Optimist Asian & Oceanian Championships - Day 2
by Icarus Sailing Media 27 Oct 2015 10:44 UTC
25-31 October 2015
Welcome back to Doha Sailing Club and day 2 of the IODA Optimist Asian and Oceanic Championship 2015. Competitors were intently preparing their boats for the 2nd day of racing and anticipating another day of perfect sailing conditions in Qatar.
The weather conditions were great – serving up another day of close and competitive sailing. 8-10 knots of wind, clear skies and warm sun were guaranteed to put a smile on everyone's faces. This is a superbly run championship, and the best of Qatar's hospitality makes the event hugely popular with young sailors in the region, as well as attracting sailors from around the world.
Run under the auspices of the International Optimist Dinghy Association, the Championship fields well over 100 sailors from 17 nations. Local Qatar youngsters and athletes from the region are enjoying a real taste of big international championship racing. The experience of racing against sailors at different levels, and in big fleet starts, is the perfect way to benchmark performance, improve skills and gain racing experience.
On the race course, all the sailors were ready to deliver their best skills and race strategy. The sight of over 100 Optimist dinghies is impressive – as they headed out and squeezed themselves to the best spot on the start line. Each sailor is hunting out a front of line start. But, executing a perfect time-on-distance acceleration off the line, finding a clear lane and the first shift – is not easy. Close mark roundings, boat-on-boat battles and speed were the main features of the day's three races in the yellow and blue fleets.
Early days, but so far it looks like the leaderboard positions will unfold into a battle between sailors from Italy, Turkey, Thailand, Singapore or China. But the quality of the whole fleet makes this a very early speculation.
Tomorrow, 16 teams will go head to head in the Team Racing Championship, a discipline of sailing which requires an entirely different racing style and strategy. Stay tuned!