Hugo Rocha and New Territories take Cascais World Championship crown

by True Angle on 5 Sep 2016

2016 Cascais World Championship Neuza Pereira

The last day of the Cascais SB20 World Championships 2016 on Saturday, September 3 saw Hugo Rocha with his New Territories team crowned World Champions, defeating a 76-boat fleet with entries from 13 countries.

After a demanding 12-race series during which the renowned high winds venue of Cascais, Portugal delivered storming 20-knot runs, shifty beats, mirror calm mornings, and everything in between, conditions for the final day single race proved challenging once again.

2016 Cascais World Championship © Neuza Pereira

With winds again very light early in the morning, it initially looked doubtful as to whether any racing would take place and the fleet was towed to the course area. However, the breeze gradually filled in, and after two General Recalls and a postponement the wind eventually settled enough for the race team to get start away just one minute before the cut-off time. A couple of boats fell victim to the Black Flag as racing began in a light six - eight knots, which quickly ramped up to 15 knots.

The fleet was evenly split across the racecourse and arrived compacted at the windward mark, which saw many boats forced to duck out and circle around – unusually, those boats that gybe-set towards the left-hand side shot up through the fleet as the right side suffered, with some of the leaders seeing heavy losses of distance. The race committee reset the top mark, but as the boats rounded the windward mark for the second time Cascais had one final trick up its sleeve and the fog rolled in – visibility reducing dramatically as the boats worked towards the finish. The sunshine reappeared for a final flourish in eight - twelve knots of wind, before fading completely and requiring a final tow home for the fleet.

2016 Cascais World Championship © Neuza Pereira

The race win went to Rodion Luka on Trem Engineering (UKR3042), giving the Ukranian Olympic silver medalist another podium finish at an SB20 World Championships in third overall. Second went to Vladim Pushev’s Vis Sailing Team (RUS3707), their best result of the series by a considerable way, while third went to Volvo Ocean Race skipper Charles Caudrelier and his DongFeng Racing Team1.

However, Rocha’s team on New Territories (RUS3711) finished 10th, enough to secure the 2016 World Championship title with a healthy 17-point margin. Rocha, together with Alex Semenov, Fran Palacios and Goncaki Barreto, scored two race wins, but significantly counted all top 10 placings in a high scoring series which saw many competitive teams hampered by mid-fleet finishes or disqualifications. Rocha is an Olympic medalist who scored bronze for Portugal in the 470 at the Savannah Games, while the New Territories team were second at the 2014 World Championships in St Petersburg.

2016 Cascais World Championship © Neuza Pereira

Second went to Gabriel Skoczek, Michel Emeric, Lucas Chatonnier and Marine Boudot with France Jeune SB20 (FRA653), who were also top Youth team, four points ahead of Luka’s TREM Engineering. The France Jeune team commented after racing: “We had a real battle and that battle was fierce. But Hugo Rocha was too strong. We’re happy to get on the second step of the podium all the same.”

Just outside the podium there was a monumental duel for fourth between two Australian visiting teams, Chris Dare’s Flirtatious (AUS3735) and Michael Cooper’s Export Roo (AUS 3731), with the Flirtatious coming out on top by three points.

2016 Cascais World Championship © Neuza Pereira

The hotly contested Nations Cup was awarded to France, from Russia, with Portugal just pipping Britain for third on tie-break. Meanwhile the French crew of Mathilde Geron, Sophie de Turckheim, Julie Bossard and Alice Ponsar on Team Xavier Bourhis Generali were the first ladies’ crew in 12th place. The top Master’s prize went to the Sportsboatworld.com team of Jerry Hill, Alan Hill and Craig Watson who finished 13th, with prizes awarded by Clarins and Hyde Sails as well as event sponsors Vista Alegre, Sagres, Simoes and Gaspar, and LG. The event was hosted by Clube Naval de Cascais, and backed by the Portuguese city.

2016 Cascais World Championship © Neuza Pereira

The 2017 SB20 World Championships will be hosted by the prestigious Royal Yacht Squadron in Cowes, UK. Racing will take place on the Solent from August 28-September 1, 2017, following a full schedule of racing for both local and visiting teams, including a Grand Slam event at the world famous Cowes Week regatta. The following year, the 2018 World Championships will head to the stunning venue of Tasmania, Australia.

