Closing Ceremony & Awards

After racing, Team Canada sailors started trading their team uniforms, shirts, life jackets with kids around the world.  This is customary at the end of each major Optimist championship. Trading was very active. There was a lot of haggling for much sought after items such as the Chilean and Italian team jackets, Team Sweden and Team Finland life jackets. It was worth seeing... At the end of the day, all the kids were smiling regardless of their finishes. The night continued with a BBQ dinner, awards and a party under the full moon.

There were many lessons learned in this championship. Some of which are well known and documented for years. Our sailors need more training and experience in starts, finishes, large fleet racing, better boat handling in various conditions and more time on the water to be able to complete against some of the best sailors around the world.

This was a tough regatta with very strong sailors. Sailing conditions were light and very fluky most of the time. Many top sailing nations and national champions missed the podium. Our sailors tried their best and this was the best they could do.

We are very proud of all of them regardless of their final standing in this championship. Special thanks go to our coach Osvaldo for coaching our sailors during this championship.

See you all in Canada or around the world.

Fair winds and safe travels to all...

Final Day of Racing...

The sun finally showed itself in Napier but the wind gods are not cooperating. After a short delay, sailors went out on the water. Race # 12 is in progress in very light and fluky conditions. More update to come later today...

The championship is over... Today, no races were sailed after all. The RC abandoned race # 12 two times due to very light wind and strong current.

Final Canadian results are: Reece is 100th, Julien is 161st, Doug is 188th, Andrew is 193rd and Derin is 196th.

Second Last Day... Rain, Rain & More Rain...

It is a cool and wet one... It has been raining non-stop for the last 8 hours and the forecast is for more rain all day long. The wind is around 15-25 knots and 2 to 3 meter waves. Not much fun... Hopefully, racing will be...

After 3.5 hours of waiting ashore due to poor visibility, rain and strong winds (up to 32 knots), conditions improved and RC decided to take the sailors out on the water around 2 PM. There were 3 races sailed today in 8-22 knots of shifty offshore breeze mainly from the S-SW. It was another long day. Sailors came back ashore around 7 PM. Starts and finishes are proving to be a major problem for Team Canada. While starts have improved for most sailors since the championship started, many of our sailors are losing 10-15 places within the last 100-150 meters of the finish line as the fleet bunches up to finish... In a competitive regatta like this, good finishes are just as important as good starts. Our sailors clearly need much more large, competitive fleet racing experience. Physical fitness is also proving to be important in this championship.

Tomorrow is the last day. The awards and closing ceremony will follow racing.

After 11 races, Reece is 102nd, Julien is 161st, Doug is 188th, Andrew is 193rd and Derin is 196th. All in all, not a great day for Team Canada... The highlight of the day was a 13th place finish by Reece in race # 9.

Racing Resumes in Light and Fluky Conditions...

Racing resumed today in very light and fluky conditions. Sailors went out on the water around 10:30 AM and waited for wind until 11:30 AM or so. They all came back on shore and went out again around 1:30 PM without racing. Wind is around 4-5 knots and very shifty. Luck of the draw... As I write this blog at 6:20 PM, the sailors completed race # 7 and they are still out on the water trying to complete the race # 8. Weather in Napier is not cooperating!!! Tomorrow's forecast is for very strong winds and bad weather.

In a very long day (9 hours on the water), the RC only ran 2 races... I have not seen an RC try so hard to run races in very fluky conditions where they should have called the day off. For reasons most people cannot understand, the RC is running very very questionable races in only 4-5 knots of breeze with 30-40 degree shifts. Again most of the good sailors had bad results while tiny kids had good results...

After 8 races (which sadly include only 3 good races in 4 days of racing!!!), Reece is 113th, Julien 157th, Andrew is 190th, Derin is 192nd and Doug is 193rd.

Off Day...

Today, we took a trip to Taupo where the largest lake in New Zealand is located. We went on a jet boat ride. It was a lot of fun. We all got very wet. Afterwards, we went sightseeing in the area. The evening ended with a fantastic dinner party at the Buttigieg's beach house. Pat and Bryan prepared great food for all. After dinner, we made a huge beach fire and roasted marshmallows...Tomorrow is the official lay day. Kids will go to the beach and take surfing lessons.

Fourth Day...Team Racing

Today, the team racing championship started. Sailors and supporters were all encouraged by the sunshine and a little breeze in the morning. All the Canadian supporters were lined up on the beach with their Canadian flags to support the team. Soon the clouds rolled in and killed what the little breeze we had. weather is definitely not cooperating. Canada lost against Belgium in the first round in 3-4 knots of breeze. On the second race, Canada faced a much lighter team from India. The race was held in 2 knots of breeze. We had no chance. Canada lost and was eliminated...The team have 2.5 days to rest and enjoy New Zealand. The individual championship starts on January 7th.

       

Video Reports...

Please check out the video reports link on the right side of the blog... Pretty cool daily clips...