3rd Cascais Dragon Winter Series - Portuguese Dragon Nationals
by Clube Naval de Cascais 18 Mar 17:30 AEDT
14-16 March 2025
The 3rd Cascais Dragon Winter Series, started on Friday March 14th with strong winds and wind shifts. Eighteen Dragon class boats competed in six amazing races, overcoming all odds in a fierce competition.
After a first day of intense racing, strong winds and perseverance, the top three boats in the overall standings were:
POR 89 - Saturn (Rebelo de Andrade, Leitmann, Nankin)
BEL 82 - Herbie (Vanneste, Odent, Lima)
GER 11 - Aurora (Toepfer, Koch, Koy)
Pedro Rebelo de Andrade from Saturn commented: "We may have had winds stronger than 20knots at times. The competition was very strong. We didn't had the best starts or the best first upwinds, so we had to work very hard on the 2nd beat to come back from a not so good position."
Day two was a little bit more difficult. At first the wind didn't build up as expected. Wind speeds were moderate at first but the sailors were surprised with strong with some wind shifts, with gust from the west-southwest.
The battle on the water remained intense, without too many changes to the leaderboard. After the second day of racing, the top three boats are:
POR 89 - Saturn (Rebelo de Andrade, Leitmann, Nankin)
BEL 82 - Herbie (Vanneste, Odent, Lima)
GER 11 - Aurora (Toepfer, Koch, Koy)
Cristoph Toepfer commented: "Yesterday was great with the strong winds. Today was tricky, but I love it here and I definetly look foward the Grand Prix that it's coming up."
On the third day, sailors arrived at the club earlier than usual, hoping to take advantage of the best forecast of the day. However, the wind was completely absent, forcing competitors to abandon the water after an extended wait for conditions to improve.
Just when it seemed like the day was lost, the weather unexpectedly shifted in the early afternoon. Asteady southwesterly breeze of 10 knots filled in. Seizing the opportunity, the fleet quickly returned to the water, managing to complete a race before the day was over. It was a reminder that in sailing, patience and adaptability are just as crucial as skill.
Overall Results: (top three)
POR 89 - Saturn (Rebelo de Andrade, Leitmann, Nankin)
BEL 82 - Herbie (Vanneste, Odent, Lima)
POR 90 - Easy (Zankel, Matos Rosa, Pereira)
First Corinthian team: (only composed by non-professional sailors)
AUT 204 - Diavel III (Lutz, Skolaut, Skolaut)
Full results can be found here.
Gustavo Lima from Herbie commented: "It's always a pleasure to sail in Cascais. I believe that sailors that come here for the first, always to come back. I'm sorry about some tough conditions sometimes, but this is real ocean racing."
The championship was supported by Turismo de Portugal, Visit Cascais, Cascais City Council, Marina de Cascais, Sagres, Vista Alegre, Petticrows, SailCascais and Vakaros.