49erFX: Brits, Spain battle at Tokyo test

Cascais, Portugal (June 8, 2021) – On the second day of the 2021 Cascais International Week Act II, the best sailors in the Olympic 49erFx class saw both stronger and lighter winds along with some changes to the leaderboard.

The opening race saw winds from the northwest quadrant with 15 knots and a rising wind in intensity during that race. Once the wind increased in intensity, the second and third race were moved in order to provide more moderate conditions for the Olympic sailors.

However, during the second race of the day, the Race Committee had to abandon it when the wind had faded and would not allow the sailors to finish the race within the time limit.

Ultimately, three races would get completed today, and the duel between the United Kingdom and Spain was raging, with Charlotte Dobson and Saskia Tidey on the British side (1-8-5) and Tamara Echegoyen and Paula Barceló on the Spanish side (2-15-2), being first and second respectively of the overall. The Argentine team of Victoria Travascio and Sol Branz dropped to third position having scored 7-6-12.

The first race of the day was for the British while reigning Olympic champions claimed the second race of the day as the Brazilian team of Martine Grael and Kahena Kunze, who climbed to fourth overall, closing the day 5-1-9.

The last race of the day had the American victory for the team composed by Steph Roble and Maggie Shea who today dropped to 10th position after having an early start in the first race of the day and an eighteenth in the second of the day thus making BFD-18-1.

As with the Tokyo Olympic Games, the third day of the championship will be a rest day, as all scheduled races have been successfully completed. The fleet of 21 teams of the 49erFX Olympic class will return to competition in Cascais Bay on June 10.

In total, 5 continents are represented – North America, South America, Europe, Asia and Oceania – with 19 nationalities competing. The championship has 12 races scheduled plus a Medal Race that will count double points for the final overall.

Racing is planned for June 7-12.

Results: https://www.cncascais.com/index.php?option=com_rib&view=item&id=1268&catid=2&Itemid=157&lang=en#results