USA and GER win at Cascais 49er & 49erFX Championship

The championship could not have ended any better, with the Cascais Bay delivering its fantastic sailing conditions for the Olympic sailors.

In these fabulous conditions, the Olympic sailors had the day most similar to the sea conditions of Sagami Bay, Enoshima, with a large and wide wave. The last day was reserved for the Medal Race for both fleets.

The 49er Medal Race took place first, with the race course at that time in a northwest wind and 14 knots in intensity. With these conditions, the tactical decision for Olympic sailors was to go to the left side of the race course where the wind was more consistent with better pressure, or to race on the right side where the wind direction was more favourable to reach the windward mark.

After the start signal, the fleet split in half when choosing the course side, and on the first approach to the weather mark, both tactical choices resulted in a balanced approach. The first pass in the windward mark occurred with the young team of Astride Girou & Noah Chauvin (FRA) leading the Medal Race. They maintained the lead for half of the first race but lost it to Robert Dickson & Sean Waddilove (IRL) on the second passage of the windward mark.

Meanwhile, experienced locals Jorge Lima & José Costa (POR) were recovering ground. The turning point of the Portuguese duo’s race was the choice of the leeward gate; they followed the left-hand mark and so they made the second beat on the right side of the course, which in the end bore fruit by recovering distance for the leaders hanging around in the second position.

On the last leg of the course, Lima & Costa showed their experience again; gybing before the leaders, catching the wind shift first ahead of their opponents and taking the lead of the race. The victory was not enough for a podium spot – they finished fifth overall – but it was a great performance by the Portuguese team.
 
The big winners in the 49er fleet were Nevin Snow & Dane Wilson (USA), who secured gold with a seventh-placed Medal Race finish. Their compatriots Ian Barrows & Hans Henken took bronze, behind Dickson & Waddilove who won silver.

The 49erFX Medal Race followed soon after, with a weaker wind causing a more prominent wind shift on the right. Annemiek Bekkering & Annette Duetz (NED) started on the pin end side, with some advantage over rest of the fleet, followed by Ida Nielsen & Marie Olsen (DEN) to protect their small overall advantage.

With a less successful start and with nothing to lose, Charlotte Dobson & Saskia Tidey (GBR) bet full chips in the right corner of the race course and gained a huge advantage over the rest of their opponents. The Brits did not relinquish their lead from the first windward mark, taking the Medal Race victory and finishing in sixth overall.

The middle of the fleet was where everything was decided in the Medal Race. Tamara Echegoyen & Paula Barcelo (ESP) had a difficult race and crossed the line in eighth, while their rivals Tina Lutz & Susann Beucke (GER) finished the Medal Race in fourth. This was enough for the Germans to leapfrog them to gold by just one point, with the Spanish having to settle for silver. Martine Grael & Kahena Kunze (BRA) finished the Medal Race in second to secure bronze overall, ahead of the Dutch and the Danes.
 
In total, four continents were represented – America, Europe, Asia and Oceania – with a total of 19 nationalities sailing on Cascais bay. The next championship for the 49er and 49erFx classes will also take place in Cascais from the 7th to the 12th of June. This championship will be closed to teams already qualified for the Tokyo Olympic Games to be held this year in early August.
 
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