Thursday, December 22, 2011
Saturday, December 17, 2011
Friday, December 16, 2011
Napier Info
In Napier we have a world class sailing venue with a great club, open water, good winds and negligible currents. The Yacht Club and its facilities are as good as you will see anywhere in the world, and the experienced race management will ensure a superbly run regatta. New Zealand has an abundance of great sailing venues to choose from to host a World Championships, and we have selected Napier as the perfect choice. Napier has hundreds of hotel and motel rooms within walking distance of the Yacht Club, and the airport is just a 3 minute drive away.
Weather Conditions
Hawke’s Bay has arguably the best weather in New Zealand.
Weather Conditions
Hawke’s Bay has arguably the best weather in New Zealand.
- Air Temperature Minimum 18C, Maximum 28C
- Water temperature 19C
- Prevailing wind NE/NW 5-21 knots
- Tides 1.6m
- Currents Slight
Message from Des Brennan
Message from Des Brennan
CEO Yachting NZ
The Optimist Class is one of the largest in the world, and its World Championship is one of the most keenlycontested regattas. Usually around 250 sailors from over 50 nations compete. New Zealand has enjoyedrecent successes at the Optimist Worlds - most significant of these was in 2007, when Chris Steele won the open fleet and Alexandra Maloney took third place and first woman. Those who succeed internationallyin the Optimist are often destined for even greater glory in the future.
New Zealand is one of the most successful sailing nations. Its sailors have won and defended the America’s Cup, won Round the World races, won the Admiral’s Cup and One Ton Cup, won Olympic medals, won the ISAF Youth World championships and won an Optimist World Championship. No other country in the world can tick all of these boxes. Yachting New Zealand enthusiastically supports this bid for the Optimist World Championships, and is confident in New Zealand’s ability to organise an outstanding event in exceptional sailing waters.
CEO Yachting NZ
The Optimist Class is one of the largest in the world, and its World Championship is one of the most keenlycontested regattas. Usually around 250 sailors from over 50 nations compete. New Zealand has enjoyedrecent successes at the Optimist Worlds - most significant of these was in 2007, when Chris Steele won the open fleet and Alexandra Maloney took third place and first woman. Those who succeed internationallyin the Optimist are often destined for even greater glory in the future.
New Zealand is one of the most successful sailing nations. Its sailors have won and defended the America’s Cup, won Round the World races, won the Admiral’s Cup and One Ton Cup, won Olympic medals, won the ISAF Youth World championships and won an Optimist World Championship. No other country in the world can tick all of these boxes. Yachting New Zealand enthusiastically supports this bid for the Optimist World Championships, and is confident in New Zealand’s ability to organise an outstanding event in exceptional sailing waters.
Thursday, July 7, 2011
Optinam 2011 Final Post
The prize presentation was a bit disorganized and ran about 1 hour over the scheduled conclusion but it was still a festive and happy event. The boys were not able to eat until 9pm and then spent the next couple of hours hanging out in the lobby with the other kids as the usual trading of country tee shirts and other merchandise went down, resembling a mid east bazaar.
Here is how the regatta panned out:
Sam - 24 2 14 (33) 12 (37) 26 17 3 18 5 - 37th
Rory - 22 39 (64\DNF) 29 12 24 (64\OCS) 23 37 19 32 - 87th
Michael - 31 20 11 20 45 20 (64\OCS) 25 (64\OCS) 12 64\OCS - 94th
Chase - 55 58 (64\DNF) 58 58 56 (64\OCS) 35 34 36 39 - 169th
Sam did very well but had hoped to do better. He did have three top ten finishes. Inconsitency prevented him from finishing higher.
Rory was fairly consistent and improved throughout the regatta.
Michael sailed extremely well considering that he is away at school and unable to practice as much. His three OCS's hurt him badly in the last 2 days.
Chase struggled early in the big breeze but showed a gain in confidence and good progress in the last half of the regatta.
Overall I was very happy with the way the boys sailed and conducted themselves on and off the water. They represented themselves, their families and their country well and it was a pleaseure to be on the trip with them.
Good luck to Rory at his event in the Dominican Republic and Chase at the US Nationals coming up!
Here is how the regatta panned out:
Sam - 24 2 14 (33) 12 (37) 26 17 3 18 5 - 37th
Rory - 22 39 (64\DNF) 29 12 24 (64\OCS) 23 37 19 32 - 87th
Michael - 31 20 11 20 45 20 (64\OCS) 25 (64\OCS) 12 64\OCS - 94th
Chase - 55 58 (64\DNF) 58 58 56 (64\OCS) 35 34 36 39 - 169th
Sam did very well but had hoped to do better. He did have three top ten finishes. Inconsitency prevented him from finishing higher.
Rory was fairly consistent and improved throughout the regatta.
Michael sailed extremely well considering that he is away at school and unable to practice as much. His three OCS's hurt him badly in the last 2 days.
Chase struggled early in the big breeze but showed a gain in confidence and good progress in the last half of the regatta.
Overall I was very happy with the way the boys sailed and conducted themselves on and off the water. They represented themselves, their families and their country well and it was a pleaseure to be on the trip with them.
Good luck to Rory at his event in the Dominican Republic and Chase at the US Nationals coming up!
Wednesday, July 6, 2011
Final standings
Although I have limited info of the race conditions as Zizi had to rush to the airport, here are the final Bermuda standings:
Sam 37th
Rory 87th
Michael 95th
Chase 169th
The NA's were won by Alberto Lados (URU) followed by Peter Janezic (SLO) and Russell Clarida (USA). As the first North American, Russell is the North American Champion.
