European Optimist Team – Lignano Sabiadoro (Northern Adriatic, Italy)
1-8 July 2012
The days were long and hot but our team of Alastair Gifford, Lola Stoodley, Hamish Clark and Sam Simpson did extremely well to compete in the light winds amongst the 41 other nations represented by talented young sailors. Lola and the boys were divided into separate fleets in the individual boys and girls championships. Out of the 15 scheduled for the competition, only 9 were actually raced due to the regatta being briefly interrupted by a tropical storm that saw the competitors enjoying each other’s company on land instead.
Lola is to be commended for her tremendous effort for finishing 13th out of 106 in the girls’ championship. The top 15 were celebrated on the podium.
Sam also raced consistently well and finished in a high 32nd of out the 158 boys competing. Many of the top sailors were very light which certainly helped given the conditions, so this was a great achievement.
Hamish and Alastair finished 44th and 92nd respectively; they both showed promise and gained experience for future opportunities.
A special thanks to Briar for her invaluable hard work with the team. Each member has come away with a remarkable life experience that will not easily be forgotten, a lot of which is attributed to Briar.
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