Limassol, Cyprus, September 5, 2018 — The curtain has finally closed on a long, grueling, but very successful Optimist World Championship. Straight to the point, Italian Marco Gradoni, the defending world champion, sailed brilliantly and was absolutely dominant at the worlds most competitive Optimist event. He won 9 of the 11 races; hats off to Marco, what a performance!!
For everyone else, the regatta was an intensely competitive battle over 6 days of fleet racing, separated by 2 days of team racing. (Thailand won the Team Race Worlds, see article HERE. ) The 265 competitors sailed in rotating fleets for the first 3 days of the event, and based on those results, were then divided into Gold, Silver, Bronze, and Emerald fleets for the final 3 days. Famagusta Nautical Club was a wonderful host, and provided beach-front access to the sailing venue on the Mediterranean Sea. This was a parents, spectators, and fans-of-sailing paradise!
Team USA was comprised of Thommie Grit (USA-113), Tommy Sitzmann (USA-115), Ryan Satterberg (USA-112), Peter Foley (USA-114) and Stephan Baker (USA-111). This team was coached by Lauderdale YC Optimist Coach Pilo Rocha. The US Optimist class selects it’s 5 World Championship representatives from the results of the USODA Team Trials, another very competitive and intense process. So, getting the chance to represent the USA at the World Championship in and of itself is an incredible achievement.
Read on, thanks to our friends at Sail1Design.
