Optimist

Yearbook 2005

R

AsiaChina l l lChin. Taipei lHong Kong lIndia l lIndonesia lJapan l lKorea lKuwaitMalaysia l lMyanmar lPakistan lQatar l lSingapore l l lSri Lanka l lThailand lU.A.Emirates

AfricaAlgeria lAngolaEgypt lKenya lMauritius l l

MoroccoSeychellesS. Africa l lTanzania l lTunisiaUganda lZimbabwe

OceaniaAustralia l lCook Islands lFijiNew Zealand l lPapua NGSamoa l lSolomon Is. lTahiti l lVanuatu l

North AmericaAnguilla lBahamas lBarbados lBermuda l lBr. Virgin I.Canada l lCubaDominican R. l l lEl Salvador lG. CaymanGrenada lGuatemala lMexico l lNet. Antilles l l lNicaraguaPuerto Rico l lSt. LuciaSt. Vincent l lTrinidad & T. l lU.S.A. l l lU.S. Virgin I. l l

South AmericaArgentina l l lBrasil l l lColombia lChile l lEcuador l lParaguay lPeru l lUruguay l lVenezuela l l l

The Optimist World

Members 105l Attended 2005 IODA World Sailing Championship 52l Attended most recent IODA Continental Championship 80l Built GRP Optimists 2004/5 23l Received IODA training & development grants 2004/5 16

EuropeAustria l lBelarus lBelgium l lBulgaria l l lCroatia l lCyprusCzech Rep. l l lDenmark l l lEstonia l l lFinland l l lFrance l l lGermany l lGeorgiaGreat Britain l l lGreece l l lHungary l l lIcelandIreland l l lIsrael lItaly l l lLatvia lLithuania lMalta lMonaco lNetherlands l l lNorway l lPoland l l lPortugal l l lRussia l lSan MarinoSerbia/M. l l lSlovakia l lSlovenia l l lSpain l l lSweden l l lSwitzerland l lTurkey l lUkraine l

The Optimist

From

to

in over 110 countries

To provide sailboat racingfor young people at low cost

and

to co-ordinate youth workbetween member countries

These are the objectives of theInternational Optimist Dinghy

Association.

This yearbook is an attempt torecord how the IODA is

fulfilling its mission.

2Clark Mills

Fifty eight years ago inClearwater Florida a group of

citizens wanted to stop local children getting bored and askedboatbuilder Clark Mills to make

a boat for kids to sail. The Optimist was born.

InternationalFollowing the spread of the

Optimist to Europe, initiallythrough Axel Damsgaard of

Denmark, the first internationalregatta was held in England in

1962 with sailors fromDenmark, Sweden and

the host nation.Beginning a trend that was to

develop beyond anyone’sdreams, the silver medallist

Peter Due was to win anOlympic medal 18 years later.

IODAThe International Optimist

Dinghy Association was formedjust three years later in 1965 in

Finland with seven nationalmembers including the U.S.A.

Viggo Jacobsen of Denmarkwas the first of only five

presidents who have headed the Class since.

International ClassIn 1973 IODA was recognised

by the International YachtRacing Union (now the ISAF).

Fourteen countries on four continents supported the

application.

Strict One-DesignBy 1992 the Optimist was

drifting away from its one-design principle.

Three years of hard work developed a tight specificationwhich could be built to exactly

the same standard by any competent GRP boat builder.

1947 - the original Optimist

1973 - already in Argentina

1996 - one of the earliest strict one-designs

3

A little history

4

Highlights of 2005 Great conditionsWinds for most of our major championships in 2005 were

some of the best in recent years.After a generally disappointing

Easter, the venues in Tobago,Gdynia, Silvaplana and

Dar es Salaam all produced atleast some days perfect

for sailing

Tina wonTina Lutz from the Chiemsee in

Bavaria became only the thirdgirl to win gold in the 43 year

history of our Worlds.She is also only the second

German to win a medal and ledher team-mates to the Miami Herald team aggregate prizeby a margin of nearly 50%.

North Americans in theCaribbean

The IODA North AmericanChampionship, held for the first

time in the Caribbean on the beautiful island of Tobago was an

outstanding success.Numbers were over 50% higherthan 2004 and seven Caribbean

countries participated.

