500 years after the technological advances that allowed a small country to dominate the Seas and discover the World, we were pleased to announce in 2013 the birth of the “Portuguese C-Class Challenge” and the “Team Cascais” to compete at the International C-Class Catamaran Championships (ICCCC).  

Being the first ever Portuguese participation in this class, this was a significant challenge. We had a number of key Portuguese partners and a Sponsor that was going to make possible a substantial R&D program. This program was focused on bridging the gap to the competition, by developing novel solutions, covering areas such as hydrodynamics, aerodynamics, composite materials, lightweight structures and most importantly controls.

The International C-Class Catamaran is a class which uniquely allows a great deal of design freedom and as such it allows far more technologically demanding solutions than any other sailing class or event, even the America’s Cup which is full of restrictions and one-design elements.

Unfortunately the program was spoiled by the sponsor not being able to keep to his commitments and we eventually run out of money, not being to finish the design properly nor being able to compete in the World’s as it was intended.

It was a shame but we absolutely loved to work on such a project and we were on the right track to succeed. Bearing in mind this was before the America’s Cup came up with wings and foils,  we knew we had to “fly” and secondly we knew “controls” was the critical part of the design.  Maybe next time….