Thousands of People Attend Opening Ceremony

“Once again Portugal brings countries closer together via the sea”. This was the quote from Minister for the Presidency, Pedro Silva Pereira, who officially opened the World Sailing Championships before a sea of people.

Every nook and cranny in Av. Dom Carlos I, the Cascais main road, was used last night, 2 July, as a vantage point by everyone who did not want to miss any of the proceedings. Thousands of people occupied the streets, the stands erected by the organizers, as well as windows and balconies from which they could enjoy the spectacle.

Following a parade of the delegations of each country represented at this championships, official speeches were delivered by the Cascais Mayor, António Capucho, the ISAF President, Gören Petersson, the European Commissioner; Ian Figel, and the Minister for the Presidency, Pedro Silva Pereira.

Gören Petersson made a point of stressing “Portugal’s great capacity for organizing major world events as well as the magnificent conditions Cascais offers for the sport of sailing”.

Close to midnight, the Cascais Bay was filled with light with the projection of a sequence of images on a giant water screen. These were moments marked by Portuguese music, first by the hands and the guitar of Pedro Castro, and then by the voice of Sónia Tavares, the lead singer of the Portuguese rock band ‘The Gift’, who performed an acoustic version of the theme ‘Fácil de Entender’ (Easy to Understand).

The climax to the proceedings was reached with a laser show to the sound of Pink Floyd, and a fireworks display which illuminated the Cascais night sky for ten minutes.

The first races of the ISAF World Sailing Championships – Cascais 2007 will start at 13.00 hrs today in the Star and Tornado classes.

Para mais informações, e fotografias em alta resolução, é favor contactar: rui.costa@portugalvela2007.pt
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