Africans in TanzaniaOur African championship is one

of the most difficult to organisebut Dar es Salaam Yacht Club

put on a tremendous show with participants from seven

African countries.

Growth in RegattasNot only were new records set at

our championships, ‘unofficial’regattas such as the Dubai Inter-national, Portoroz Easter and the

Malta Euromed continue to grow.

Booming salesAfter record 2004 sales of over

4,000 boats, 2005 is also looking good.

5

Racing for young peopleRacing is the core activityof the Optimist ClassLearning to sail is obviouslythe first step but in most countries this can be safely leftto clubs and sailing schoolsunder the direction of NationalSailing Associations. Linkingschools and clubs can be animportant step.

Club racing: where it startsIt is a small step from sailinground a triangle to trying to doit faster than the next person.Good instructors will ensurethat this step is taken undercarefully controlled conditions.Club racing is at the heart ofsailing: strong clubs usuallyproduce the best sailors.

National RegattasRacing against sailors fromother clubs is the next step.National Optimist Associationsco-ordinate calendars, organiseselection trials and usually thenational championship.

International RegattasThe chance to sail - and meet -with people of your own agefrom different parts of theworld is a major attraction.With travel ever cheaper andcharter boats widely available,thousands participate in foreignregattas at all levels.

IODA ChampionshipsThe great incentive is thechance to represent your country at the IODA World orcontinental championships.Since in general each sailor isonly permitted to participate inone or two such events, some700-800 young people get thisunforgettable experience eachyear.

Great yacht clubs fosterOptimist racing.RCN Gran Canaria - home ofOlympic champions

National competition is usually co-ordinated by thenational Optimist associations.

International competitionattracts thousands of sailorsa year.FV Riva del Garda hosts thebiggest

Qualifying for IODA’s worldand continental champi-onships is a major incentive.

Racing starts almost as soonas a novice learns to sail.

6

at low cost Strict one-designAll Optimists are built to the

same specification. Any boat-builder can build after he has

satisfied IODA that he is competent to do so, leading

to keen competition. Nearly forty builders in 22

countries on five continentshave approval.

Class RulesTight Class Rules control the

specification of hull and equipment.

In 2005 these were extended tothe rudder and daggerboard.

Greater freedom is allowed onchoice of sails but these too are

tightly controlled.

MeasurementAll boats and equipment arecertified to comply with the

rules by independentinspectors.

This is reinforced at majorevents by re-inspection by

IODA’s team of InternationalMeasurers.

Transport CostsWhile the Optimist is easily

transported, there is often no need.

Identical specification world-wide means that competitiveboats can be chartered at all

IODA championships andmany major events.

Subsidised EventsAt IODA championships the

entry fee covers all accommo-dation and meals as well as

racing as a fixed package.The generosity of sponsors andthe effect of big regattas on thelocal tourist industry mean that

the costs of these events is heavily subsidised.

Make of hull used to qualifyby sailors at the Worlds.No one builder had more than16% of the market and 40% ofsailors had used a hull producedin their own country.

Sail measurement at theNorth Americans.190 sails in three days!

Charter reduces the cost ofinternational competition.Reloading some of the 110 hullssupplied by Winner for theWorlds.

Entry to IODA champion-ships is heavily subsidisedNivea, sponsors of the 2005European Championship.

The new one-design rudderintroduced in 2005Daggerboards were also standardised.

7

Some regattasNo Grand Prix!Unlike later sailing and indeed many other sports at this age, there is noranklist, Grand Prix or circuit in the Optimist Class.

Many parents (and even more schoolteachers!) would not accept that youhave to go to a certain event on a certain date. Most sailors who do competeabroad do so during the Easter and Christmas holidays.

Many of these events are more like ‘winter breaks” with groups of familiesteaming up to take their children on an alternative to a skiing holiday. Clubcoaches too enjoy a not-too-serious working holiday in the sun.

Nor is it necessary to compete at frequent international events in order to dowell.

