Markus has his Day in Cascais…

Markus Wieser, Sergey Pugachev and Georgi Leonchuk won both races yesterday on the third day of the Grade 1 Juan Carlos Trophy in Cascais. It was a day of light breezes from the East, with small oscillations and loads of tide..  In fact most of the locals are completely confused as the current or tide is never this strong, but due to the amount of rain Portugal has had this winter, the rivers are swollen and lock gates are opened from time to time to regulate the huge reservoirs and rivers. All in all, Markus UKR 7 and Stephan Link GER 1125 got it right. Both boats kept well right on the first beat’s and were the two fastest teams on the race course, finishing 1st and 2nd in the two races…. Well done.

3rd place in race one of the day was POR 55 Jose Matoso’, who continues to fly the flag for Portugal and his home as the President of the Club Naval. Jose, who was also last years leader on the IDA ranking list, still has a chance of winning this series as he is now just 4pts off the lead. Meanwhile 3rd place is race two of the day went to newcomer to the class Grant Gordon GBR 780 who with his top crew Rory Scott and Joost Houwelling, were the first boat to round the windward mark. Despite Markus and Stephan passing by, this new team did exceptionally well to hold onto 3rd place.

However, the overall lead is now jointly held by GBR 763 Lawrie Smith, who despite just managing a 6th and a 19th, still tops the leader board on count-back from RUS 76 Dmitry Samohkin. Dmitry, like Lawrie was having a tough day, after recording a 12th followed by 8th in race two, this leaves both boats on 31pts with Stephan Link breathing down their necks on 33pts, then Jose on 35pts.

Lawrie, Tim Tavinor and Ossie Stewart still lead overall, with the final two races today!

Leader overall of the Corinthian Sailors (non Professional) is GBR 720 helmed by Graham Bailey, crewed by his Wife Julia, Richard Powell and 4th member of this light team, Francisca Martins. Although just 13 boats of the 52 entries are Corinthian, Graham and his team are in 9th place and are quite capable of winning races, against the hardened “Pro’s”..

So my friends, I would just like to add that despite England losing the Rugby yesterday to Wales, my Father is alive and well, although he is currently refusing to speak to anyone and my Mother has not seen the cat since the final whistle….

Higher, Faster, Longer………..      Stavros.   GBR 767………