IODA North American Optimist Championships reach half way mark

by Somers Cooper on 8 Jul 2013 The 2013 International Optimist Dinghy Association North American Championship is at the half way mark with two days of fleet racing completed along with a successful day of team racing. 176 competitors from 19 nations have descended upon the tiny island from as far away as Japan and New Zealand. The competitors, coaches and team officials have enjoyed picture perfect 'Bermuda-ful' weather and winds out of the north from 8–16 knots.

Organizers the Bermuda Optimist Dinghy Association (BODA) and hosts the Royal Bermuda Yacht Club (RBYC) kicked off the 39th running of the event with a parade of sail prior to the practice race. Teams sailed past the RBYC Commodore, the Deputy Governor, the US Consul General the Minister for Tourism, and other local dignitaries situated on the corner of the RBYC marina.

Later that evening the sailors paraded the streets of Hamilton from Albouy’s Point to Queen Elizabeth Park, led by the Bermuda Sea Cadets and the Bermuda Regiment Band. The Governor, His Excellency the Hon. George Ferguson, and other local dignitaries welcomed the competitors and wished them 'smooth sailing'. Optinam, as it is commonly called, was then declared officially 'open' by Quino Nigaglioni, IODA Vice President from Puerto Rico and the large crowd was entertained by Bermuda’s famous Gombey dancers as a finale.

After two days of fleet racing and six races, Argentina's Dante's Cittadini holds the top spot over the USA's Shawn Harvey. Ripley Shelley also from the USA sits in third place followed by Singapore’s Samuel Neo. Martina Pisani from Argentina rounds out the top five and is the leading female. Bermuda holds the sixth and seventh positions with Chase Cooper and Ceci Wollmann (second female) followed by Angasar Jordan from the USA. Luiza Cruz from Brazil is next in ninth place and the USA’s Luke Arnone is 10th.

The team racing event on Sunday was staged on two short courses in Hamilton Harbour. USA 2 (Shawn Harvey, Matt Logue, Ryan Hennessey, Louisa Nordstrom and Eduardo Mintzias) won the North American (NA) Team Racing championship defeating U.S. Virgin Island Team 3-2 in the final on Sunday while Singapore (Samuel Neo, Shyn Ee Phua, Jodie Lai, Isaac Tang, Serzen Gurung) defeated Argentina for the Nations Cup trophy (non NA countries).

Sailors will enjoy a well deserved day-off on Monday and fleet racing will continue on the Great Sound on Tuesday, finishing on Wednesday.

Results as of 18:39 on July 6, 2013

Overall

Sailed: 6, Discards: 1, To count: 5, Entries: 176, Scoring system: Appendix A

Rank	Nat	SailNo	HelmName	Gender	Flight	R1	R2	R3	R4	R5	R6	Total	Nett	Year
1	ARG	3493	Dante Cittadini	M	Blue	4.0	1.0	3.0	(14.0)	1.0	2.0	25.0	11.0	2001
2	USA	17848	Shawn Harvey	M	Yellow	1.0	1.0	6.0	(29.0)	7.0	2.0	46.0	17.0	1999
3	USA	5436	Ripley Shelley	M	Red	1.0	1.0	9.0	2.0	(60.0 OCS)	6.0	79.0	19.0	2001
4	SIN	119	Samuel Neo	M	Red	2.0	(24.0)	5.0	1.0	4.0	11.0	47.0	23.0	1999
5	ARG	3198	Martina Pisani	F	Blue	1.0	8.0	6.0	(24.0)	4.0	6.0	49.0	25.0	1998
6	BER	1037	Chase Cooper	M	Red	7.0	3.0	2.0	(16.0)	5.0	14.0	47.0	31.0	1998
7	BER	1029	Ceci Wollmann	F	Blue	22.0	3.0	1.0	2.0	5.0	(34.0)	67.0	33.0	1998
8	USA	19824	Ansgar Jordan	M	Yellow	13.0	(31.0)	10.0	4.0	9.0	1.0	68.0	37.0	2000
9	BRA	3790	Luiza Cruz	F	Yellow	2.0	12.0	5.0	3.0	15.0	(35.0)	72.0	37.0	1999
10	USA	19781	Luke Arnone	M	Red	(13.0)	6.0	5.0	6.0	10.0	10.0	50.0	37.0	2001
11	USA	18578	Ian Moran	M	Yellow	9.0	22.0	(33.0)	1.0	1.0	5.0	71.0	38.0	2000
12	ISV	925	Scott McKenzie	M	Blue	3.0	11.0	(35.0)	16.0	7.0	1.0	73.0	38.0	1998
13	USA	19452	Henry Burnes	M	Blue	14.0	4.0	(23.0)	1.0	17.0	3.0	62.0	39.0	1999
14	ARG	3276	Carmela Berger Maurette	F	Yellow	8.0	(60.0 OCS)	4.0	12.0	2.0	13.0	99.0	39.0	1998
15	BRA	3480	Breno Kneipp	M	Blue	10.0	7.0	13.0	7.0	3.0	(14.0)	54.0	40.0	2000

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