Bahamas group -first outing to theOrange Bowl

Spring sunshine onLake Garda

Malta Euromed:charter easilyavailable

ChristmasTrofeo Ciutat de PalmaPalma de Mallorca, Spain 4-7 Dec.268 sailors from 8 countries1. Lukasz Przybtek POL2. Wojtek Zemke POL3. Kacper Staniul POL4. Marino Tortarolo ITA5. Thijs Groot NED

Malta EuromedMalta 17-20 Dec.86 sailors from 11 countries1. Henrik Grim SWE2. Benjie Borg MLT3. Lorenzo Piccioni ITA4. William Camilleri MLT5. Nicolas Wallin SWE

XL Capital InvitationalBermuda 19-22 Dec.73 sailors from 13 countries1. Filip Matika CRO2. Oliver Riihiluoma BER3. Kacper Zieminski POL4. Theofanis Kavas GRE5. Sean Bouchard BER

Orange BowlMiami, USA 26-30 Dec.284 sailors from 11 countries1. Oliver Riihiluoma BER2. Arantza Gumuchio CHI3. Sean Moynahan USA4. Gonzalo Picco PER5. Austen Anderson USA

Meeting Int. del MediterraneoSan Remo, Italy 28-30 Dec. 67 sailors from 3 countries 1. Paolo Cattaneo ITA2. Manu Deceuninck FRA3. Sophiam Bouvet FRA4. Aymeric Arthaud FRA5. Adrian Gremaud SUI

Trofeo CampobassoNaples, Italy 4-6 Jan. 127 sailors from 12 countries 1. Federica Wetzl ITA2. Giovanni Magliulo ITA3. Leo Dubbini ITA4. Federico Cattaneo ITA5. Luca Paolillo ITA

EasterMagic Marine, BraassemermeerNetherlands 25-28 March269 sailors from 11 countries1. Afrodite Kyranakou GRE2. Jacob Lundqvist SWE3. Carl Strombeck SWE4. Philip Sparks GBR5. Matthew Rainback GBR

8 9More regattas neededQualification trials are the big incentive for Optimist sailors. But it isgreat if as many as possible can qualify for something.

As both the number and size of national Optimist fleets has grown and astravel gets cheaper, there is an increasing need for more big well-organised regattas particularly in the long holidays. National associationscan then make up third, fourth or whatever teams to give even moresailors the chance of competing abroad.

Flanders YouthRegatta - weneed more likeit

IODA cannot (and does not want to!) dictate who goes where but organis-ers are warmly invited to send details of truly international events, prefer-ably with charter boats available, for inclusion on the IODA Calendar atwww.optiworld.org/ioda-06calendar.html

Team Racing EventsTeam Racing is hugely popular in the Optimist and is included in allcontinental championships except the European.Instead in Europe three European events have developed, each withdifferent entry criteria. In 2005 the Poles won all three!

Earliest is the Trofeo Marco Rizzotti in the Venice lagoon in May. Open to regional and national teams, the 2005 event attracted eight countries.Result: 1. Poland 2. Italy 3. Germany 4. Lombardy

Unique is the GrandOptical Champions Cup in Valle di Ledro, Italy.

This event is open only to the champion club teams of European coun-tries which run national inter-club team racing championships. Fourteensuch teams entered in 2005 and results were:1. Mos Ilawa (POL) 2. Hjuviks Y.C. (SWE) 3. N.C. Piraeus (GRE)The sponsorship contract for this event has been renewed for four years.

Finally in October Berlin hosts the Opti Team Cup. 2005 results are notyet available but the 2004 event saw 16 teams from 14 countries. Result: 1. Poland 2. Italy 3. Sweden 4. Russia

Garda MeetingItaly 24-27 March586 sailors from 21 countries1. Martino Tortarolo ITA2. Federico Macari ITA3. Fabian Kaske GER4. Tina Lutz GER5. Kacper Staniul POL

PortorozSlovenia 9-11 Apr.342 sailors from 10 countries1. Jacek Sierzputowski POL2. Mateusz Kolata POL3. Andraz Gulic SLO4. Marios Petrogonas GRE5. Vassilis Tsokaras GRE

OptispringNetherlands 17-18 Apr.159 sailors from 5 countries1. Magnus Kældsø DEN2. Maarten Dagelet NED3. Dirk Bennen NED4. Christian Andersen DEN5. Mathieu Willemart BEL

OtherDubai InternationalU.A.Emirates 23-30 Jan. 75 sailors from 14 countries1. Karin Alkstedt SWE2. Carl Strombeck SWE3. Jes Lyhne Bonde DEN4. Adam Johansson SWE5. Jacob Lundqvist SWE

