Sweden’s Fia Fjelddahl and Patric Rosenberg have made a perfect start to the World Sailing Inclusion Championships in Portimão, Portugal, with back-to-back RS Venture Connect victories.
The opening-day racing follows Sunday’s opening of the championships, when Afloat reported a record 222 sailors from 40 nations had assembled for the six-day event, with medals to be decided across nine competitions.
Fjelddahl and Rosenberg top the Para Inclusive Two Person Keelboat standings after winning both opening races, although their first victory came after a difficult start. “We ended up being about 20 seconds late [to the start], so I thought the race was over,” Fjelddahl said.
“Then I just said, ‘OK, we go boat by boat, don’t think that we’re going to win the race. Just be a little bit quicker than everybody else and do the rounding of the marks really good.’ “We went boat by boat by boat, and then on the last downwind we ended up winning the race.”
Paralympic Ambition
Fjelddahl competed at the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games, the last Games to include sailing, and said the Portimão championships demonstrate the development of inclusive sailing during the intervening decade.
“We want to be part of the Paralympic Games, but sailing is also such an inclusion sport that everybody can be part of it,” she said. “We really showcase that 10 years after the Paralympics, we’re growing and we’re better than ever.”
Winning formula: Sweden’s Fia Fjelddahl and Patric Rosenberg opened their World Sailing Inclusion Championships campaign with back-to-back RS Venture Connect victories in Portimão. Photo: Gonçalo Melo
A return to the Paralympic programme at Brisbane 2032 remains a major objective for World Sailing.
Fjelddahl and Rosenberg narrowly missed a medal at the previous World Championship in Oman after two OCS scores, and the Swedish sailor has set her sights firmly on the podium this time. “That’s my ambition, to stand up there on the podium and have a medal,” she said.
Norway’s Stian Kristiansen and Elliot Finnestrand are second overall after a first and third, while Spain’s Pau Toni Homar and Ramón Gutiérrez are third.
Pinto Strong on Home Waters
Portugal’s João Pinto also made a strong opening on home waters in the Para Inclusive One Person Keelboat competition, recording a first and third in the Hansa 303.
“Today I had a good day. I’m a local, so the readings are different for me,” Pinto said. “These are very tricky conditions because of the current and the wind shifts and all of that, but it’s nice.”
Germany’s Jens Kroker is the early leader, but is tied on points with Pinto, France’s Gauthier Bril and Britain’s defending champion Rory McKinna.
In the two-person Hansa 303 competition, Poland’s Piotr Cichocki and Joanna Cichocki made a perfect start with three race wins. Oman’s Malik Al Qartoubi and Ghalya Al Jabri are second, with Portugal’s Carlos Santos and Pinto third.
Britain’s Val Millward won both opening races in the Para Inclusive One Person Multihull competition, with fellow Briton Bex Foulsham second and India’s Deepak Dikhit third.
Britain Leads Vision Impaired Fleet
Great Britain also leads the Vision Impaired competition, sailed in RS21s using a league fleet-racing format. Lucy Hodges, Jamie Tylecote, Liam Cattermole and Steve Tylecote won all three of their opening races.
A second British team of Christina Morris, Ben Tylecote, Karl Haines and Colin Midgley lies second, with Spain third.
Inclusive Wingfoiling made its World Sailing Inclusion Championships debut in Portimão, with Britain’s Jazz Turner taking two opening race wins.
Finland’s Marko Dahlberg leads the One Person Technical Keelboat 2.4mR fleet, Hong Kong’s Tsz Hin Cheung heads the Para Intellectual Impairment ILCA 6 competition, and Portugal’s Rodrigo Pereira leads the Inclusive Cognitive Impairment standings.
Racing at the World Sailing Inclusion Championships continues in Portimão until Saturday, October the 10th.
