The 8th and last place obtained in the 1st stage of the Extreme Sailing Series world sailing circuit, held in Muscat (Oman), between 16 and 19 March, does not discourage the Portuguese Sail Portugal team, which includes the Algarve sailor Luís Brito.
«The results do not reflect what our evolution was. There is still some time for the results to appear», said the Luís Brito from Portimão, in declarations to the Swell Algarve website.
It's that the Portuguese team, which enters this competition for the first time and has as skipper the three-time Olympian Diogo Cayolla, only met on the eve of this first stage and only one of the crew, Javier de la Plaza (Javi), 1st trimmer knew the vessel, a GC32 catamaran.
Still, on the penultimate day of this first stage, the Sail Portugal team it was 2nd in one of the four races held. In the end, the helm Diogo Cayolla expressed satisfaction with the performance of the team in its debut in the Extreme Sailing Series: «I think that our maneuver and the way we take the boat have been improving and this was noticed today. I'm enjoying, more than I thought, sailing these boats. O foiling, at the beginning of the week, it was spectacular, but even with light winds it is possible to do good races».
Nick Crabtree, director of Sail Portugal team, stressed: «we are very satisfied with the evolution of the team over these four days. We know where and how we need to improve and we will work with the objective of being more consistent in the next steps».
“New teams like ours always take time to be fine-tuned. This is just the beginning of the great adventure that is Sail Portugal», added Crabtree.
The next step of Extreme Sailing Series circuit is scheduled for Qingdao, China, between April 29th and May 2nd. With 8 stages on three continents, the race will stop in Lisbon, from 6th to 9th October, also passing through Cardiff (Wales/United Kingdom), Hamburg (Germany), Saint Petersburg (Russia), Istanbul (Turkey) and Australia.
Luís Brito, a sailor from Portimão, is 37 years old and has already been an Olympian in the Tornado class, having ridden three years, from 2009 to 2011, on the World Match Racing Tour. In Portimão, he founded and coordinates the Vela Solidária project.
At the end of last year, he was part of one of the crews that competed in the Rolex Sidney Hobart Yacht Race, considered one of the toughest races in the world.
The Portuguese team, which has the Olympian Diogo Cayolla as skipper, also integrates the Spanish Javier de la Plaza (1st trimmer), Bernardo Freitas (headsail trimr), Luís Brito (floater) and New Zealander Winston MacFarlane (bowman).
The team also includes, on land, Nuno Barreto (coach) and Gil Conde (boat rig).
Calendar:
March 16-19 – Muscat, Oman
29 April-2 May – Qingdao, China
23-26 June – Cardiff (Wales/UK)
28-31 July – Hamburg (Germany)
1-4 September – St. Petersburg (Russia)
22-25 September – Istanbul (Turkey)
6-9 October – Lisbon (Portugal)
8-11 December - Australia (location to be designated)
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