The bet on the training of adult sailing practitioners, made by the Naval Club Gymnasium of Faro, is already bearing fruit, with the appearance of new practitioners of the sport. This is the case of the group of sailors who launched, in this sporting season, in the cruise sailing competition, with the sailboat «Choque». The crew consists of Miguel Caetano, João Catarino, Nuno Santos, Rodrigo Beja, Sérgio Vieira and Sérgio Cardoso.
The starting point for this adventure was attending the Sailing Course for Adults provided by the Ginásio Clube Naval de Faro, given by the experienced coach Manuel Belchior, aboard the vessel “Cidade de Faro”, a 35-foot long Jeanneau One Design, commonly known as the JOD35.
“There is huge growth potential for cruise sailing in the Algarve region. Also, in Faro, we are surrounded by the calm waters of the Ria Formosa, a fundamental aspect, as it allows sailing almost all year round», explained Miguel Caetano to Sul Informação.
The crew of the «Shock» is aware that «the ecosystem of the Ria Formosa is fragile». But, adds Miguel Caetano, «sailing is the most environmentally-friendly form of navigation we know. For us, sailing in the Ria Formosa means defending its preservation, but also demonstrating that the coexistence between the ecosystem and man is possible».
«In historical terms, sailing is inscribed in the DNA of every Portuguese. The best way to honor this history and perpetuate this heritage is to practice it, spread it and pass it on to future generations, in a spirit of fair play, genuine friendship and good disposition, to infect more people to experiment, not to stand still, challenging limits as our ancestors did», they add.
This crew developed their knowledge aboard the Jeanneau JOD 35 “City of Faro”, having gone through training and a series of regattas in the Ria Formosa and on the coast of Algarve and Spain.
But now it has decided to make the transition to "a lighter and more technical vessel", a Beneteau Platu 25, the "Choque", with which it has already participated in two regattas, during the current year of 2018, in the scope of the Ria Formosa Trophy, where they currently occupy the 8th position.
Knowing that they are still gaining practice as a team and on the new vessel, the crew of the «Choque» will participate in the other regattas of the Ria Formosa Trophy, namely, the “Heitor Batalha de Almeida”, “City of Olhão” regattas. “Nossa Senhora dos Navegantes” and “City of Faro".
This vessel thus reinforces the competitiveness of the fleet that performs the Ria Formosa Regattas throughout the sporting season. Among the 30 boats that regularly sign up, there are now five Beneteau Platu 25, making it possible to hold a class trophy.
In July, they will be in the “Volta ao Algarve à Vela”, as well as in the Santa Iria Regatta Faro-Tavira-Faro. Finally, they will participate in the Christmas Regatta, to close the year. To all of this, adds Miguel Caetano, «join team training whenever possible».
One of the regattas in which «Choque Sailing» has participated this year was the Liberdade/Memorial Picuca 2018 regatta, held on the 25th of April holiday, on the Ria Formosa channels.
The sailing team of Faro «Shock Sailing» finished in eighth place overall, consolidating its classification in the Ria Formosa Trophy in the middle of the class A table.
«With a crew still knowing the potential of the Beneteau Platu 25 and growing in performance in the last weeks of training, it has not yet been possible to reach the top places in the classification, where boats and skippers with many years of experience», explained those responsible for the Faro crew.
This regatta featured infrequent changes in the wind direction, providing more stern than usual, filling the estuary channels with color, with hoisted balloons.
With air temperatures in the order of 25º and light wind, there was a morning of sailing with ideal conditions to take the boats along the established route.
In a year that is expected to be even more competitive than 2017, the “Tomate” vessel, captained by João Coutinho, leads this trophy.
Twenty-seven cruise ships were at the start line. The Ria Formosa Trophy is thus the largest cruise sailing competition in the country.
In addition to the competitive aspect, the «Choque Sailing» team also intends to «contribute to the development of sailing in the Algarve, intending to participate in initiatives capable of bringing more people into sport and discovering the potential of sailing on the south coast of Portugal and the Andalusian coast ».
«Choque Sailing» has the support of Nave Pegos Boat Yard, Sul Informação and Naval Club Gym Faro.
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