After the first day of racing at the 24th HM King Juan Carlos Trophy in Cascais, a serious incident after the racing led to the sinking of the leading boat.
The Japanese Yanmar Team of Peter Gilmour, crewed by Yasuhiro Yaji and Sam Gilmour won the opening race and followed this up with a fifth in the second race to end the day with a three point overall lead on their nearest rivals.
But, when returning to the marina after racing a sudden very strong shifting squall hit the fleet. Unfortunately Gilmour caught the squall at the same time as an awkward wave and he was knocked into the boat resulting in an involuntary tack.
With the jib pinned to weather and the main on the runner the boat was simply blown down by the wind and large waves.
Fortunately his is one of the latest designs with raised floor boards and increased buoyancy, so the crew had time to clear themselves safely from the boat before she went down.
It also gave them time to take their GPS position so they could subsequently mark the location, and a dive team has been organised for early morning and hopes are high that they will be able to recover the boat and continue to race Thursday.
The strong conditions also led to a few retirements with gear failure, including one broken mast which will be replaced overnight.
Overall in second place after two races is the Dutch team of Pieter Heerema, crewed by Lars Hendricksen and George Leonchuck, who are three points ahead of the Spanish team of Javier Scherk, crewed by Paulo Manso and Diogo Barros.
The second race was won by Scotland’s Grant Gordon, crewed by Ruairidh Scott, James Williamson and Alex Warren, and this combined with a twelfth in race one, put them into fourth overall on thirteen points, one point behind Scherk.
Also finishing the day with thirteen points and now lying fifth overall is top Portugal’s Pedro Rebelo de Andrade who came into the regatta leading the European Cup after his victory in Cannes and as a home waters favourite.
Two further races are schedule for tomorrow and the regatta continues until Saturday 4 May with a total of eight races programmed.
Dragon – HM King Juan Carlos Trophy after 2 races
1st JPN56 Peter Gilmour 1 5 – – 6 pts
2nd NED412 Pieter Heerema 7 2 – – 9 pts
3rd ESP71 Javier Scherk 8 4 – – 12 pts
4th GBR820 Grant Gordon 12 1 – – 13 pts
5th POR84 Pedro Rebelo de Andrade 5 8 – – 13 pts
6th FRA420 Stephane Baseden 4 12 – – 16 pts
7th MON2 Jens Rathsack 11 6 – – 17 pts
8th RUS34 Vasily Senatorov 6 11 – – 17 pts
9th RUS76 Dmitry Samokhin 2 21 – – 23 pts
10th RUS27 Anatoly Loginov 20 3 – – 23 pts
11th IRL201 Martyin Byrne 15 10 – – 25 pts
12th SUI311 Hugo Stenbeck 3 23 – – 26 pts
13th FRA428 Gery Trentesaux 19 7 – – 26 pts
14th SUI315 Rennie Miller 9 17 – – 26 pts
15th POR83 Pedro Mendes Leal 14 14 – – 28 pts
16th GBR769 Martin Payne 18 13 – – 31 pts
17th POR56 Miguel Magalhães 16 16 – – 32 pts
18th RUS35 Viktor Fogelson 28 9 – – 37 pts
19th NED411 Charlotte ten Wolde 24 15 – – 39 pts
20th GER1205 Otto Pohlmann 10 DNF30 – – 40 pts
21st BEL83 Peter De Gryse 17 24 – – 41 pts
22nd POR47 Manuel Rocha 13 DNF30 – – 43 pts
23rd POR50 Gonçalo Diniz 25 19 – – 44 pts
24th POR66 Pedro Beckert 27 18 – – 45 pts
25th IRL206 Jonathan Bourke 26 20 – – 46 pts
26th POR81 Jahvarn Knight 21 25 – – 46 pts
27th BEL82 Xavier Vanneste 29 22 – – 51 pts
28th POR58 Henrique Costa e Silva 22 DNF30 – – 52 pts
29th BEL88 Guy Celis 23 DNF30 – – 53 pts
