More opening ceremony photos

Opening Ceremony video

Opening Cermonies

Pictures from the opening ceremony.  More to follow.

Team leader photos

You can see team leader photos at:
https://picasaweb.google.com/102095367591467455924/Optinam2011?authkey=Gv1sRgCJCt-Kj3xMmQbg

I have put a link on the right side of the Blog page

Day 3

The morning cloud cover burned off quite quickly which equated to breeze!!  The boys got on the water after lunch and were happy to see 16 - 18 knot westerlies.  We are sharing a coach boat with the Germans which have 4 entries as well.  Christian (sp?) is the GER coach and was the same coach we shared a boat with at the 2009 Optinam in the Dominican Rep.  Today they sparred with the Germans for a while and later in the afternoon they joined a multi-national group of about 60 boats for a race.  Zizi said the current was extremely strong and on the first upwind he said that practically every boat touched the windward mark.

Tomorrow is the practice race and also the opening ceremony which will take place at 8:30 am.  This is an unusual time for an IODA ceremony but it seems like a good idea since there is little or no breeze in the mornings.  Following that will be the coach/team leader meeting where we will be issued the Sailing Instructions.  Tonight is our first official Optinam dinner here in the hotel.

Countries entered in Optinam 2011

The Optinam website has been updated at http://www.cbyc.org/optinam2011/entrants/index.html
We have entries from the following countries:
Argentina
Bermuda
Brazil
British Virgin Islands
Canada
Chile
Dominican Rep
Ecuador
Germany
Japan
Mexico
Netherlands Antilles
New Zealand
Peru
Puerto Rico
Slovenia
Trinidad & Tobago
Uruguay
USA
USVI

Happy Birthday Sue Stan - BER Country Rep!

Day 2

Tuesday arrived with quite a bit of fog which we were told would translate into light winds for the day if it did not burn off quickly.  Chases new sail arrived the day before and was measured in just before the 50 USA boats arrived while Zizi sat down and had a briefing with the boys.  Lunch was sandwiches from Subway which was the same as day 1 and everyone seems to like.  Zizi got the sailors on the water by about 12:30 and found the wind prediction to be accurate.  They made the most of the 6-8 knots they had practicing with Chile, Argentina, Canada, Ecuador and Peru.  The sailors came back in by 5:45 and had some down time in the Hotel before we went to the Califonia Pizza Kitchen for dinner across the bridge in down town Long Beach.

IODA's "Curly" Morris gives the boys their on-the-water briefing

More Day 1

Sue procured a good coach boat from the yacht club.  They are all loaners from clubs and club members.  Ours is a 17 foot whaler center console with a 4 stroke engine which should work well.  Zizi got the sailors on the water at around 1:30pm.  Once they got out there they joined up with the Americans and Team Ecuador.  Everyone got a feel for the conditions which ranged from 8 - 13 knots according to Zizi.  They came in about 5:30.  We had a great invitation from an school friend of mine to join his family at their house in Long Beach for a BBQ.  Our hosts John and Sarah Sangmeister (and their family) are keen sailors and John is the proprietor of Gladstones Restaurant in Long Beach.  Gladstones sponsors many sailing events including the most recent Farr 40 NA's.  He also showed us his Formula 40 catamaran moored at the Long Beach YC.  Have a look at this thing move!

http://www.youtube.com/user/Kialoa5#p/u/4/zuywfGWjgls

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Day 1 in California

Everyone was awake quite early due to the time adjustment but were able to hold off until 8 am for breakfast.  In the lobby we saw Curly Morris, IODA measurer, who suggested we get measured early which sounded like a good idea.  We headed down to the venue around 9:30 and as we arrived Zizi introduced us to Kim from Winner boats who are doing the charters.  We found our boats which were pre-labeled for all the countires and Stig from Winner took us to get the other equipment out of the container.  Everything is brand new.  We went to find the measurement location and found out that Ecuador were booked in first with 18 sailors.  Luckily they didn't have all their equipment so we were able to be the first team measured.  It took a bit of time as the IODA officials had to use us as the "test" case to instruct the volunteers on how to do the process.  We were completed around 11:30 and the sailors rigged up their boats while Sue and I went to find lunch for everyone.

Team Bermuda arrives in LA

After 2 uneventful flights Team Bermuda arrived safely in Los Angeles on time on Sunday afternoon.  All the sailors were very good travellers.  It took a bit of time to get the sail tubes from the oversized luggage pick up but at least we had everything.  The easy drive south to San Pedro was about 45 minutes.  We waited until 7 to head out to dinner to try and get on California time asap.  Coach Zizi arrived around 7pm but he did not join us as he was exhausted from his long trip from Frankfurt.  We had dinner at a nice restaurant near the Cabrillo Beach Yacht Club, about a 3 minute drive away.  Everyone was in bed by 9:45pm local time with the instruction to meet at 8am for breakfast.

OPTINAM Departure day is June 26th

Team Bermuda consisting of Sam Stan, Rory Caslin, Chase Cooper and Michael Barit depart this Sunday, June 26th and will be representing Bermuda at the IODA North American Championships in Long Beach, California.  The host club is the Cabrillo Beach YC.

Official Schedule:

25 June - 28 June: Early Arrivals
29 June: Official Arrival Day, Registration and Measurement
30 June: Registration and Measurement, Practice Race, Team Leaders Meeting, Opening Ceremony
1 July - 2 July: INAM races
3 July: Team Racing
4 July: Spare Day
5 July: INAM races
6 July: INAM races, Award and Closing Ceremony
7 July: Official Departure Day