Optimist US National Championship at Pensacola Yacht Club - Day 1

The Purple Division got off to a clean start in the first set of races Sunday on Pensacola Bay. The young sailors got off the beach at 10:00 and didn't return to shore until after 5:00PM. Four sets of three races each were sailed by the Green, Pink © Talbot Wilson

2018 Regatta Chairman Tom Pace, Jr circled the fleet at the helm of his 38' Jupiter as the sailors rolled through the second set, he states, "This is probably about the best first day you could have for a regatta. We had a little bit of a wait for the wind to come in and we had one very hot light air race that was very tactical. If we can, and our goal is to get three sets in the box, it would be a stellar first day."

The race committee led by PYC Fleet Captain and fleet racing Principal Race Officer (PRO) actually did better than that. The crew operating the start and finish lines and markboats around the Optimist Trapezoid course put together four sets of three races each with the young sailors hitting the water at 10:00AM finishing after 5:00PM.

After the four races, Stephan Baker of Miami leads all sailors with 8 points (1,4,2,1). Malthe Ebdrup of Denmark is second with 9 points (3, 3, 1, 2) and Peter Foley of Coconut Grove FL is third with 18 points (2, 14, 1, 1). Samara Walsh, the top girl so far, is in fourth with 21 points (10,7,2,2). Pensacola sailor Gil Hackel is the top local standing in 13th place. Full results are posted at used.org.

Stephan Baker relaxes aboard his coach's boat between races. He is a member of the USA Worlds Team. - photo © Talbot Wilson

For over three days, the grounds of Pensacola Yacht Club have come to resemble a sort of colorful vagabond child army encampment and this morning, the row upon row of Optis appeared armed and poised to sail against historic Fort Pickens, once used to defend Pensacola Bay against marauding pirates and enemy warships.

But these young sailors aren't here to conquer an old fortress.

Hailing from Canada, Great Britain, Denmark, Mexico, Brazil, the U.A.E., Australia and the U.S.A., these young sailors are here to battle for the 2018 USODA Optimist National Championship and after seven hours on the water in near perfect conditions – the first shots have been fired.

Streaming out onto the steel blue waters of Pensacola Bay in the morning, 287 Opti sails take the form of some strange new pod of invasive species migrating through the Gulf Coast and they were initially greeted by light summer air, but as the noon hour passed the sea breeze began to fill in like clockwork, the first set of three class starts rifled off at 11:38 after an AP delay waiting for the wind to fill in to a steady four knot minimum.

Surrounded by an armada of RC, support and spectator boats, these fine young sailors put on a near sailing clinic as a group through the starts and mark roundings as the breeze continued to freshen throughout the hot July afternoon.

Emery Diemar of Coconut Grove FL has has game face on before day-1 to the 2018 Optimist Nationals. - photo © Talbot Wilson

Winds and currents throughout the northern Gulf Coast can be notorious, but today the summer conditions didn't disappoint the sailors anticipation for fine sailing as the pressure built to a steady 12-14 knots from the south and three full sets that Chairman Pace had wished for were indeed put into the box. With clouds building up, but staying completely over land and not wanting to waste the opportunity, Race Committee opted to toss in a bit of 'lagniappe' (Louisiana speak for Something extra) to the sailors and the fleet pulled out a fourth full set.

Last evening, these sailors and their entourages paraded through Pensacola's historic downtown and enjoyed a gala affair and presentation featuring many members of the New York Yacht Club American Magic team challenging for the 36thAmerica's Cup. Interacting and learning many of the details on these foiling monohulls and hearing the adventures and experiences of these ace American sailors surely led to quite a few restless sailors overnight. But with a solid four sets of races written into the history books, these young sailors will sleep the deep sleep of the proud and exhausted.

Racing in the four-day Optimist Nationals continues Monday and continues through Wednesday. The 2018 Optimist Girls National Championship will be sailed Thursday July 19 and the 2018 Optimist Team Race National Championship will run Friday through Sunday.

To follow the event action Download the US Sailing Events App available for free download to your smart devices. The 2018 Optimist Nationals in Pensacola is a featured event. Getting App'd up is simple... Open the App Store, search for US Sailing Events, touch "GET" and install.

From there you can select Your Events... Optimist... and you are set to go. This site is a content aggregator so you will have access from this one site to the event website, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and more. Video and photo links will be posted and daily results and final standings will be at the fingertips of spectators anywhere as well.

Mike Waters, Chief Technology Officer for US Sailing says, "Make the most of your experience at the 2018 Optimist National Championships and download the customized event app provided by US Sailing. The app offers spectators, sailors and race organizers a stream for specific communications about the event, including start changes, venue changes, postponements, and protest locations. Important information from the official Notice Board will be posted to the app for better accessibility and knowledge share."

"The app also features real-time scoring updates and standings." Mike points out. "We want sailors and friends of sailors and sailing to join the conversation and track social media posts about the event. Using the app is a one-stop-shop for all the buzz at Pensacola's 2018 Optimist Nationals."