We were one of the first countries to check the charter boats back in to the Danes from Winner thanks to Sue's quick thinking. It can sometimes be a 3 hr ordeal!
More info to follow after awards ceremony.
Sam 37th
Rory 87th
Michael 95th
Chase 169th
The NA's were won by Alberto Lados (URU) followed by Peter Janezic (SLO) and Russell Clarida (USA). As the first North American, Russell is the North American Champion.
We were one of the first countries to check the charter boats back in to the Danes from Winner thanks to Sue's quick thinking. It can sometimes be a 3 hr ordeal!
More info to follow after awards ceremony.
Last Day of Racing
The boys are out on the water for the last day of racing. The "OCS fest" the day before had discouraged some but Zizi gave a good pep talk before departure this morning encouraging everyone to stay sharp and try hard. He suggested trying different things on their own since he can't get too close to the start line ("self coaching") and warned people to be aware of the conditions and not to be reckless. The PRO suggested that there were differing current conditions again today but the breeze should be the same. No races will be started after 3pm so they hope to get in 2 races to enable the second drop race. The prize presentation will be in the hotel later today. Photos from this morning below.
Results from Day 3
Sam - 34th (25, 17, 3)
Michael - 96th (25, OCS, OCS)
Rory - 104th (OCS, 23, 37)
Chase - 172th (OCS, 35, 34)
Michael - 96th (25, OCS, OCS)
Rory - 104th (OCS, 23, 37)
Chase - 172th (OCS, 35, 34)
Races 7 - 9
Races 7 - 9 were completed on Tuesday. For some reason they have not posted the results officially but the mini site says that the Slovenian Peter Janezic's continues to be the leader. The temperature and wind conditions were the same as we have seen during the previous two days, building to 15-20 knots from the west as the day progressed. The major difference was that the current, usually downwind, today was upwind, pushing the sailors towards the course side and forcing the Race Committee to have multiple general recalls each race which made for a long day. We have been led to believe that BER may have had a number of OCS's but will confirm. Overall there were a mixed bag of results for the boys for the day. The highlights were finishes in the top 6 for Mike and Sam but Mike will be penalized 5 points as the safety inspection, common for the top 10 sailors, revealed that his mast clip was too low (it had slipped down).
Spare Day - July 4th
Team Bermuda spent the day off celebrating the American Independence Day holiday at beautiful Emerald Bay courtesy of Mr and Mrs Bob McKnight, founders of Quicksilver surf and ski apparel. The team spent the day swimming, paddleboarding, watching pro and former pro volley ball players and even had a go at surfing on "soft boards". The day culminated in a wonderful fireworks show.
Sunday, July 3, 2011
Day 2 & 3 Update
Team Bermuda had another breezy fleet race day in San Pedro, California on Saturday. After a delay due to foggy morning conditions the sailors headed out to the Pacific to complete Day 2 of the North American Championships. Zizi believes the team is still is having difficulty getting clean starts in large fleets which is hindering their progress. Strong currents are also challenging the sailors who dont experience much current in Bermuda waters.
Sam Stan is still leading the Bermuda "charge" in the 187 boat regatta but slipped slightly to 50th with a 33,12 & 37 on Saturday. Michael Barit has been sailing quite consistently and has been doing remarkably well considering he has been away at boarding school and has not spent much time in the boat lately. He is currently in 66th and scored 20, 45, 20 on Day 2. Rory Caslin is solidly in the top 1/2 of the fleet in 90th place (29, 12, 24) and Chase Cooper is in 179th (58, 58, 56) at the half way point in the regatta. Slovenian Peter Janezic is still the leader and is followed by 4 points by Filipe Diniz (ARG) and Russell Clarida (USA).
Today (Sunday) the North American countries, which includes the Caribbean, had their team racing championship while all the other countries raced for the Nations Cup team race title. Bermuda had a strong win against Mexico 2 in their first match but fell to USA 2 in their second match. Their next loss was to Canada 1 in a closely contested race which insured their exit. USA 2 eventually won the Team Championship by bettering Puerto Rico in the finals. In the Nations Cup Argentina won against Uruguay.
The sailors have a day off for tomorrow July 4th - American Independence Day and will resume racing for 2 more days on July 5th. Team Bermuda will be heading down to Laguna Beach for an authentic California beach party and July 4th celebration.
USA 2 and Puerto Rico (PUR) in finals for NA Team Race Championship
USA 2 and Puerto Rico (PUR) in finals for NA Team Race Championship
Flight C
Pur d. Usa1
Mex1 d. Dom
Isv d. Gua
Usa2 d. Usa3
Can1 d. Ber
Can2 d. Mex2
Mex1 d. Dom
Isv d. Gua
Usa2 d. Usa3
Can1 d. Ber
Can2 d. Mex2
Bermuda is done for the day. The boys fought hard.
Signing off from the pier.
Flight B
USA 1 d. ISV
PUR d. MEX1
GUA d. MEX3
USA3 d. CAN2
USA 2 d. BER
MEX 2, CAN 1 and DOM all have a bye
PUR d. MEX1
GUA d. MEX3
USA3 d. CAN2
USA 2 d. BER
MEX 2, CAN 1 and DOM all have a bye
Fw: Flight A Results
Subject: Flight A Results
ISV d. DOM
PUR d. MEX 3
MEX 1 d. GUA
CAN 2 d. CAN 2
BER d. MEX 2
USA 1 and USA 2 bye
ISV d. DOM
PUR d. MEX 3
MEX 1 d. GUA
CAN 2 d. CAN 2
BER d. MEX 2
USA 1 and USA 2 bye
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