37th Lake Garda Optimist Meeting - Overall
by Fraglia Vela Riva 22 Apr 23:09 PDT
19-22 April 2019
Marco Gradoni wins at the 37th Lake Garda Optimist Meeting © Zerogradinord
The predictions made at the eve of the grand finale of the 37th Lake Garda Meeting Optimist have been fully respected: Marco Gradoni and Erik Scheidt, who on Sunday entered the last day of racing in Riva del Garda as leaders of the Junior and Cadet rankings respectively, are the winners of the 37th edition of the event organized by Fraglia Vela Riva.
The last day of racing saw the very young Cadets (born in 2009 and 2010) complete two further races, bringing to eight the total of the series sailed in the waters of North Lake Garda: Erik Scheidt, with partial scores of 1-2, left behind him the German athlete Amelie Ropke (16-4) with a margin of 4 points. The duel between the two young sailors had begun already in the first races of the series and went on all throughout the week. Bronze medal for Sofia Bommartini (2-1) from Fraglia Vela Malcesine, protagonist of an excellent day on Sunday and winner of the last race of the series in Riva del Garda.
In the Juniores category, Marco Gradoni and Richard Schultheis started the day on equal points at the top of the ranking. The first regatta is a duel between the two, almost a match race, with Gradoni taking off a couple of lengths in the last few meters and gaining the victory, leaving the Maltese athlete in third place. In the second and last race of the series, Gradoni takes home another bullet and Schultheis slips into 15th position. The local, young sailor, Alex Demurtas benefits from this situation and manages to who climb up to the second place in the general standings, overtaking the Maltese athlete.
The podium of the 37th edition of the Garda Optimist Meeting sees Marco Gradoni in first place with 10 points, followed by Alex Demurtas with 22 and Robert Schultheis with 26. The Swedish Lukas Lindstrom and the German Caspar Ilgenstein complete the top five. First female is Yanne Broers, twenty-second in the overall standings.
Giancarlo Mirandola, President of Fraglia Vela Riva, declared: "With great pride and satisfaction, we have completed this 37th edition of the Garda Optimist Meeting. This year, we were particularly lucky also with the weather conditions, that gave us a week that almost looked like summer, with warm sun and steady Ora wind, never below 7 knots. It's already time to look forward, in 2020 we will also host the Optimist Worlds so it will be a great year for Fraglia Vela Riva. Thanks to all the participants, to the staff of the Fraglia Vela Riva, to all employees and volunteers, and last but not least to our partners: without them, this great organization would not be possible".
Full results are available here.