OPTIMIST TEAMS RACING NATIONALS
WAKATERE
The teams nationals were great fun plus excellent for honing those skills, boat handling, rules and plenty of urgency and aggression on the race course. Gerald assisted by Nick Hazzard set the course as close in as possible to the club house for spectator viewing, and to try to minimize the tide. Forecasted breeze was a bit slow arriving which made initial racing difficult.
2011 European Optimist Championships
Wednesday 29 June – First days sailing
Today is the second day for the New Zealand 2011 Euros Team (Lola, Zak, Cole and Nick) in Tavira, Portugal and with the final arrival of the charter boats overnight the team was able to take possession of their new Blue Magic boats and take them through the measuring phase of the regatta.
2011 European Optimist Championships
Thursday 30 June – Second and third days sailing
It’s now day three in Tavira for the New Zealand team at the 2011 Euorpean Optimist champs and the team has completed a solid build up.
2011 European Optimist Championships
Monday 4 July – First Days Racing
2011 European Optimist Championships
Tuesday 5 July – Second Days Racing
Hi everyone – just a quick update on the 2nd days racing here in Tavira, Portugal.
2011 European Optimist Championships
Wednesday 6 July – Third Days Racing
Hi everyone – a further update from sunny Tavira.
Yet again the day dawned clear and fine with a very strong offshore breeze having blown throughout the night but typically began dying off by dawn.
The south westerly sea breeze was not predicted to come in with any strength today but it defied predictions and begin to fill quite solidly by late morning.
2011 European Optimist Championships
Friday 8 July – Fourth Days Racing
Hi everyone – the second to last update from Tavira (no update likely to be available from the last night party)
At the risk of sounding repetitive, yet another up and down day from the Kiwi team in Tavira.
Nick and Cole both scored some strong results with Nick landing a second place in race 10 and Cole scoring a third place in race 11.
2011 European Optimist Championships
Saturday 9 July – Final Days Racing
Hi everyone – A last brief update from Tavira before we all head into the prizegiving.
Today was the last days racing and unfortunately it didn’t quite bring the final results that we were hoping for.
Three of the five members of the NZL Optimist Worlds Team; Leonard
Takahashi Fry, Isaac McHardie, and Markus Somerville, are coming to the
end of a very successful international training tour. The tour was planned
to help prepare them for the Optimist World Championships in Napier this
December.
The New Zealand national team staved off a strong challenge from
Australian competitors to claim the Falcon Electrical Optimist North
Island Teams Racing Trophy at the Napier Sailing Club over
Labour Weekend.
A visiting Japanese and regional club teams also vied for line honours.
Optimist teams’ racing involves pairs of four person teams competing
in a race, the aim is to have the lowest aggregate points across the line.
Good team communication is essential to a successful outcome.
