Optimist World Championships conclude at Fraglia Vela Riva

by Elena Giolai on 27 Jul 2013 The 51st Optimist World Championship concluded yesterday at Fraglia Vela Riva with 58 nations present and 259 sailors aged between 11 and 15 years.

Loh Jia Yi of Singapore has dominated from the start of the regatta, ahead of German Nils Sternbeck, the only skipper who managed to challenge the Singaporean team. Loh Jia Yi has had an impressive series with six victories, two seconds, a third, and discarding a twenty-third.

Next in the ranking Singapore hold fourth and sixth place, as well as leading in the women's rankings with the first two positions held by Bertha Han (fourth overall) and Fathin Bte Mohd. Third place in the female rankings goes to Spanish Maria Bover Guerrero.

Yesterday, the last day of racing, saw one fleet complete a race which was scheduled for two days ago, but hadn't been possible due to the sudden drop in wind.

After this the entire fleet was able to move on to the tenth set of races but this didn't bring much change to the top rankings.

The weather was beautiful in Garda Trentino with bright sun, clear skies and 12-14 knots on the wind: a fitting end to a World Championship.

Peter Barclay, President of the International Optimist Class said. 'We felt like we were at home, the reception of Riva del Garda, the Guild Vela Riva and the Italian Optimist Class was great, the sailors have had a fantastic experience. The International Optimist Dinghy Association works with the aim to bring youth sailing to the world. At a World Championship like this the performance level is very high and we are very pleased to have so many nations competing. It is our responsibility to provide a great start for these young sailors and to help them find a skill for life' he concluded.