Schoelcher InternationalMartinique 5-9 Feb. 75 sailors from 7 countries1. Matthew Scott TRI2. Vincent Berthez FRA3. Yvann Thelier FRA4. Alexander Zimmermann PER5. Valentin Lemarchand FRA

Scotiabank Caribbean InternationalU.S.Virgin Islands 16-19 June 75 sailors from 7 countries1. Ian Liberty USA2. Suzy Reynolds USA3. Haley Powell BER4. Ivan Aponte PUR5. Alec Anderson IVB

Flanders Youth RegattaNieuwpoort, Belgium 2-6 July 71 sailors from 7 countries1. Rufina Tan Hong Mui MAS2. Fazani bin Yahaya MAS3. Hermann Tomasgaard SWE4. Guus Disselhorst NED5. Nina Keijzer NED

IODA championshipsIn 2005 over 850 young sailors from 80 countries will have represented their countries at IODA championships.

The Championship Year in figures

Event Sailors Countries

Worlds 241 52Europeans 232 41N. Americans 183 18S. Americans 172 15Asians 102* 14*Africans 60 10Oceanians Held in even years

850+ 80 * Forecast

and ten years ago

Sailors Countries

186 41254 38151 9134 1068 10

NoneNone

650+ 54

Note: A small number of sailors attend more than one championship, esp-cially those who attend the South Americans at Easter, and therefore thetotal number of sailors is less than the total of those at each event.

All six continentsWith the creation of an IODA

African Championship in 2001the Optimist became the first boat

class to organise, in addition toits Worlds, a championship on

each continent, though theOceanians is held only biennially.

Behind the figuresThe 2005 Worlds saw a new

“normal Worlds” record of 52countries entered. The absolute

record remains with the 59 at theMillennium Worlds of 2000

which gave free entry to many teams.

At the Europeans team size hasbeen reduced to seven sailors per

European team but a record 33 of IODA’s 37 European

members attendedThe North Americans, in the

Caribbean for the first time, hadnumbers up 50% from 2004,

boosted by seven Caribbean countries.

The Africans, again in the virginterritory of Tanzania, attracted

eight African teams.Record participation is expected

at the Asians in November.And the South Americans

recorded a “full house” of allmembers on that continent.

1962 G. Britain 31963 Sweden 41964 Denmark 81965 Finland 91966 U.S.A. 61967 Austria 111968 France 141969 G. Britain 151970 Spain 141971 Germany 131972 Sweden 15

1973 Cancelled1974 Switzerland 201975 Denmark 231976 Turkey 191977 Yugoslavia 221978 France 251979 Thailand 161980 Portugal 241981 Ireland 241982 Italy 301983 Brasil 22

1984 Canada 281985 Finland 321986 Spain 291987 Holland 291988 France 321989 Japan 301990 Portugal 381991 Greece 391992 Argentina 291993 Spain 411994 Italy 39

1995 Finland 411996 S. Africa 391997 N. Ireland 411998 Portugal 441999 Martinique 472000 Spain 592001 China 442002 U.S.A. 452003 Spain 502004 Ecuador 502005 Switzerland 52

43 Years of the IODA Worlds - venues and nations participating

60

50

40

30

20

10

11

2000 • 2001 • 2002 • 2004

10

While IODA has recently encour-aged the growth of continentaland regional championships to

facilitate sailors worldwide, theWorlds remains the focal point of

the year.

Each member country may sendup to five sailors, who race in sixdivisions to reduce congestion on

the start line.

The best sixteen teams also com-pete in the IODA World Team-

Racing Championship.

12

IODA World Championship1. Tina Lutz Germany2. Matthew Scott Trinidad & Tobago3. Wu Jianan China4. Philipp Autenrieth Germany5. Nicklas Dackhammar Sweden6. Jorge Martinez Doreste Spain7. Julian Autenrieth Germany8. Daniela Zimmermann Peru9. Jakob Bosic Slovenia

10. Sean Bouchard Bermuda11. Jacek Sierzputowski Poland12. Vasilis Patoutsoglou Greece13. Karin Alkstedt Sweden14. Carl Evans New Zealand15. Jovina Choo Singapore16. Paolo Cattaneo Italy17. Ben Saxton Great Britain18. Ronyon Oliveira Brasil19. Alexis Katsios Greece20. Anthony Alkins Trinidad & Tobago

