2015 US Optimist National Championships - Final countdown in Pensacola

by Talbot Wilson on 14 Jul 2015 Over 100 Pensacola Yacht Club volunteers are on final countdown to host over 300 young sailors, coaches and parents for the three-event US Optimist Dinghy Association (USODA) National Championships. Following Registration on July 18th, racing starts with the three-day USODA Team Race National Championship July 19-21. The second event, the USODA Girls National Championship, follows on Wednesday July 22 and the big wrap-up is the four-day USODA National Championship sailed July 23-26.

Pensacola Mayor Ashton Haywood and District Two County Commissioner Doug Underhill both invited all Opti sailors to come to Florida this summer. Registration closed late Friday July 10. Sailors scrambled to enter at the last minute. By closing at 5:00 PM Friday, there were 26 teams for the Team Race Nationals with 118 sailors. There were 86 girls in their nationals and 303 boys and girls entered in the overall championship.

The week of daily racing starts Sunday July 19 with the first warning at 10:00AM on Pensacola Bay and continues through the last race of the day. On the last Sunday a new race will not start after 3:30PM to accommodate the prize giving ceremony at Pensacola Yacht Club. On the water spectators are welcome, but must keep well clear of the race course.

Spectators are invited to come to the Pensacola waterfront at Plaza de Luna, Pensacola Maritime Park, Sanders Beach or Pensacola Yacht Club. A 'Food Truck' food court will provide breakfast, lunch and dinner daily at Pensacola Yacht Club.

Team racing is a new event for Pensacola. There are 26 teams entered, almost evenly divided between four sailors per team and five sailors per team. The team race sailor count is 118. In the matches on the water, teams select the best four sailors for the given weather conditions.

At the 2014 USODA Team Race National Championship last year in California, there were 23 teams. After three days of round-robin racing and a knock-out series, over 300 races were completed. Pensacola’s competition should top that. Like a quick chess game on the water, each race takes eight to ten minutes.

The 25 teams will sail a complete round-robin over the three days. They represent clubs and community sailing organizations from Florida, New York, New Jersey, Rhode Island, Texas, Louisiana, Virginia and three teams from Ontario, Canada. For fleet racing in the USODA Girls National Championship and the USODA National Championship individual entries come from all over the USA and other countries including Canada.

Summer racing conditions on Pensacola Bay are usually predictable. “During the US Sailing Junior Olympic Festival over the fourth of July weekend, the sea breeze filled in to 16-18 kts,” said Jim Baus, PYC's USODA Opti Nationals Chairman. “That’s quite normal for Pensacola. We often have a northerly land breeze early in the morning that switches around to the south and southwest as the sun heats up the land and the thermal builds. We have a barrier island to the south that protects Pensacola Bay; so even with a fresh breeze, we only get about a one to two foot chop. Pensacola Bay is one of the top one-design sailing venues I’ve seen.”

“Pensacola is Florida’s first city,” Mayor Ashton Hayward reminds competitors and their parents. “We welcome you here for the challenge of racing in the Opti Championship regattas, and we want you to think of your stay in Pensacola as a family vacation. This is a great time to enjoy all the city and Northwest Florida have to offer.”

The 2015 National Championship regatta is a USODA Team Trials Qualifying (TTQ) event. The top 50% of Team Trials eligible Championship Fleet competitors, as defined by the USODA, based on the final results using the total number of boats registered in both the Championship and Green Fleet, are eligible for entry into the 2016 USODA Team Trials. The top team in the Team Race National Championship will be invited to represent the USA at the Opti Team Cup Berlin in October.

Pensacola Yacht Club welcomes all of the young Opti sailors for these elite events from beginners to experts. A ‘beginners’ Green Fleet will race in the shallow waters off Sanders Beach adjacent to Pensacola Yacht Club. In total, PYC expects over 2000 people to be involved in the championships as participants, coaches, race officials, volunteers and parents supporting their young green and championship fleet challengers.

“These championships will be a week-long sailing spectacular on Pensacola Bay,” Baus continued. “They are sailed by International Optimist Dinghy sailors from eight to fifteen years old. The event is really three championships: the USODA Team Race National Championship, the USODA Girls National Championship, and the USODA National Championship. Green Fleet Racing is for less experienced and less confident sailors, too.”

“Practice racing is offered the week before,” Baus added. “PYC Facilities have been available for practice since July 11th.'