SB20 World Championship 2021 at Clube Naval de Cascais - Day 2

Open Bar, by Henrique Haddad, leads the Cascais SB20 World Championship 2021 at the end of the second day of the championship.

The fight for the top places in the Cascais SB20 World Championship 2021 remains intense, which on Tuesday had its second day of competition, and this is proved by the constant changes at the top of the league table. Once again, the warning signal for the first start of the day was given in the early afternoon, the wind started to blow from the west quadrant again, with 8-10 knots of intensity, and the race committee sent the fleet back to the favoured Guia Race Area.

The program defined by Clube Naval de Cascais, organizer of this year's edition of the World Championship of one of the most competitive and progressive sailing classes in Portugal, provided three races. All were completed thanks also to the excellent weather conditions.

SB20 World Championship at Cascais day 2 - photo © Neuza Aires Pereira

In the first race of the day, the experienced and renowned Brazilian sailor Henrique Haddad, representing the colours of Clube Naval de Cascais, quickly showed what was coming in this second day of the event. At the helm of the Open Bar, and accompanied by Mário Trindade, Leonardo Lombardi and Pedro Caldas, the Olympic sailor got the better of the entire fleet. In second was the Another Affair crew, led by Tiago Morais, and also composed by Miguel Oliveira and Francisco Oliveira, from Clube de Vela Atlântico. Third place went to Brain Bod, led by Charles Whelan, with Richard Mcadam and Chips Howarth, from the British Bough Beech Sailing Club.

SB20 World Championship at Cascais day 2 - photo © Neuza Aires Pereira

The second race of the day saw the second bullet for the Open Bar, helmed by Henrique Haddad. This time, the runner up was Go With The Flow, representing the Royal North Sea Yacht Club, from Oostende, Belgium, with Bart Tytgat at the helm, accompanied by Marc Braet and Kristof Wouters. Another Affair, by Tiago Morais, once again registered a great result and was the third to cross the finish line.

In the last race of this second day of competition, the winner was ted, helmed by Micheal O'Connor, with Davy Taylor and Ed Cook, from the Royal St. George Yacht Club, based in Dún Laoghaire, Ireland; followed by Nils Razmilovic's Glasgow Kiss, with David Salembier and Pedro Andrade, CNcascais sailor - the representatives of the Royal Hong Kong Yacht Club had already won a race the day before, and therefore aspires to a top result in this championship. Third place belonged to the Solyd Sailing Team, captained by Vasco Serpa, with Joaquim Moreira and Pedro Costa Alemão, from Clube Naval de Cascais, also on board.

SB20 World Championship at Cascais day 2 - photo © Neuza Aires Pereira

In view of these results, the general overall results, of course see profound changes compared to yesterday. Much due to the two bullets achieved today, the lead was taken by Henrique Haddad's Open Bar, with 20 points, followed closely by Nils Razmilovic's Glasgow Kiss just 5 points behind. In third place comes Estonia Delight, helmed by Bronze medallist Tonu Toniste, with 31 points, but on equal points with the Solyd Sailing Team, helmed by Vasco Serpa, Olympic athlete in the Laser class in Atlanta 1996 and four-time Portuguese SB20 champion and current title holder.

As for the female crews, the best ranked team is the representative of Sport Algés e Dafundo, led by Portuguese Olympic sailor Carolina João, at the helm of Ladies First/Naturea Sailing Team, accompanied by Federica Franchi, Joana Azevedo and Zezi Cardoso, she reached, in this order, an 8th, a 5th and a 14th place in today's races, which allowed her to ascend to 13th place in the general classification.

SB20 World Championship at Cascais day 2 - photo © Neuza Aires Pereira

Unsurprisingly, Leonardo Lombardi, Open Bar tactician, event leader and winner of the first two races Leonardo Lombardi, was a happy man:

"The wind was a little light for Cascais, I was hoping for more intensity, but the conditions nonetheless, were fantastic, with lots of sun, hot weather and stable conditions, which allowed for several races in the same day. We are very happy to be here in Cascais.

"Today was the second day of the championship, the wind was blowing a little light again, varying between 6 knots and a maximum of 13 knots, but again very stable, with a direction of 270-300 degrees, and the races were very, very tough to compete in.

"As for our performance today, we started really well, with two wins, we tried to simplify things, follow the geometry of the course, not turn too much, have clean starts and trust our speed. And it ran extremely well in the first two races.

"In the third it was a little more complicated, because we weren't able to be fast at the beginning, after the start, and when we came around the first buoy, there were already too many boats, and it was difficult to make the final decision to approach the mark: we committed a serious mistake, we tacked too early before the lay line, and practically just stood there. It was a race completed trying to gain positions, but with these winds, and the conditions stable, it's hard to recover, so we finished 26th, which left us with a somewhat bitter aftertaste after two victories.

"But, once again, we are very happy to be here, and grateful to the organization, the Clube Naval de Cascais, all the sailors and the structure of the event."

The Cascais SB20 World Championship 2021 continues on Wednesday 1st September, the third day of competition. Three more races are scheduled, with the first warning scheduled for 13:00. This is an event in which some of the top names in the SB20 class participate, both nationally and worldwide, organized by the Clube Naval de Cascais, and which is sponsored by the Municipality of Cascais, Turismo de Portugal, IPDJ, Portuguese Federation of Vela, Leitão & Irmão, Vista Alegre, Solyd, Sagres, Simões & Gaspar, Lusíada Saúde, Clarins Men, Clarins and JCDecaux.

Results after Day 2: