Fia Fjelddahl's stomach was in knots before the first race of the World Sailing Inclusion Championships. By the time she'd crossed the finish line in Portimão, Portugal, nerves were the last thing on anyone's mind.
Fjelddahl and Patric Rosenberg won both their races in the Para Inclusive Two Person Keelboat competition, sailed in the RS Venture Connect, to lead the standings after two races. The scoreline suggests an easy day. It wasn't.
"We ended up being about 20 seconds late [to the start], so I thought the race was over," Fjelddahl said. Rather than panic, she settled on a simple plan.
"Then I just said, 'OK, we go boat by boat, don't think that we're going to win the race. Just be a little bit quicker than everybody else and do the rounding of the marks really good.' We went boat by boat by boat, and then on the last downwind we ended up winning the race."
Fjelddahl, a Rio 2016 Paralympian, says the week means more to her than the results sheet shows. She has watched the sport grow in the decade since sailing last appeared at the Paralympics.
"This event is huge, and it's so fun," she said. "You see the sailors you've met for a long time, but you also meet new friends."
"We want to be part of the Paralympic Games, but sailing is also such an inclusion sport that everybody can be part of it. We really showcase that 10 years after the Paralympics, we're growing and we're better than ever."
A personal goal drives her too. Fjelddahl and Rosenberg missed the podium at the previous World Championship in Oman after two OCS scores, and she has spent months since picturing how a medal would feel.
"Since May I've been manifesting, as we say. I've been manifesting, feeling and dreaming about how it would feel to get a medal, to stand on a podium. That's my ambition, to stand up there on the podium and have a medal."
Norway's Stian Kristiansen and Elliot Finnestrand sit second overall after a first and a third. Spain's Pau Toni Homar and Ramón Gutiérrez are third, having added a race win to a fourth. Norway's Solfrid Lindhjem Kvinnesland and Sam Erik Leikvang are level with the Spanish pair on a consistent 3-2.
Home sailor João Pinto arrived in Portimão as silver medallist from the last World Championship, knowing these waters better than most. He opened with 1-3 in the Para Inclusive One Person Keelboat (Hansa 303), then added 5-6-2 alongside Carlos Santos in the two-person Hansa 303.
"Today I had a good day. I'm a local, so the readings are different for me," Pinto said. "The important thing is to start fast, try to keep your position up front and take no risks."
Even local knowledge only goes so far here. "These are very tricky conditions because of the current and the wind shifts and all of that, but it's nice."
Pinto isn't hiding his ambition, but he's keeping it close. "Of course I want to win, of course," he said. "I did well in the past, but this is now and we have to go day by day and see how things are going."
Germany's Jens Kroker is the early leader in the Para Inclusive One Person Keelboat, locked in a four-way tie on points with Pinto, France's Gauthier Bril and Britain's defending champion Rory McKinna.
Poland's Piotr Cichocki and Joanna Cichocki made the perfect start in the two-person Hansa 303 with three wins from three, ahead of Oman's Malik Al Qartoubi and Ghalya Al Jabri, with Santos and Pinto third.
Britain's Val Millward won both races in the Para Inclusive One Person Multihull. Compatriot Bex Foulsham is second after a second and a fourth, with India's Deepak Dikhit third.
Great Britain also dominated the Vision Impaired fleet, raced in RS21s under a league format. Lucy Hodges, Jamie Tylecote, Liam Cattermole and Steve Tylecote (GBR 2) won all three races, with Christina Morris, Ben Tylecote, Karl Haines and Colin Midgley (GBR 3) close behind on two wins and a second. Spain's Dani Anglada Pich, Carmen Lopez Garcia, Jordi Sánchez Pérez and Monica Azon Canalda sit third.
Inclusive Wingfoiling made its championship debut, with Britain's Jazz Turner taking both races. Finland dominated the 2.4mR fleet in the One Person Technical Keelboat class, filling four of the top six places, with Marko Dahlberg leading the way.
Hong Kong's Tsz Hin Cheung leads the Para Intellectual Impairment event, sailed in the ILCA 6, and Portugal's Rodrigo Pereira tops the Inclusive Cognitive Impairment standings.
Racing continues in Portimão until Saturday 10 October.
