Cascais truly lived up to its reputation as the “Bay of Champions” for the 2026 SB20 Open Portuguese National Championships. Featuring a 15-strong fleet that included no less than four SB20 World Champions alongside a highly energetic youth contingent, the scheduled nine-race series delivered three days of spectacular, varied and fiercely competitive racing.
Ultimately, the regatta came down to a dramatic final-race showdown. Nils Razmilovic’s Team Malibu snatched overall victory in the Open category, edging out John Pollard’s Team Xcellent by a single, agonising point after Pollard had led the fleet for nearly the entire championship.
The event opened with two days of light, tricky conditions as the fleet searched for the summer breeze toward Guincho area. Facing an 8–10 knot breeze and a small swell, Team Malibu – featuring Nils Razmilovic, his longtime crew David Salembier and new tactician added to the team Artem Basalkin – had to rapidly find their groove on the boat.
“The first two days we were trying to find wind and fine tune everything,” – Basalkin explained. “The first day, while still getting used to each other and perfecting our teamwork, the starts didn’t work out so well for us. Slowly, little by little, we caught up as every race progressed. On the second day, things stabilised a bit and we won a race. Nils is a very experienced helmsman and it’s certainly a pleasure to do my tactical work with him.”
David Salembier added that blending the new team dynamic required some flexibility: “It’s never easy for any new guy to come and sail in an established team like ours. We’ve been sailing together with Nils since 2010,” – he laughed. “But we both set up our Zen hats and slowly tuned into it. We clearly gelled as a team and got better every day.”
By Sunday, the conditions shifted beautifully as the Northern breeze finally arrived, sending the fleet racing right in the beautiful bay of Cascais. Despite a minor setback in Sunday’s opening race, Team Malibu mounted a flawless charge. “After a disappointing first race on Sunday, where we gave away two points on the finish line, we regrouped and won the last two races,” – said David.
Recalling the high-speed thrills of the final day, Nils added: “Sunday’s feisty Northerly really gave us some epic, full-throttle conditions to finish on. Looking back at our Vakaros tracking data from that day, we managed to clock a max speed of 17.3 knots and covered a total of 40.0 kilometers on the water!”
For John Pollard and Team Xcellent, including Rob Smith and – his already usual Portuguese bowman – Gonçalo Lopes, the final day was a game of inches.
“Team XCELLENT was really pleased to have our light airs speed,” – Pollard reflected. “The championship was always tight and Cascais certainly delivered with last day champagne sailing. The last race and the championship came down to the first windward shift.”
Team HelloNext‘s – of owner and helmsman Nuno Cabral – dedication paid off beautifully as they crowned their Portuguese National title for the third consecutive year. Tactician Tiago Morais celebrated the milestone, sharing:
“A proud weekend with this amazing team. Thank you guys for all the hard work throughout the season. It feels great to win our third consecutive title. Now on to the next one — the World Championship in Hyères.”
Beyond the podium battle, the regatta marked a significant milestone for the future of the SB20 Class in Portugal, showcasing an increased number of Under-25 crews supported by a new initiative from the Portuguese Sailing Federation.
António Barros, President of the Portuguese Sailing Federation, emphasised the broader impact of the event:
“Seeing six Under-25 crews racing with so much youth, enthusiasm and determination reinforces our belief that this is the right path. We will soon have more exciting news, with the launch of the Under-25 development programmes for the strategic pathway classes of Portuguese sailing – SB20 and Snipe – as well as the announcement of an important new project partner.”
With a flawless Race Office management from Clube Naval de Cascais delivering all nine races with the precision of a Swiss watch, the 2026 Nationals proved exactly why the SB20 class remains a pinnacle of one-design racing. Enthusiastic Nils Razmilovic perfectly captured the high spirit of this event: “What a great place Cascais is – fabulous conditions and super competitors. It was great to catch up with all the friends from the SB20 community!”
Looking ahead, the SB20 fleet won’t be away from the water for long. The next major event in Cascais will be the iconic Cascais Vela at the end of August. Following that, teams will have one final tune-up opportunity on Cascais waters before heading to the Worlds in Hyères, with the Mixed regatta scheduled for early October. You can keep up with the full schedule of upcoming events filtered for Portugal here.
Full official results can be viewed here.
Click here for the full photo gallery of the event courtesy of © João Saraiva Mendes