2nd Cascais Melges 15 Winter Series at Clube Naval de Cascais
by Press CNCascais 19 Apr 18:21 NZST
12-14 April 2024
Portuguese locals Diogo Pereira and Tomas Barreto take the second and final Cascais Melges 15 Winter series.
After 5 bullets and a 6th place on the six races that took place on the two first days Diogo Pereira and Tomas Barreto sailed comfortably for a 2nd and a 5th on the two races that took place on the last day to secure victory at the second and final Cascais M15 Winter Series.
Diogo and Tomas were superior through the whole event and their results show. Despite having sailed the Melges 15 for the first time one day before the event, Their experience in both 420 and 49ers definitely helped and good starts and good boat speed were key to their win.
Henrique Brites and Luis Pinheiro did what they could and were improving along the championship (4, 3,3,3,2,2,1,2) but a not so strong start to the event weighted at the end. They finished second trailing the leaders by four points. Vasco Serpa and Pedro Garcia closed the podium (DNS, 4, 6,4,1,4,4,1) beating the brothers Antonio and Joao Matos Rosa by two points. 5th place was for Keiran Searle and Declan Mcgranahan, winners of the second Florida Winter Series in the US.
According to Keiran, he felt ready to start the event precisely when it was over. We know that feeling Keiran. It was nice and easy sailing in Cascais. During the long weekend sailors were blessed with bluebird sky, warm temperatures in the high 20c, light to medium wind from W/NW filling in mid afternoon, giving plenty of time for the foreign teams to enjoy Cascais.
13 teams coming from Portugal, USA, Sweden and France, took part in this magnificent event that showcased all the potential and fun of the Melges 15 racing. Tight races, tactical and close upwind and pure exhilaration downwind with the teams looking for those gusts that could deliver that added pressure. In this event sailors ranging from 17 years old to mid 60s and from different levels show that the Melges 15 is a very versatile and accessible class.
The Melges 15 class, a huge success in the US, with 800 boats sold in the last four years and with fleets of 100 boats competing is making headway in Europe, and Cascais provided sailors the opportunity to test the boat in racing conditions of wind and sea. Next event will be Melges 15 Portuguese Cup in mid July and four Winter Series events for the 24/25 season are already being penciled and will be announced soon.
The championship had the support of Cascais Municipality, Visit Cascais, Melges, Cascais Marina, Cerveja Sagres, SailCascais and Vista Alegre.
View full results here.