Six Metre European Championship 2022 at Clube Naval de Cascais - Day 3
by Fiona Brown 8 Sep 2022 17:26 PDT
6-10 September 2022
The Clube Naval de Cascais Race Committee had their work cut out on the third day of the 2022 International Six Metre European Championship as overcast skies and light and shifting winds were the order of the day. It was a day of close racing and lots of place changes with some new faces gracing the front of the fleet.
With five races now completed Portugal's Patrick Montiero de Barros' Seljm continues to lead the Open Division by two points. Vasco Pereira, who is also from Cascais and is sailing Scoundrel One, has moved up from fourth to second, three points ahead of Violeta Alvarez's Stella which remains in third. Switzerland's Ginkgo Too helmed by Jan Eckert drops from second to fourth and fellow Swiss Dieter Schoen's Momo rounds out the top five again.
In the Classic Division Spain's Bribon 500, helmed by Ross Macdonald continues to lead overall. Trandafir Catalin's Essentia from Romania and Andy & Lisa Postle's Nirvana from Great Britain are neck and neck on points with Essentia claiming second on countback. Germany's Thomas Kuhmann aboard Hanko III is lying fourth, just one point ahead of Mauricio Sanchez Bella's Titia from Spain.
The CNC's International Race Officers José Cancella de Abreu and Miguel Amaral, who this week have been working with Alejandro Martin de Pazos from the Real Club Nautico de Sanxenxo, had briefed the competitors to expect a delay to racing but to anticipate a 6 knot west-south-westerly wind that would clock right when it did fill in. The committee went afloat to track the situation and timed calling the boats to the race area perfectly, getting race five of the eight race series under way just over an hour later than originally planned.
As predicted the wind did indeed fill in from the west-south-west at around 6 knots and clocked right, and the mark layers kept up with the shifts masterfully to give the best race possible. The Open Division was able to complete a full two lap windward/leeward course, but the Committee wisely decided to finish the Classic Division at the second weather mark as the wind was starting to destabilise again.
In the Open Division some new faces graced the front of the fleet for the first time this week. The Portuguese team of Vasco Pereira aboard Scoundrel One is new to Sixes but has been gaining experience rapidly and today put that and their local knowledge to good use, claiming their first race victory. The team includes three time Olympian Diogo Cayolla and top dinghy sailors Tiago Morais and Diego Barros, who is also a successful Dragon crew. Following them home was Six Metre veteran Jeremy Thorpe's Battle Cry, with Stephan Lindberg's Jane Anne and Momo hard on his heels. Regatta leader Seljm took fifth, adding another solid score to their card.
After racing Vasco Pereira was full of praise for the class, his crew and the event, saying; "I like it a lot, it's an amazing boat and an amazing crew and a lot of fun so far and good races. I think we were very fortunate today, we were able to do a very good race. We started very strong, we started in the front, and we kept it until the end of the race, so a good upgrade from yesterday. Now we want to race the best that we can and hope for the best."
In the Classic Division Essentia, whose crew includes Olympic Bronze Medallists Hugo Rocha and Eric Jespersen, got a spectacular start and led the race all the way to the finish. Following them home was Jespersen's Olympic helm Ross Macdonald in Bribon 500, whose crew also includes fellow Olympian Alejandro Abascal, with Titia third, Nirvana fourth and Hanko III fifth.
Five races, the minimum number required to validate the championship, have now been completed, there are three more races to sail in the remaining two days and once a sixth race has been completed a single discard will be introduced.
The forecast for day five is for stronger north-north-westerly winds and the Race Committee has confirmed that it intends to get racing under way at the earlier time of 13:00 with races six and seven of the eight race series programmed. Racing continues until Saturday 10 September.
Provisional Results after Day 3: (top five, 5 races)
Open Division
1st - POR4 - Seljm - Patrick Monteiro de Barros - 3, 1, 7, 1, 5 = 17pts
2nd - GBR86 - Scoundrel One - Vasco Pereira - 4, 4, 2, 8, 1 = 19pts
3rd - ESP16 - Stella - Violeta Alvarez - 2, 9, 3, 2, 6 = 22pts
4th - SUI140 - Ginkgo Too - Jan Eckert - 5, 2, 4, 3, 8 = 22pts
5th - SUI142 - Momo - Dieter Schoen - 1, 6, 1, DSQ(11), 4 = 23pts
Classic Division
1st - ESP16 - Bribon 500 - Ross Macdonald - 2, 1, 1, 1, 2 = 7pts
2nd - ROU65 - Essentia - Catalin Trandafir - 4, 4, 2, 3, 1 = 14pts
3rd - GBR33 - Nirvana - Andy & Lisa Postle - 1, 3, 4, 2, 4 = 14pts
4th - USA96 - Hanko III - Thomas Kuhmann - 3, 5, 3, 4, 5 = 20pts
5th - ESP72 - Titia - Mauricio Sanchez Bella - 6, 2, 5, 5, 3 = 21pts
Full results available here.
Further information about the Championship can be found at the event website, at www.6metre.com and on the ISMA Facebook page.