2016 Cascais World Championship © Neuza Pereira

Results:

Series Place	Sail No	Helm	Series Points	Race 1	Race 2	Race 3	Race 4	Race 5	Race 6	Race 7	Race 8	Race 9	Race 10	Race 11	Race 12	Race 13
1	RUS3711	Hugo Rocha	55	2	3	1	9	6	9	2	8	DNC77	2	1	2	10
2	FRA3653	Gabriel Skoczek	72	3	6	10	2	17	5	4	7	2	11	10	1	11
3	UKR3042	Rodion Luka	76	1	4	25	1	5	19	11	1	7	5	5	16	1
4	AUS3735	Chris Dare	97	14	2	3	61	3	7	8	19	5	3	21	8	4
5	AUS3731	Michael Cooper	100	4	13	5	3	11	4	5	20	28	9	15	6	5
6	POR3114	Vasco Serpa	115	11	1	2	15	7	53	6	3	10	4	19	25	12
7	FRA3580	Kevin Peponnet	121	5	20	26	16	9	1	7	4	6	DNC77	4	3	20
8	GBR3728	Richard Powell	147	10	18	14	19	10	2	BFD77	5	8	16	9	5	31
9	ITA3637	Massimo Fullone	173	20	DNC77	DNC77	4	19	6	1	11	1	1	3	23	7
10	POR3620	José Caldeira	176	19	12	4	5	1	15	14	16	4	24	DNF77	39	23
11	RUS3722	Vasily Grigoriev	211	26	9	20	34	4	12	28	22	17	20	7	18	28
12	FRA3423	Mathilde Geron	211	17	30	17	13	24	14	17	17	BFD77	8	18	20	16
13	GBR3750	Jerry Hill	224	22	5	27	12	18	32	15	32	22	15	20	14	22
14	NED3714	Marco van Driel	224	29	15	9	14	21	39	9	25	18	12	24	9	45
15	GBR3724	John Pollard	227	7	23	6	6	20	3	13	24	13	UFD77	16	19	BFD77
16	GBR3732	Joe Llewellyn	246	18	38	28	37	37	28	10	6	14	26	14	13	15
17	RUS3709	Vladimir Prosikhin	252	6	7	12	60	13	8	3	UFD77	32	28	2	4	BFD77
18	ITA3543	Antonillo Ciabatti	253	30	27	24	7	35	17	20	23	35	14	11	10	37
19	FRA3655	Charles Caudrelier	260	8	34	38	18	8	61	18	14	BFD77	21	6	31	3
20	POR3105	José Paulo Ramada	271	9	11	23	22	12	46	12	2	BFD77	22	UFD77	11	24
21	POR3115	Rui Brites	271	15	14	33	25	30	33	22	54	DNC77	6	13	17	9
22	FRA3721	Hugo Feydit	276	21	8	50	39	34	59	27	13	16	27	8	12	21
23	RUS3708	Kirill Frolov	300	25	51	21	43	2	31	25	47	15	13	23	21	34
24	POR3616	John Tavares	309	48	21	18	17	15	55	30	UFD77	3	45	22	22	13
25	FRA3034	Johan Ravier	313	40	19	19	26	45	11	33	30	33	30	26	7	39
26	POR3558	Diogo Pereira	339	23	33	22	11	29	13	BFD77	35	11	44	57	53	8
27	FRA3706	Edward Russo	341	13	22	32	48	42	24	44	29	9	10	DNF77	36	32
28	POR3738	Nuno Vasconcelos Porto	348	28	28	29	21	43	18	29	59	23	19	UFD77	34	17
29	POR3111	Manuel Marques	356	32	16	8	66	25	62	24	15	25	50	29	29	41
30	RUS3707	Vadim Pushev	361	27	31	13	58	33	50	BFD77	40	19	17	25	46	2
31	POR3505	Vasco Passanha	370	34	49	36	8	58	48	32	37	20	32	32	15	27
32	UKR3726	Anna Kyselova	377	36	37	58	46	14	41	35	33	24	7	17	43	44
33	POR3103	Luis Santos	377	31	17	30	24	27	44	26	53	29	41	33	45	30
34	POR3427	João Villas-Boas	383	33	58	45	20	51	49	38	28	38	18	27	30	6
35	POR3525	Diogo Barros	390	24	DNC77	DNC77	28	22	10	31	39	21	37	41	42	18
36	FRA3609	Piriou Tugdual	392	52	26	7	54	32	22	42	34	27	29	44	37	40
37	POR3286	Tiago Roquette	396	DNF77	44	37	47	39	27	19	12	12	UFD77	31	32	19
38	GBR3710	Tich Summers	402	16	52	31	68	40	25	46	31	26	48	12	33	42
