Optimist European Championship 2011 is being held in Tavira, Portugal from 2 to 10 July.
Racing continued today with another two races for all eight divisions. The conditions were similar to yesterday, blue skies and high temperatures. Race three was started in about 10-12 knots which gradually dropped during the day to eight knots. The wind was shifty at times which caught some sailors out as the results show, with many sailors, including the reigning European Champion, Konstantinos Oikonomidis (GRE) who posted a 28th in race three while his other worst result is a third.
In the boys fleet, just like the Europeans last year in Poland, the top of the fleet is dominated by Greek sailors with Patelis Nikolaos in first, Zamit Loukianos second and Konstantinos Oikonomidis in third.
The girls fleet remains close with remarkable consistency in the top ten. Maria Caba (ESP) and Francesca Bergamo (ITA) remain tied in first place. These two are in different divisions but when they met in race three, Francesca finished second with Maria posting a sixth. This is developing into a close and exciting battle.
This Continental Championship is the biggest in the IODA calendar and this year it has attracted 28 European members, some of whom have small fleets who are rarely able to attend such large regattas. It was excellent today to see a sailor from one such member country achieve a race win. Emile Mazeikaite from Lithuania, won race three in the girls fleet, the first time that a sailor from Lithuania has won a race at an IODA Continental Championship, a fantastic achievement.
The live tracking continued today and continues to be popular. A new feature this year is the mobile phone application which displays mark roundings for each race. Races can be viewed here.
Tomorrow there may be up to three races, so a long day for the sailors in the hot conditions here in Tavira.
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