The races that will award next Saturday the European titles of the Standard Laser Class (male seniors), Laser Radial (female seniors) and Laser Radial Open (all ages and genres) began this week at Porto.

Distributed by two "race fields", 323 sailors representing 55 countries competed on the Atlantic front of the cities of Matosinhos, Porto and Vila Nova de Gaia.

The weak wind prevailed on the first day of competition but allowed the two regattas scheduled for the race to be completed.

In the Laser Standard category, German sailor Philipp Buhl, Spaniard Joaquin Blanco, Dutchman Niels Broekhuizen and Irishman Finn Lynch lead the way with 5 points.

In the women's Laser Radial category, Malaysian sailor Nur Shazrin Mohamad Latif leads the standings, with Mafalda Pires de Lima being the best Portuguese in 52nd position.

In the Laser Radial Open category, Martim Fernandes leads the classification after obtaining the 3rd and 2nd positions in both races.