2010 Worlds - Final Day

Today was the last official day of racing and there was only one round of racing and in reality there was only one race, race three, that was of any real significance as it was going a race that was going to determine the champion. Going into today’s final race Thailand was leading Malayshia by a eight points and as it stood, whichever one of them was able to distance themselves from the other was certain to win the championship. As it turned out it was not even close as Thailand won with ease.

For our sailors, the final race was one whereby they could solidify their positions or perhaps improve a few places, albeit any movement was not going to be too significant but in the end there wasn’t any major change in positioning.

The Closing Ceremony was colourful albeit long. The Malaysians were very generous with their prizes and in the spirit of true Opti sportsmanship they tried to assure that everyone was a winner or at least knew they are special. The sailors from all over the world showed their appreciation to the event organizers by accepting an invitation to join Malaysia’s cultural dancers on stage to take part in a traditional Malaysian dance.

In minutes the stage was blanketed in a riot of colours…the sight brought smiles to the faces of the adults and event organizers as we all sat and watched the sailors share a moment of unity amongst nations and for one moment in time it made everything else seem insignificant. Oh, I should mention that leading the Bermuda charge on stage was Ron Stan although he soon gave way to the sailors.

Although this Worlds’ in now history, I believe the team learnt a lot about what it takes to be a world beater but more importantly over the past 16 days they also learnt a little bit about each other and the importance of team.

As for Langkawi, which had earned the pre-regatta reputation as being a light air venue, of the fifteen races contested the majority of them were contested in wind that blew at least 12 knots and as previously reported for a few races the wind was blowing as much as 17 to 18 knots…today, 7 January 2011, was no exception as the wind was a steady 11 to 12 knots with a few gust up to 15 knots.

Now comes the fun part, the trek home. See you soon…one day in time. Zizi will provide a summary on how he flet our sailors did which will be shared with you in due course.

Note: The final Bermuda placings are as follows;

Makai 75

Sam  93

Antonio 169

Ceci 198

Chase 208

Best,

AB