Issue date
Recently a kiwi team competed at the 2014 Optimist World Championships held in Argentina coming up against 207 sailors from 38 nations. Racing came to a close on October 31st.
Full results are available here.
John Jennings writes “the very last Opti report from this scribe and without doubt there have been too many for too long.”
I think it would be fair to say the last two days of the regatta and Kerensa’s competitive (there is still the coaching) Opti career have been somewhat of an anti-climax. As a result of the overnight storm on Tuesday there was no sailing on Wednesday. Yesterday (Thursday) the breeze had of course abated and it was like qualification all over again, except that with the River disgorging itself of a massive amount of water the RO was concerned that the current was having a disproportionate effect on proceedings and delayed sending the sailors out.
The sailors all got into Ali Baba mode so a most important life skill of marketing and bartering was put to the test. Not sure any of the Kiwis got any amazing deals but don’t think they got duped either, maybe scoring well with one swap and not so well with another.
The clear talk around the compound was that there would be no racing today as the current was just too strong and I think the kiwi sailors were pretty much resigned to that; especially with nothing much for any of them to play.
One anomaly that does need correcting is that whilst the score card doesn’t show it (why not?) is that Sam B actually won the Bronze Fleet race on Tuesday – the Hungarian sailor shown as winning didn’t actually complete the course.
So it was somewhat to the surprise of all when polishing off our late lunch around 1330 that the message came down that the sailors were going out, most likely at best for one race with 1600 being last warning.
With Kerensa already on the water we decided that we would secret ourselves out on the water on CNSI’s large catamaran (ferry style). Great platform with a few creature comforts and in reality would almost certainly have been a better option on Tuesday for stability.
We had a pretty decent view of the starts. Rob bemoaned LewLew heading right and down current off the start line mumbling persistently about “haven’t they ever sailed at Wakatere before, long term memory loss etc”. Sure enough by top mark LewLew was donkey last. Meanwhile Kerensa looked to have a cracking start in Silver fleet, fast off the line, front row and a clear lane to the left and into the current– unfortunately that’s always a bit easier to achieve when you are UFD, not that we knew it at the time. More disappointing was to see her come down to the gate mid fleet after such a good looking start, not that it actually mattered.
Alan was equally scathing of Scott and Sam and Jackson when they also elected to start at the boat end.
Meanwhile LewLew made amends at the gate with a shortish tack to the right and then a long tack to the wing mark pulling back 30 odd places at the finish. And Alan was made to eat humble pie as Scott finished on a high with a bullet, apparently one tack up the first beat whilst Sam (and Jackson?) engaged in far too many tacks.
So Scott aside, who had the satisfaction of winning Bronze fleet, everyone went backwards on the final day. So there endeth the long first chapter for several if not all of the team in their sailing career. For certain Kerensa and Jackson will not be back next season whilst Scott and LewLew are undecided leaning towards unlikely and Sam might only front at Nationals what with it being hosted at home (Worser Bay).
Kerensa seemed fairly philosophical about her performance and is reasonably satisfied with her final placing in the top half (just J). For sure her physical condition during build-up and then whilst here wouldn’t have helped but as so often reported back by NZ sailors across several classes we simply don’t get enough competitive sailing in light conditions within New Zealand and giving away 10-15 kgs on most of the front runners doesn’t help under those circumstances.
Fair play to the winner, Nicolas Rolaz from Switzerland as he sailed consistently very well on each and every day.
Overall a great experience for all of us here. Personally, none of my highlights were at the regatta itself and probably the achievement of getting here meant more than actually being here.
From the little bits that we have see Argentina is a fascinating country. Its great and wealthy history is all too evident, as is its decline which is sad to see but somehow adds to the fascination. And despite all of the warnings from all and sundry about being vigilant and security conscious, particularly after dark, we never felt uncomfortable. And with just a few hours to go before hopping on the big bird home have yet a to meet a grumpy or unpleasant local. They have all been amazingly friendly, accommodating and forgiving of our pathetic Spanish.
So “Hast la vista Argentina” and as you can see from the photo Kerensa beat me to it with the match!