Girls1. Tina Lutz Germany2. Daniela Zimmermann Peru3. Karin Alkstedt Sweden4. Jovina Choo Singapore5. Rufina Tan Hong Mui Malaysia6. Stephanie Zimmermann Peru7. Ariana Villena Ecuador8. Enia Nincevic Croatia9. Kim Pletikos Slovenia

10. Federica Wetzl Italy

World Championship

1. Germany2. Sweden3. Peru4. China5. Greece6. N. Zealand7. Italy8. Croatia9. Malaysia

10. Poland11. Singapore12. Brasil13. Bermuda14. France15. G. Britain16. Trinidad17. U.S.A.18. Norway

19. Ecuador20. Spain21. Denmark22. Slovenia23. Argentina24. Japan25. Austria26. Netherlands27. Uruguay28. Finland29. Chile30. Mexico31. Portugal32. Turkey33. Belgium34. S. Africa35. Switzerland36. Ireland

37. Canada38. Puerto Rico39. Latvia40. Hungary41. Czech Rep.42. U.S.V.I.43. Serbia/M44. Tahiti45. Slovakia46. Dominican R47. Bulgaria48. N. Antilles*49. Qatar*50. Venezuela*51. Estonia*52. Australia*

* Incomplete team

Miami Herald Trophy(Team Aggregate Scores - 4 sailors, no discards)

IODA World Team Racing Championship

1. Argentina 5= Great Britain

2. Malaysia 5= Sweden

3. New Zealand 7= Denmark

4. Italy 7= Peru

1. ITASUI ITA16. SUIUSA ITA

9. DENNZL USA DEN8. USANZL ARG

NZL DENDEN 5. CHNCHN ARG

12. ARGNZL POL ARGPOL 13. NZL NZL

GBR 4. POLNZL ARG

ITA 3. SWESWE MAS14. MASITA SWE MAS11. CROSWE CRO PER

6. PERTRISWE MASPER 7. GBRPER BRA GBR10. BRAGBR GBR15. TRI TRIGER 2. GER

1

2

3

Silvaplana, Switzerland 25 July - 6 August

Images of the Worlds

The rainbow table below explains why the Optimist succeeds in its objective of providing truly inter-national competitive sailing.

• there is no need to take your own boatIn most sailing, even at Olympic level, boats are not supplied. At all major Optimist championships and anincreasing number of lesser events, charter boats are easily available. And they are just as fast as any otherOptimist. So if its cheaper to bring your own, do so. If not, don’t worry.

• there is no faster make of boatIt is the sailor who wins, not the boat. Optimists from twelve different builders were used by those 41 sailors belowwho brought their own boats. What boats do well depends on what countries currently have the best sailors. Osis boatsare not better for girls (!), Scandinavian girls did well this year and sailed locally built Osis boats.Older boats are competitive: GER 10961 and GER 11601, in 4th and 7th place at the Worlds, are five and sixyears old respectively.

• you can probably buy from a builder near you61% of those who brought their own boats had bought them from a builder in their own or an immediately neigh-bouring country

Hulls Used by the Top 20 Sailors at the 2005 IODA World and EuropeanChampionships

