Forceracing updates on Optimists, 470 Womens and more

by Forceracing on 16 Apr 2012
Andrew Brown updates from Forceracing:

Well it has been another busy time of the year for Forceracing, with Andrew coaching in Palma at the Princess Sofia Trophy, while the Optimist Nationals were happening in New Plymouth.

The Optimist nationals were another great success for Forceracing, with the Winner J Sail combo taking out first, second and third!

In regards to numbers there were 14 Winner Optimists in the top 30 (five in the top 10) with one of the charter boats finishing ninth!

J Sails also were dominant with five in the top five overall and 22 in the top 30 overall.

Staying on Optimist news Forceracing is going to run a Winner Optimist/J Sail clinic in September to gear sailors up for the season. This will be FREE to any sailor who has either a J Sail or Winner Optimist. Andrew will give more information about dates, locations and registration details closer to the time.

I have also been in Palma for 3 weeks with the Brazilian 470 girls team of Isabel Swan and Martine Grael. This was their last regatta in their selection for the Olympics 2012, and they were tied with the other Brazilian team coming into the regatta.

We had prepared well for the regatta and were going fast and sailing the boat well, but a bad first day, getting mixed up with the boys fleet, and a bad fourth day with a BFD, meant they lost the selection in a very tight battle. The girls scored some great races with race wins, and other top 3 placings in their scorecard. Although very disappointed, the girls are strong and are committed to a home Olympics in Rio 2016. The team are continuing to sail this year competing in the 470 worlds in Barcelona in May along with some other local and international regattas.

All eyes will also be on the ISAF mid year meetings to see if they announce the classes for the Women’s 'high performance two handed dinghy' and the mixed multihull. Both these classes will change the game in women’s double handed sailing with three choices at hand for similar sized girls (depending on what classes are chosen of course).

I will another newsletter as more news comes to hand:

Go well

Andrew Brown