World Sailing Inclusion Championships 2026 in Portimão, Portugal - Day 5
by World Sailing 9 Oct 20:26 BST
5-10 October 2026
The joy of the fight: Cichocki chases golden double in Portimão
For Poland's Piotr Cichocki, the thrill of competition has never faded. After decades on the water, a life-changing medical condition and a career spanning offshore sailing and the Paralympic Games, the experienced sailor is still driven by the same feeling: having a rival breathing down his neck.
At the World Sailing Inclusion Championships in Portimão, Portugal, Cichocki is competing on two fronts, racing the Para Inclusive One Person Keelboat (Hansa 303) and also alongside his wife, Joanna, in the two-person event.
And while the competition is fierce, there is something special about sharing the experience with his wife.
"My wife is fantastic, both at home and on the boat!" he said with a laugh.
The Polish pair have enjoyed an impressive championship so far, picking up seven race wins cross the ten races held so far to build a 20-point lead heading into Saturday's final day.
And with three solid races also in the singles event on Friday, Cichocki overtook overnight leader Jens Kroker from Germany and now sits in pole position in two events.
"The sailing itself wasn't easy," Cichocki said. "We had very changeable wind directions and, on top of that, very strong currents in both events."
Despite the challenges, he was delighted with how his racing had gone.
"Of course I'm happy. I haven't been this happy for a long time."
For Cichocki, sailing has been a lifelong passion, taking him from ambitious offshore campaigns to the highest levels of para sailing.
He was involved in a round-the-world sailing campaign when he developed the medical condition that would change the course of his life.
"It was during that round-the-world sailing that I developed the condition that led to me competing as a sailor with a disability," he explained. "I have artificial joint replacements in both legs."
Rather than stepping away from competition, Cichocki found a new pathway through para sailing, going on to represent Poland at the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games and establishing himself as a multiple world champion.
Last year in Oman, he won gold at the inaugural edition of the World Sailing Inclusion Championships, sailing alongside Olga Górnas-Grudzien in the RS Venture Connect.
This year, he has returned to the championship in a different boat and with a different sailing partner.
For a sailor who has spent so much of his life on the water, the type of boat may change, but the attraction of racing remains the same.
"What I love most about sailing is the competition, feeling my opponent breathing down my neck," he said. "I like the fight."
With the 2026 championships approaching their conclusion in Portimão, Cichocki is already looking towards another opportunity to compete on the world stage.
In 2027, the World Sailing Inclusion Championships will form part of the World Sailing Championships in Gdynia, Poland, giving him the prospect of racing in front of a home crowd.
With two gold medals in Portimão potentially within his grasp, Cichocki has plenty to fight for on Saturday.
Just two points separate him from Germany's Jens Kroker heading into the final day of the Para Inclusive One Person Keelboat event, with home favourite João Pinto occupying the bronze medal position.
Cichocki and wife Joanna have a more commanding advantage in the Inclusive Two Person Keelboat, holding a 20-point lead after winning seven of the ten races sailed so far. Behind them, Oman's Malik Al Qartoubi and Ghalya Al Jabri are tied on points with Korea's Mun Sungwon and Dongjin Yun in the battle for silver, with Portugal's Carlos Santos and João Pinto just two points further back.
In the Para Inclusive Two Person Keelboat (RS Venture Connect), Sweden's Fia Fjelddahl-Patric Rosenberg picked up two more race wins on Friday to extend their lead to ten points over Spanish duo Pau Toni Homar-Ramón Gutiérrez, with Norway's Stian Kristiansen-Elliot Finnestrand in third overall.
Great Britain's James Coxon won all three of Friday's races in the Para Inclusive One Person Multihull event to stretch his lead over compatriots Val Millward and Bex Foulsham, while Finland's dominance in the Para Inclusive One Person Technical Keelboat (2.4mR) continues. Marko Dahlberg still tops the all-Finnish podium spots over Rikard Bjurström, with Otto Dahlberg overtaking Niko Salomaa into the bronze medal position.
The American quartet of Duane Farrar, Barbara Bielinski, Denis Bell and Solomon Marini sailed into the top three of the Vision Impairment (RS21) event on the penultimate day of competition, with Britain's Lucy Hodges, Jamie Tylecote, Liam Cattermole and Steve Tylecote and Spain's Dani Anglada Pich, Carmen Lopez Garcia, Jordi Sánchez Pérez and Monica Azon Canalda maintaining the top two positions.
Vietnam's Truc Diep and British rider Charlie Wolf shared a race win apiece in the two races held in the Inclusive Wingfoil event. Wolf leads the fleet, with compatriot Jazz Turner moving into overall second with two third places on the water today.
After three races on Friday, there were no changes to the leaderboards in either the Para Intellectual Impairment or Inclusive Cognitive Impairment events, sailed in ILCA 6s. Hong Kong China's Tsz Hin Cheung leads the para standings and Portugal's José Campos is in front in the inclusive category.
The 2026 World Sailing Inclusion Championships in Portimão, Portugal, concludes on Saturday 10 October, and is delivered in partnership with Vela Solidária, the Municipality of Portimão, and the Portuguese Sailing Federation with backing from The America's Cup.
Event website: www.sailing.org/world-sailing-inclusion-championships
Instagram updates: @ParaWorldSailingOfficial