Worlds Europeans Boys Europeans Girls

1 GER 11601 Nordest DEN 7954 Winner USA12812 Charter**

2 TRI 1006 Charter* BRA 3036 Charter** SWE 4014 Osis

3 CHN 551 Charter* ESP 822 Charter** ESP 1274 Charter**

4 GER 10961 Nordest GRE 2992 Charter** ITA 6804 Nordest

5 SWE 4116 Finessa BER 1189 Charter** DEN 7800 Osis

6 ESP 769 Charter* ITA 6718 Nordest BER 1128 Charter**

7 GER 11601 Nordest CRO 900 Winner ITA 6855 Winner

8 PER 286 Charter* RUS 6 Finessa GRE 623 Finessa

9 SLO 378 Morgan PER 280 Charter** GER 11613 Ziba

10 BER 1008 Charter* NED 2597 Nordest SWE 4023 Osis

11 POL 1114 Ziba SWE 4011 Osis GRE 1495 Charter**

12 GRE 1526 Finessa FRA 1621 Winner CRO 943 Nautivela

13 SWE 4065 OS Båtar ESP 998 Charter** NED 2509 Van Wettum

14 NZL 3958 Charter* MLT 103 Charter** NED 2645 Van Wettum

15 SIN 3111 Charter* DEN 7830 Opti-X PRC SWE 4070 OS Båtar

16 ITA 6789 Nautivela GRE 252 Nordest GER 11336 Ziba

17 GBR 5452 Nautivela FRA 1521 Erplast FRA ITA 6701 Nautivela

18 BRA 3255 Rio Tecna ESP 1112 Charter** IRL 1153 Charter**

19 GRE 2386 Ziba ITA 6427 Faccenda CRO 911 Nautivela

20 TRI 1014 Charter* CRO 858 Winner GRE 1527 Finessa

*=Winner **= Sport-Sails Center

One-Design

This didn’t happen by chance. Just ten years ago 72% of all Worlds sailors used just two makes of boat. For the history see www.optiworld.org/ioda-technical.html#ccheapAnd this year four International Measurers measured sample hulls from every manufacturer represented.

Different sailors

Sailors at the WorldsEvery year IODA collects information about the sailors who qual-ify, this year from 52 countries, to participate in the WorldChampionship.

AgeSailors are eligible up to and including the year of their 15th birthday.

With a summer event this means that the old-est sailors are between 14.1/2 and 15.1/5,shown here as “15”.14.1/2-15.1/2 38%13.1/2-14.1/2 32%12.1/2-13.1/2 17%11.1/2-12.1/2 9%10.1/2-11.1/2 4%One of the youngest group, Kim Pletikos (SLO)came a very creditable 39th and 9th girl!

WeightThe Optimist must be the least weight-sensitive dinghy in existence, thetop 10 sailors varying from 37 to 51kg. Team Racing World Champions Argentina averaged 53.4 kg.

GirlsTina’s victory shows why we do do not run a separate championship forfemale sailors! This year 42 girls sailed, 17% of the total fleet, and in 35of the 52 countries at least one girl qualified for the national team.

The Top Ten

Much nonsenseis talked about the ideal weightfor the Optimist and the age at

which sailors should leave the Class.

An ideal weight?In most Olympic Classes there is

an ideal weight for the boatsailed and those who do not

conform to the weight fora specific boat do not sail it.

This is not true of the Optimist. The reason is unclear but everyyear the weight span of the top10 is at least 10kg, a difference

of more than 25%.

Time to leave?The Optimist Class does not seek

to hold on to sailors who haveoutgrown it.

Teenagers do not grow at a similar rate each year but in

“spurts” - one or more years inwhich they grow 10 cm or more.

For example Matthew Scottgained 12cm in the year: if Tina

had done the same she wouldhave become 1m77 and nearly

the tallest sailor present!Young people differ in growthpatterns and these differences

should be respected.

Sailor

Top 10

Teamrace winners

Weight of Sailors (kg)

15 168 47 Y 6 1Tina Lutz GER15 152 42 N 13 1Matthew Schoener Scott TRI13 160 48 N 13 1Wu Jianan CHN15 160 45 N 5 1Phillip Autenrieth GER15 153 48 Y 7 2Nicklas Dackhammar SWE14 165 51 Y! 7 1Jorge Martinez Doreste ESP13 155 37 N 10 0Julian Autenrieth GER13 153 42 Y 7 1Daniela Zimmermann PER13 157 42 Y 7 1Jakob Bozic SLO15 158 48 Y 8 2Sean Bouchard BER

Age

Hei

ght

Wei

ght

Par

ent

sails

?A

ge

star

ted

Pre

vious

Worlds

17

Free boats - the “6 for 5” schemeCountries seeking to start or enlarge Optimist fleets can apply for onefree boat for every five bought.

The boats may be bought from any approved builder and are owned by anassociation, club or other ‘not for profit’ organisation. They must be avail-able to the children of non-sailors.

As a variation, countries which build batches of wood/epoxy Optimists canreceive free spars, sails and fittings. In the last twelve months beneficiarieshave included the Bahamas, Bulgaria, Serbia & Montenegro and, for wood-en boats, Vanuatu.

Over the last four years more than 180 Optimists in twenty countries havebeen acquired under this scheme.

Coach-Training CoursesFor newer Optimist sailing countries and regions IODA subsidises the traveland fees of expert instructors to train local coaches.

