Optimist Sailor Jim Colley on a mission!

by Dave O'Connor on 13 Mar 2012 New South Wales Optimist Sailor Jim Colley, who has qualified to represent Australia at the 2012 Optimist World Championship in the Dominican Republic later this year, has just won the Victorian State Titles on the weekend against the top optimist sailors in the country.

Jim is on a mission to achieve his goals in the class and is contstantly training hard with his coach Traks Gordon and working with the Dave O'Connor from North Sails on the sail models to maximise his performance.

The Regatta was hosted by the Sorrento Couta Boat Sailing Club on the beautiful Port Philip Bay with, as always tight racing in the open fleet.

In the tricky light airs Jim managed to show great consistency with his results only once falling out of the top six and had four seconds to finish with a comfortable 11 point lead.

Kye Evans, Jack Graves and Kyle O'Connell who have also made the Australian Team all finished in the top five respectably with the surprise third place and the one to watch for the future young Steven Case.

In a bid to raise money to get to the Dominican Republic, Jim will be sailing his Optimist from Royal Prince Alfred Yacht Club, Pittwater, to Woollahra Sailing Club, Sydney Harbour. With a possible sail date this week pending on the conditions being favourable. Jim will cover a distance of 26 nautical miles in his Optimist, with the majority of the distance offshore.

Supporting him on the water for this challenge will be his coach Traks, Dave from North Sails and most importantly his parents Gerry and Sally.

Donations towards Jim’s world championship campaign are welcomed through his website. As well as donating Jim encourages supporters to guess how long it will take to sail from Newport to Woollahra. http://www.optimistjim.com.au/how-long-will-jim-takeClick_here_to_guess [Sorry, this link had a problem]

Not only is he raising money for his World Championship campaign, 10% of the money raised will be donated to Sailability, Pittwater.

Sailability, Pittwater, gives people with a disability the opportunity to experience the freedom and challenges of sailing on Pittwater.

For more information or to get involved head to www.optimistjim.com.au