51st Optimist World Championships - Final awards ceremony
by Media Fraglia Vela Riva on 27 Jul 2013
2013 51st Optimist World Championships Matias Capizzano
http://www.capizzano.com
Optimist World Championship - The awards ceremony over at Riva del Garda came to an end last night with the final awards ceremony, held at the Palameeting of Riva del Garda, with an fantastic festival atmosphere.
Alessandra Sensini and Robert Scheidt (with nine Olympic medals between them) were there to present prizes to the awe struck young sailors.
Four trophies are awarded annually at the World Championships, the IODA Challenge Cup, for the winners of the Team Racing Championship. The Optimist Worlds Girls Trophy, the Nations Cup for the team with the lowest aggregate score and the Beacon Challenge Trophy for first overall. All went to Singapore!
Singapore posted impressive results throughout. They showed determination and professionalism and it is clear that they have spent many hours preparing for this Championship. In May the team spent 10 days sailing on Lake Garda testing and training. For most countries it is unthinkable to have such economic resources and be able to take this length of time away from school.
After the awards, the anthems, the cheering and flag waving, ice cream for provided for everyone. We hope to see many of this weeks fleet return to Riva del Garda at Easter for the '32nd Lake Garda Optimist Meeting', regatta that attracts over 1000 children from around the world. The event has seen Fraglia Vela Riva win the Guinness World Record for the largest single handed race in the world.
And as for the Optimist World Championships, we saw the Italian team pass the International Optimist Dinghy Association flag onto the Argentinian Team, were the Championships will be hosted in 2014.
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