The most recent courses have been held in Grenada and Anguilla.

Participation in regional regattasTo encourage regional contacts IODA offers free entry and/or travel forcountries to send their sailors to their first continental or regional regattas.

At least as important as the experience for the sailors are the contacts madeby their leaders to exchange information and assistance.

In the last twelve months grants have been made to Mauritius to attend theAfricans, St. Vincent to attend the North Americans in Tobago, Samoa theOceanians and, exceptionally, to Sri Lanka to boost morale after the tsunami.

What happens later?There is always a question over the long-term effect of development projects.

Of the twenty countries which have received “6 for 5” grants in the past fouryears, fifteen have already started to participate in international regattas.

Not everyone will progress, as have done Trinidad & Tobago, from “devel-oping” to world class in a very few years.

But if, for example, the South Pacific can produce world class rugby players,why not sailors?

Development & training

Sailing for a wider world“Co-ordination of youth activity” includes extending sailing. IODA has more than doubled the number of mem-ber national associations over the last fifteen years and is committed to bringing the benefits of sailing to youngpeople worldwide. It offers limited financial aid to “newer countries” in three areas.

More details at www.optiworld.org/ioda-develop.html

Bahamas - we only subsidised the first 18!

Serbia & Montenegro

Vanuatu

Grenada

Mauritius

Europe89% turnout as Worlds returns to Europe

Popular venuesWith the Worlds back on

mainland Europe for the firsttime in five years, 34 of IODA’s38 European member countries

took part in either the Worlds or the Europeans.

In the Optimist Class no sailormay attend both events,

25 countries sent different teamsto both events, 8 - mostly the smaller nations - only to the

Europeans and one only to the Worlds.

European ChampionshipDespite a reduction in team size

to seven sailors per nation forEuropean countries and four for

non-Europeans, 139 boys and 93girls from 41 countries competed

in a brilliantly staged event in Gdynia, Poland.

Sponsors were NIVEAwhose ongoing support

has had a huge impact onPolish sailing.

18

XXIII European Championship - Boys

Open Euro1. Jess Lyhne Bonde Denmark 12. Diego Montautti Brasil3. Diego Botin L’Echever Spain 24. Akiklas Drougas Greece 35. Joshua Greenslade Bermuda6. Francesco Falcatelli Italy 47. Ante Botica Croatia 58. Yan Chekh Russia 69. Matías Rengifo Peru

10. Hansebas Meijer Netherlands 711. Jacob Lundqvist Sweden 812. Gabriel Skoczek France 913. Cristian Argueso Spain 1014. Karl Cremona Malta 1115. Jeppe Dybkjcer Ditlev Denmark 1216. Alexandros Hoholis Greece 1317. Moinet Nemo France 1418. José Manuel Ruiz Sanchez Spain 1519. Filipo Ricceri Italy 1620. Marco Peresa Croatia 17

XX European Championship - GirlsOpen Euro

1. Emily Dellenbaugh U.S.A.2. Emma Oljelund Sweden 13. Elia Borrego Spain 2 4. Camilla Marino Italy 35. Frederikke Linde Denmark 46. Eleanor Gardner Bermuda7. Giulia Angolini Italy 58. Amalia Chaldeou Greece 69. Svenja Weger Germany 7

10. Hanna Dahlborg Sweden 811. Maria Voulgaraki Greece 912. Matea Senkic Croatia 1013. Sanne Crum Netherlands 1114. Annemiek Bekkering Netherlands 1215. Elinor Larsson Sweden 1316. Karoline Pepin Germany 1417. Ludovica Misso Italy 1518. Diana Kissane Ireland 1619. Antea Kordic Croatia 1720. Dimitra Pagida Greece 18

AsiaSilver and bronze at the Worlds

Asians in OctoberThe IODA Asian Championship

will take place in Thailand starting 26th October.

Results will be available atwww.jsst.org/

The rise of AsiaIt is hard to imagine that just

eleven years ago Asia was represented at our Worlds by just

seven sailors, five of them from Japan.

A big shock came in 2001 whenthe IODA Worlds was held in

Qingdao, chosen while we werethere as the venue for the sailing

of the 2008 Olympics. Asian sailors placed 2, 3

and 5, included the top girl andtook silver in

the team racing.Winds were light and there was

much talk of a lottery.But in 2002 Asia still had twosailors in the top ten, first girland bronze in the team event.

