5th edition of the Mirpuri Foundation Sailing Trophy delivers spectacular racing in Cascais
by Mirpuri Foundation 10 Jul 00:33 NZST
5-7 July 2024
2024 Mirpuri Foundation Sailing Trophy © Mirpuri Foundation
The annual Mirpuri Foundation Sailing Trophy, which took place from 5 to 7 July, in Cascais, Portugal, came to a close on Sunday evening after two days of close and intense racing.
The festival of sailing was contested in gripping sailing conditions by 700 sailors battling across seven classes, including NHC, ORC, SNIPE, SB20, FINN, J70 and OPTIMIST.
Recognised by UNESCO as an Ocean Decade event for the regatta's work to promote and raise funds for ocean health initiatives, the event is becoming known as one of the highlights of the European summer sailing calendar and a signature event for the city of Cascais and the organisers Clube Naval de Cascais.
Established in 2020 to help raise important funds for marine conservation, the entry fees for the sustainability-focused regatta are donated to ocean health projects by the event's founder, the Mirpuri Foundation.
The three-day event got under way on Friday 5th with the sustainable conference Mirpuri Foundation Conservation Forum, in partnership with the Explorers Club - Portugal Chapter.
On Saturday, the 6th of July, the full fleet lined up for two days of racing and were supported by a Portuguese Navy Ship, which fired the ceremonial start cannon from its deck at 12:05 local time.
There were thrilling sailing conditions with steady winds at more than 17 knots and strong gusts coming from the northwest. The powerful breeze made for an exhilarating but tough day on the water, with the challenging conditions allowing the Race Committee to complete only some of the planned races, due to too strong winds for some classes.
On Sunday, the sailors experienced ideal sailing conditions with a steady 15-knot breeze from the northwest, creating perfect champagne sailing with the sun shining.
In the premier cruising category, two classes competed for both the perpetual trophy for line honours, as well as for divisional titles based on corrected time.
In the line honours race for the NHC class, the impressive 106ft superyacht "Green Eyes", from Paulo Mirpuri and helmed by Honorary Commodore Patrick Monteiro de Barros was the winner.
As for the ORC Class, the winner in real time was the Mirpuri Foundation Racing Team, who competed onboard their thoroughbred VO65 "Racing for the Planet, skippered by the Portuguese Olympian Bernardo Freitas.
In the hotly contested corrected time race "XEKMATT" took home the top prize in the ORC A division, while "BAMAK" won the ORC B.
In the NHC division "FUNBEL - NACEX" took first place and "Alta Pressão" was classified the fastest on corrected time in the Mini Cruises division.
The debutant class in the Mirpuri Foundation Sailing Trophy, the J70, was won by the Portuguese team "Solyd Property Developers".
In the former Olympic Finn class, Fernando Bello guaranteed first place in the podium, while AP HOTELS took victory in the SB20 dinghy class.
In the Snipe Class, Pedro Barreto and Sofia Barreto were crowned winners.
In the popular junior Optimist class with over sixty boats competing, the under-15 category was won by Leo Gosling. Lena Müller took first place in the girl's division under-15 category, Johan Peitersen Højland won the under-12 category and Aislyn Flynn was awarded first place in the category of under-12 female.
In addition to the competitive awards, the Mirpuri Foundation Ocean Award in partnership with the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) was announced. This year, the award goes to an IUCN-led initiative titled "Strengthening Community Engagement and Improvement of Community-based Waste Management at Baan Koh Mook, Koh Libong Sub-district, Thailand."
The 6th edition of the Mirpuri Foundation Sailing Trophy will take place on the 5th and 6th of July 2025 in Cascais, Portugal.
For full results of the Mirpuri Foundation Sailing Trophy 2024, visit here