day of the Master's Cup and it was quite a tricky day. Already yesterday evening, we were studying the weather forecast a lot because two thunderstorms were scheduled to pass through this morning. I think we managed to get the timing quite right", said Race Officer Bojan Gale.
"We were scheduled to have the first warning at 13:30, and at one o'clock we were able to go out, so we missed it a little bit. After going out, we were expecting some north-easterly wind and we had everything except north-easterly today."
One race after a long wait
The first attempts to establish a race course proved unsuccessful as the wind shifted.
"Strange northerly wind established. We tried once to set up the course, but the wind shifted by 60 degrees, so we abandoned it. We tried again 15 or 20 minutes later, and this time it was successful. We managed to do one race."
The race itself was another test for the crews, with significant shifts and difficult conditions throughout the course.
"It was a really, really tricky race. Probably some crews were very happy, and probably some were really unhappy if they missed the shifts. On the second wind shift, it was really painful for them. But this is sailing", Gale added.
Kocijancic and Planinšic take the win
The only race of the day was won by Marko Kocijancic and Željko Planinšic, who moved up to seventh place overall in the 470 Open European Trophy & Master's Cup standings.
Ivica Bonacin and Luca Falcioni of Italy crossed the finish line in second place. Their strong result also moved them into third place overall in the 470 Open European Trophy.
The overall lead remains in Swiss hands. Julian Flessati and Stephan Ammann finished fourth in today's race and continue to lead the general classification, maintaining a 10-point advantage over Slovenia's Dušan Puh and Matjaž Puh. Dušan Puh, one of the oldest sailors in the fleet, is competing alongside his son, Matjaž.
Masters categories
Swiss crews also continue to lead the Apprentice Masters category. In the Grand Grand Masters, the leading team is Ivica Bonacin and Luca Falcioni, while Dušan and Matjaž Puh lead the Grand Masters. The Masters category is led by Miran Gustin and Ela Žagar.
According to the schedule, Friday will be a reserve day, giving the competitors and Race Committee a chance to recover before the final day of competition on Saturday.
With the weather already playing a major role in the regatta, the final day promises to provide another test for the experienced 470 crews competing in Portorož.
Find full results here