They may have not got the Cup, but...

James Boyd reports from Cascais on the Swedish Match Tour's new big budget match race event

While Cascais was the 'sailor's choice' of venue for the 2007 America's Cup here, 30 minutes drive from the Portugese capital, there is a small feeling of resentment that they were outgunning, outbid they believe, by Valencia, the Spanish winners of the host port competition.

To make up for this a new match race event, that looks set to create a new benchmark among events of this type, has today been announced to be held out of the five year old marina here in Cascais at the end of July.

Match Race Portugal will be notable for three reasons. The total purse at present stands at 150,000 Euros . This may be bumped up to 250,000 Euros making it by far the largest pot of gold for a single event on the match race circuit. Justino Sa Machado whose company Sun Sailing Team is organising the event in conjunction with the Cascais Naval Club, says that he will know within one month whether he will be able to offer this.

Secondly in a substantial coup for the Swedish Match Tour, Match Race Portugal will not only be the first event in the 2004-5 Tour, but will be the first ever event sailed in the new Pelle Pettersen-designed Swedish Match 40. Sun Sailing Team's parent company Grupo Sa Machado, who have another subsiduary Technirepe who are the Grand Soleil, J/Boat and Maxi Nimbus dealers here in Portugal, have purchased six of the new 40s. They are thus the first confirmed buyers of the new boat which the organisers of the Swedish Match Tour envisage being used at all their events in the future. Typically Sun Sailing Team arrange match racing and fleet racing events for corporate entertainment.

Finally the event will give some of the top match racing sailors, in particularly many of the America's Cup teams a chance to see what they are missing out on by not bringing the big event to Cascais. "This will show the magnificent conditions we have here for sailing. Everybody who has sailed here from the Finn, Star and Dragon class - everyone has loved it and we have good wind for tactical races," says Pedro Garcia, head of Cascais Marina, who compares the conditions here to Fremantle.

While the race area for regattas such, as the Star Europeans which were held here in last year, is normally a couple of miles offshore, for Match Race Portugal the course will be close to the shore so that it can be watched from the quaint town here. However Garcia says that one of the unique features of the area are the wind conditions and if they move the course slightly they can dictated whether they are sailing in 15 knots or 25. "There are trade winds, not thermal winds here, from the northwest most of the time. We also benefit from the protection of Cascais - an offshore breeze - so typically there are not big seas on the race area," says Garcia.

The event will be ISAF Grade Two and will be for twelve teams, with five crew on each boat. It is believed that Alinghi and Oracle BMW Racing have already committed to taking part. Russell Coutts is said to be coming to Cascais next week to sail Dragons for the rest of the month. The Prince Henry - The Navigator Trophy was held here at the end of February and the HM King Juan Carlos Trophy for the Dragons kicks off on 11 March.

Impressive about today's announcement in Cascais was that it demonstrated just how much of the top brass are putting their muscle, financially or organisationally, behind the Match Race Portugal. Aside from Swedish Match Tour President Pierre Tinnerholm, two time Swedish Match Tour winner Magnus Holmberg, Justino Sa Machado and Pedro Garcia, attending were Luis Correia da Silva, the Minister for Tourism and Portugese Deputy Prime Minister Jose Luis Arnaut.