The European circuit of the GC32 Racing Tour will visit Portugal and the Algarve coast for the GC32 Lagos Cup, taking place over 27 June-1 July.
Thanks to its strategic location, Lagos has a maritime tradition dating back millennia. It was most famous as home to Henry the Navigator and, during Portugal’s ‘Age of Discovery’ in the 15th and 16th centuries, as the favoured port from which renowned Portugese sailors such as Vasco de Gama set off to explore the African continent and beyond. Much evidence of this still exists in its historic town centre.
The eight GC32 teams will be undergoing their own voyage of discovery when the four days of racing get underway on Thursday 28 June, following a day of practice racing.
This will also be the first time the GC32 Racing Tour has visited a port on the Atlantic but while Lagos faces the open ocean, in fact it is protected both by Cape St Vincent, the southwesternmost tip of Europe just 10km away, and locally by Ponta da Piedade at the west end of Lagos’ bay. Competitors can look forward to sea breeze conditions and flat water – perfect conditions for foiling.
The return of Código Rojo Racing
In addition to Sir Ben Ainslie and INEOS TEAM UK, who confirmed their participation in the 2018 GC32 Racing Tour earlier this week, the GC32 Lagos Cup will also see the welcome return of Código Rojo Racing. The Argentinian team made its debut on the GC32 Racing Tour in 2017 when it took part in two events.
The teams competing at the GC32 Lagos Cup are impressively international, representing eight countries and four continents. In addition to Código Rojo Racing and INEOS TEAM UK, the line-up includes two time Melges 32 World Champion Jason Carroll and his Argo team from the USA, while from down under are Simon Hull’s New Zealand team Frank Racing and from Australia Simon Delzoppo’s film Racing.
France is represented by NORAUTO with another America’s Cup skipper at the helm – Franck Cammas, a past Volvo Ocean Race winning skipper, who also won the GC32 Racing Tour in 2016. Then there is Erik Maris’ Zoulou, whose crew mostly sailed with Cammas’ challenge in last year’s America’s Cup. From Switzerland is Realteam, skippered by Jérôme Clerc, back to defend their 2017 GC32 Racing Tour title.