Issue date
The first day of the 2013 Optimist World Championships dawned dull and overcast with virtually no breeze at Lake Garda, Italy - but the locals said the wind would come and it did with an Ora wind arriving around 11am and whilst it started off a little shifty by the time racing was underway it was a good 15-18 knots with a few good gusts to watch out for.
Leonard Takahashi-Fry has had a very strong start to the regatta, taking a 2nd in race one after a superb start and strong upwind to mark one, he lies 9th overall after two races.
Alastair Gifford bounced back strongly after a 20th in race one to take a 5th in race two and is sitting in 39th overall.
He is followed by Nick Egnot-Johnson in 50th, Henry Haslett in 73rd and Tom Fyfe in 118th, all three taking a better result in race two after learning from race one as to what it takes to get a good start and to cement a position on the first upwind. The racing fleet is 260 boats.
Its early days but the team and coach - Susannah Pyatt - all felt good to have day one tucked away and all are looking forward to tomorrow where hopefully a similar breeze will develop
Regards from the: 2013 NZL International Yachting Trust Optimist World's Team
