Fantastic “Finale’ in Puerto Portals

  SUI 318 Wins the ultimate Prize !              

Wolf Waschkuhn, Charles Nankin & Joao Vidinha Win the Grand Final and POR 90 “Easy” Win the Puerto Portals Grand Prix. Michael Zankel, Goncalo Ribeiro & Joao Rosa. (Below).

This was indeed a fantastic way to finish the 2022 European Grand Prix Championship as 20 very competitive teams experienced some exciting conditions in Puerto Portals during the 15th to 20th November. With 3 previous Grand Prix’s held in Cannes, Douarnenez & Port Camargue a number of teams were in contention to win the “Standfast” Trophy awarded to the best overall team counting their best 3 results from the 4 Grade 1 regatta’s.

These are the Results of the top 5 teams over the 4 Grade 1 Regatta’s in 2022.

Cannes.      Douarnenez    Port Camargue     Puerto Portals      Total Pts.

JPN 56         1st.               DNC.                5th.                          3rd.                         9pts.

SUI 318        DNC.           2nd.                  7th.                          2nd.                        11pts.

FRA 428      5th.              7th.                   2nd.                         DNC.                      14pts *

GER 1207    DNC.           3rd.                   1st.                           11th.                        15pts.

SWE 800     3rd.              8th.                   4th.                         13th.                        15pts

(* FRA 428 Did not sail the 4th Grade 1) GER 1207 beat SWE 800 on Count Back.

SWE 401      6th.              DNC.                12th.                        10th.            1st Corinthian.

JPN 56 “YRed” win Standfast Trophy.   SWE 401 “Nono” Top Corinthians.

The winners of the Standfast Trophy were JPN 56 Peter Gilmour, Sam Gilmour and Yaji Yasuhiro, after winning in Cannes, 5th in Port Camargue and finishing 3rd in Puerto Portals. Meanwhile the winners of the Phylis and Lowell Chang Corinthian Cup was SWE 401 Martin Palsson, Peter Lindh and Thomas Wallenfeldt. Extremely well done to both these teams….

Puerto Portals put on a super regatta for the 20 teams with competitive racing, great after sail gatherings with a variety of pasta meals at different restaurants and friendly evening socials. 6 races were completed over the 4 days and one of the newcomers to the fleet David Tabb helming GBR 818 “True Story” laid down a marker for the future by winning 2 of these 6 races! Crewed by experienced Olympian George Leonchuk and Laerke Norgaard David won the first and the last race to finish a creditable 7th overall.

Winners of Race 1 & Race 6 Dave Tabb, George Leonchuk & Laerke Norgaard.

Going into the final race it was still possible for 3 boats to take the title, SUI 318, JPN 56 and POR 90 but in the end, as often in the case, it would be decided on “count-back” with POR 90 just getting the decision over SUI 318 as both were tied on 15pts. JPN 56 had to settle for 3rd place.

However, although POR 90 Michael Zankel, Goncalo Ribeiro & Joao Rosa won the Grand Prix, the big prize of the magnificent “Flow” Trophy was still up for grabs. On Sunday 10 teams made the quarter-final, these were reduce to 6 for the semi-final, then eventually just 4 remained! It was tense at the start as the 4 teams JPN 56 (Peter Gilmour), SUI 318 (Wolf Waschkuhn), POR 90 (Michael Zankel) & ESP 79 (Pedro Andrade) battled for the best position…. JPN 56 incurred a penalty, ESP 79 & POR 90 were a little slow to get away, but it was SUI 318 who made an initial jump and went clear ahead.

In the end SUI 318 took the gun and cheers and high fives were shared between Wolf, Charles and Joao…  This incredible team capped a fantastic season…   European Champions, 1st on the International Ranking List, 3rd at the World Championship, 2nd in Douarnenez, 2nd in Puerto Portals and Winners of the Grand Prix “Finals”…  Not a bad seasons work 🙂

Top 3 Teams of the Finals…  SUI 318 winners, POR 90 2nd, ESP 79 3rd & GER 1251 best Corinthians……     

Many Congratulations to all and a huge thanks to our PRO Ariane Mainemare who did an excellent job managing the Race Course and setting excellent starting lines..  To Marta Reynes for operating the GPS marks and all the on the water activities and Javier for Flags, sound signals and general help on Committee Boat…  Puerto Portals have a great team!

Higher, Faster, Longer……    Stavros.