And since then they have alwayshad at least one sailor in the top

ten and a team in the top four.For a similar shock in the ISAFWorld Youth Championship this

year see page 27.

Who next?If the “big four” can improve sodramatically who will be next?

Even novices Sri Lanka wonbronze in the recent ASEAN

championships.

Asian Games in the Gulf2006 will see the Asian Games,

the multi-sport mini-Olympics, in Qatar.

Just maybe one of the fourOptimist fleets in the Gulf will be

inspired by home waters.

Remember Qingdao 2001!

XV IODA Asian ChampionshipSouth Pattaya, Thailand 26Oct - 6 Nov. 2005

Entry list

China 7Chinese Taipei 5Hong Long 3India 7Indonesia 2Japan 7Korea 7Malaysia 7Myanmar 7New Zealand 7Pakistan 7Qatar 2Singapore 7Sri Lanka 7Thailand 20TOTAL 102

Asians at the WorldsIndividual Top 102001 2. Zhu Ye China

3. Abdul Rahim Malaysia4. Teo Wee Chin SingaporeBest Girl: Xu Lijia China

2002 6. Xu Lijia China2003 7. Ryutaro Kawai Japan2004 1. Wei Ni China2005 3. Wu Jianan ChinaTeam Medals2001 2. Japan2002 3. China2003 4. Japan2004 4. China2005 2. Malaysia

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North AmericaFirst Championship in the Caribbean

Tobago The decision to hold the IODA

North American Championship in the Caribbean for the

first time ever was an outstanding success.

183 sailors from 18 countriestook part in a superbly organised event on the

beautiful island of Tobago.

Trinidad: the new Bermuda?Trinidad, with three sailors in the

top ten at this event and the silver medallist at the

Worlds are rapidly establishingthemselves as the fourth

“great power” on the NorthAmerican Optimist scene.

They are following a pattern. In the mid-1990s Mexico

for the first time challenged U.S.A. domination. At the

beginning of the new decadeBermuda joined the elite.

Now Trinidad is making it afour-way contest.

The legacyNinety of the charter boats

from the eventwill remain in

the country andwith the help of

very generoustax-breaks a

number of localcentres are being

established.

and yet widergrowth

Optimist fleets are now estab-lished in fifteen of the island

nations of the Caribbean, andnew fleets are growing in

Central America.Next year’s championship in

Puerto Rico will provide a furtherincentive.

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IODA North American ChampionshipOpen N.Am.

1. Alexander Zimmermann Peru2. Alexandre Alencastro Brasil3. Colin Smith U.S.A. 14. Anthony Alkins Trinidad 25. Matthew Scott Trinidad 36. José Manuel Arigos Argentina7. Elijah Simmons Bermuda 48. Sean Moynahan U.S.A. 59. James Pottharst U.S.A. 6

10. James Leighton Trinidad 711. Gaston Bisio Argentina12. Will Haeger U.S.A. 813. Victor Diaz de Leon Venezuela14. Mattis Naud Guadeloupe (FRA) 915. Diego Reyes Mexico 10

Girls:1. Anne Haeger U.S.A. 12. Eliza Richartz U.S.A. 23. Haley Powell Bermuda 3

Team Racing:1. Peru2. Bermuda 13. Mexico 24. Trinidad 3

South America

XXXII South American ChampionshipSan Isidro, Argentina March 2005

Open S.Am.1. Diego Reyes Mexico2. Alex Zimmermann Peru 13. Alberto Fernandini Peru 24. Alex Torres Peru 35. Maria José Cucalon Ecuador 46. Rufina Tan Hong Mui Malaysia7. Faizani Bin Yahaya Malaysia8. Sean Bouchard Bermuda9. Francisco Sucari Argentina 5

10. Joshua Greenslade Bermuda11. Tomas Dietrich Argentina 612. Ariana Villena Ecuador 713. Daniela Zimmermann Peru 814. Luciano Gambaro Argentina 915. José Arigos Argentina 10Girls:

1. Maria José Cucalon Ecuador 12. Rufina Tan Hong Mui Malaysia3. Faizani Bin Yahaya Malaysia4. Ariana Villena Ecuador 25. Daniela Zimmermann Peru 3

Team Racing:1. Peru 1 3. Ecuador2. