Sailors sat ashore for close to two hours before racing could even begin on day two of the Master's Cup in Portorož. When the wind finally arrived, a westerly of around 5 to 6 knots, it built steadily through the afternoon, with the strongest gusts saved for the final race of the day.
Three races were completed, taking the regatta to six overall as the 470 Open European Trophy and Master's Cup 2026 gets fully underway. Switzerland's Julian Flessati and Stephan Ammann now lead the standings, just two points clear of Slovenians Dušan Puh and Matjaž Puh. Bernard Boime and Gilles Espinasse, the reigning 2025 Grand Grand Masters champions, sit third.
Flessati and Ammann won race two, adding another solid result in conditions that kept shifting through the day.
"It was a beautiful day, just like yesterday. A little bit less wind than yesterday, but overall it was really nice, with the sun out and beautiful racing conditions," Flessati said.
He was quick to point out how tight the fleet remains.
"I think the level of the competitors is pretty high, so it's always a fight until the end. You never can be sure if you're going to cross in front or not, so it's really tough to win a race here. The scoring points are changing all the time."
Flessati and Ammann are no strangers to the class. They raced 470s heavily in their younger years before stepping up to bigger boats.
"We sailed a lot on the 470 when we were young, until 2022. Then we stopped sailing the 470 and moved to some bigger boats, but we still kept the 470. It's nice to be back on the 470 from time to time," he added.
The standout story of the day belonged to a Slovenian pair with history on these very waters. Marko Kocijančič and Željko Planinšič won the opening race, and the result meant far more than the points on the board. The two were 470 Junior World Champions in Koper back in 1987. Thirty-nine years on, they were racing together again on the same stretch of water.
They now sit 10th overall. Form is clearly not the point.
"It's very good. We are maybe a little bit out of form, but it's super," Planinšič said of being back in the boat.
The memories of 1987 haven't faded either.
"Just beautiful. And today is like the same wind, and we are glad. We won the first race and this is super."
Asked if a gold medal was still realistically on the cards, Planinšič didn't pretend otherwise.
"No, no, no. We don't have much energy. But it doesn't mean we don't want to be first."
For two former junior world champions racing again in Koper, surrounded by old rivals and old friends, the regatta has clearly become about more than the results sheet.
Six races down, the fleet remains tightly packed at the top, with one more day of racing awaiting on the waters off Portorož.
