Whether it is in big waves or small, gale force or sub-10 winds, Chris Bake’s Team Aqua has shone this week and as a result today won the 44Cup Cascais with a race to spare. Although this was common occurrence for Team Aqua during her glory years of 2011-13, winning with a race to spare is very rare these days, such is the level of competition in the high performance one design monohull class.
The final day of 44Cup racing off the Portuguese sailing mecca, where the event is being hosted by the Clube Naval de Cascais, provided even brisker conditions than yesterday. This was mainly due to the race committee setting up the start area further offshore, free from the protection of the headlands west of Cascais. As a result, with the wind regularly blowing 20+ knots, and a lumpy and at times random chop set up on top of the Atlantic swell, it was a perpetually wet ride for the crews on this high load, high stress deciding day.