39	GBR3720	Adrian Peach	436	35	24	47	10	23	29	23	42	BFD77	33	46	47	DNF77
40	IRL3739	Ger Dempsey	442	47	25	40	32	26	51	16	52	34	UFD77	35	58	26
41	IRL3065	James Gorman	446	12	36	16	59	59	56	21	21	36	57	48	65	25
42	IRL3060	Stefan Hyde	458	DNC77	67	35	23	38	30	34	9	48	25	37	35	BFD77
43	RUS3420	Igor Ginzburg	468	44	40	11	35	16	16	DPI-77	DNC77	DNC77	31	54	38	29
44	GBR3027	Alec Russell	474	41	66	49	27	44	37	45	26	31	55	34	49	36
45	POR3341	David Aleixo	477	37	10	52	42	28	DNF77	BFD77	43	37	53	36	27	35
46	BEL3345	Bart Tytgat	484	50	60	55	31	DNF77	DNC77	37	18	30	39	49	24	14
47	AUS3390	Phil Reid	523	54	50	43	72	56	20	54	44	39	36	30	41	56
48	GBR3057	John Outhwaite	533	58	48	44	40	49	65	40	38	53	42	43	40	38
49	CHN3557	Kong Chengheng	535	57	41	41	69	48	38	36	46	40	34	42	59	53
50	POR3203	Margarida Aguiar	558	43	42	42	41	70	60	52	51	44	54	39	57	33
51	POR3723	Pedro Ambrósio	561	49	43	48	44	52	52	57	41	58	52	45	28	50
52	IRL3537	Chris Arrowsmith	570	42	46	34	52	46	43	47	27	56	68	DNC77	52	57
53	GBR3069	Ian Hudson	578	56	32	53	45	36	40	43	61	55	38	52	67	DNC77
54	RUS3512	Vladislav Ivanovskiy	585	61	39	56	38	50	66	39	55	47	51	40	54	55
55	BEL3311	Jan Alleman	587	62	35	15	53	65	26	50	56	54	58	61	63	54
56	RUS3730	Aleksey Kolobanov	602	53	45	39	64	61	54	BFD77	57	43	67	28	48	43
57	POR3652	Paulo Palha	619	46	29	51	55	66	36	41	DNF77	BFD77	35	UFD77	55	51
58	GBR3740	Doug Innes	621	45	47	65	49	31	70	BFD77	58	41	43	38	69	65
59	GBR3716	Simon Hume	632	38	53	54	62	60	DNF77	49	10	45	UFD77	47	60	DNC77
60	POR3733	Peter Stratton	648	55	DNC77	DNC77	50	53	21	DNF77	DNC77	DNC77	23	60	26	52
61	RUS3523	Iurii Popov	651	39	DNC77	DNC77	57	57	47	DPI-56	60	51	59	50	50	48
62	GBR3516	Rob Clark	653	51	DNC77	DNC77	33	DSQ77	23	53	48	DNF77	56	51	61	46
63	GBR3276	Harry Barker	662	63	55	60	67	41	35	BFD77	62	50	61	53	68	47
64	OMA3560	Fahad Al Hasni	669	59	54	57	30	54	45	60	DNF77	DNC77	60	55	51	67
65	FRA3576	Benoit Melen	682	64	61	63	65	55	57	56	50	42	49	UFD77	62	58
66	POR3411	Diogo C Mendes	688	71	56	59	29	64	67	55	36	49	64	DNF77	DNC77	61
67	SUI3169	Ueli Guggenbuehl	688	70	62	46	51	63	42	BFD77	45	46	63	63	UFD77	60
68	POR3581	Andrei Balaykin	692	68	59	61	70	47	34	58	66	59	47	64	DNC77	59
69	POR3092	Patrick Lindley	707	60	57	66	63	68	63	48	49	52	62	58	66	63
70	POR3150	Miguel Fonseca	751	66	63	DNC77	36	69	64	BFD77	DNF77	DNC77	40	56	64	62
71	POR3090	Paulo Lobo	756	67	65	68	56	73	68	61	65	57	66	59	56	68
72	OMA3256	Ali Al Balushi	809	DNC77	64	64	75	62	58	BFD77	64	DNF77	65	62	UFD77	64
73	GBR3305	Gary Baker	813	65	68	62	71	72	DNC77	DNF77	DNC77	DNC77	46	UFD77	44	BFD77
74	POR3521	Luís Rosário	859	72	69	69	74	67	71	BFD77	63	DNF77	DNF77	DNC77	DNC77	66
75	POR3100	Luis Jardim	870	69	DNS77	67	73	71	69	59	DNF77	DNC77	DNC77	DNC77	DNC77	DNC77
76	SUI3183	Chappuis Denis	887	DNS77	DNC77	DNC77	76	74	72	DNF77	DNC77	DNC77	DNC77	DNC77	DNC77	49