International Optimist Dinghy Association – South Australia

The SA Youth Championships are taking place at Largs Bay on 4th & 5th February.

Online entry is now open until 11pm 12th February. ENTER HERE

There will be a green fleet for Optimist sailors new to racing.

The Nationals wrapped up on Saturday with the teams racing competition. The SA team were knocked out in the first round, the breeze was very strong and difficult for tactical sailing.

The presentation dinner was a great chance to unwind and applaud the prize winners. The SA sailors who received awards were Lachlan Nairn who came third in the green fleet and Alex Higgins who was 2nd best U12 Australian (26th Australian, 35th overall).

All the results are HERE

The boys who took part in their first nationals all did exceptionally well. In green fleet Lachlan was 3rd overall (with one 1st), Finn 11th, Josh T 12th (with one 1st), Jared 13th. Ben Hinks, who is only 7 and only began sailing this season managed to complete all races bar one, came 40th out of 47 which is a terrific result for the second youngest sailor at the nationals.

Angus, Chelsea, Joal and Josh all did very well in their first Nationals in Open fleet. Sarah enjoyed herself on the water and was pleased that she completed most of the races in very windy conditions.

Matt improved from 75th last year to 40th overall this year. Emily came 96th last year and 68th this year.

Congratulations to all the SA kids they all sailed well in some pretty tough conditions.

Thank you again to Tonkin Consulting for sponsoring the team, their financial contribution went towards transporting our boats by container to the regatta.

Lachlan Nairn 3rd green fleet

Alex Higgins 2nd Aus U12

SA Optimist sailors

Final Race Day

Strong winds brought an end to the green fleet competition for the nationals today. All the boys who entered green fleet did really well and should feel very proud of themselves, especially Ben Hinks who at 7 years old is one of the youngest sailors in the fleet and who stuck in there and completed 7 of the 8 races.

The open fleet got through 4 races, although quite a few kids found it a bit tough and came in early.

Tomorrow SA enters a team in the teams racing competition and then everyone gets to applaud the winners at the presentation night.

RESULTS HERE

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Day 3 of Racing

Today began with a 10-15 knot breeze which slowly strengthened to 15-20 in the afternoon.

The green fleet had 3 good races before coming in for the day. The open fleet got 5 races in.

RESULTS HERE

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Day 2 of Racing

Today was a beautiful day with a lovely breeze under 12 knots all day. The sailing instructions were changed to replace the lay day with a racing day as yesterday’s racing was cancelled due to gale warnings on Moreton Bay. The open fleet had 5 races and the green fleet had 4.

RESULTS HERE

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Day 1 of Racing

With winds gusting up to 28 knots and rain squalls coming through, today was an interesting start to racing. The green fleet races were postponed then abandoned and the open fleet only managed one race before being sent ashore.

Results HERE

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Today the regatta got underway with a practice race. The open and green fleets had a good race in 15-20 knots before a storm front came through and caused a lot of capsizes.

The race was followed by a Welcome BBQ which was held outside in tropical showers!

Results 2012 Australian Optimist Championship

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7 South Australian sailors have just finished the 2 day pre Nationals training camp at RQYS. They all learnt something new on and off the water and had a great time checking out the regatta course area and meeting fellow sailors and climbing the tree in the playground!

Optimist coaches from around Australia have also been taking part in 2 days of training so the level of knowledge amongst our coaches is going up as well.

The weather here in Queensland has been very hot, but a cooler change has come through and we hope to have more typical tropical weather for the regatta which gets under way on Saturday.

The link to the official website is HERE

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The SA sailors heading to the Nationals have been hitting the water at B&SYC for some pre Nationals training. Trevor Butcher and Luke Stevens gave the kids a couple of days training in the tactics of teams racing. Andrew Short coached the Green fleet in race starting procedures. Sandy Higgins has been running training each Saturday and Thursday during the season, so the kids are well prepared for QLD.

Off the water the IODASA committee has been busy finding a sponsor for the QLD trip and we are very pleased to announce that Tonkin Consulting are helping with the cost of transporting our boats to QLD. Tonkin Consulting are professional consultant engineers, scientists and technicians based in Adelaide. www.tonkin.com.au

SA kids attending the Nationals will be wearing a groovy new team t shirt. The design is based on an original drawing by Annabel Short which was beautifully turned into a stylish logo by Claire Magarey from somersaultdesign.com.au.

Yachting South Australia has also kindly donated YSA sailing vests for the kids to wear while sailing, so they can proudly represent SA.

I found the following description of the Optimist on the wesbite of Sailing Club Piran in Slovenia – I think it explains the Opti perfectly.

Did you know the Optimist, is not just a trainer but a challenging racing sailboat in its own right. It is something else too-it’s a phenomenon. We could say that the Optimist Dinghy is the most important sailboat in the world. In terms of the number of people it introduces to sailing, no other boat comes close to matching the Optimist’s impact on the sport. In its overall length, the Optimist is the smallest boat in the Hall of Fame. By another measure, it is the largest: No boat has brought more new sailors into the world than the Optimist Dinghy.