Hippocampus Nº46

Interview
MPL - We started to focus on this right
after the ISAF event, starting with the
America’s Cup World Series, an absolutely
unique event that we had - I do not sail,
but I had the opportunity to sail with the
best in the world, and that left its mark on
me, of course. And from that moment on,
we did not stop: RC44, TP52 and so on, it
was everything and anything, we had all the
championships, with the Dragons and the
6M taking on a special role, an important
historical role. I think it’s something to
continue, because that has been the driving
force: training, on the one hand, and the big
international events. What’s missing here?
The third pillar, which is the Olympics, the
high competition, and therefore, when we
have these three pillars back together and
working, we’re guaranteed another fifty or
sixty years of the club, of success, and helping
Cascais to be even better in the future.
CNC - You mentioned training, and
the CNC sailing school is recognised by
everyone as one of the biggest and best
in the country. How do you perceive the
training of young sailors in Cascais?
MPL - The CNC plays a decisive role
in training, in liaising with schools in the
municipality, in giving access to sailing
and the sea to children who don’t have
that possibility. If there are those who say
that sailing is an expensive sport, that it’s
only for the elite, it’s not, and thanks to the
CNC. If there’s one club that manages this
feat, of allowing children who are more at a
disadvantage, or who don’t have the ability,
to experience this sport that is so noble and
so rooted in our history, and in our DNA, it’s
the CNC. So, it’s about continuing, finding
the right sponsors, but knowing that the
municipality is also an active sponsor of the
school. Because, at the end of the day, it’s
in education and sports training that we’ll
find the Olympians of tomorrow. That’s
why this has to work in an integrated way,
it’s not a virtuous circle. That’s why the big
events, with training, and with the Olympic
programme, are synergetic: the big events
bring opportunities, the best come here,
they inspire our young people; the school
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Hippocampus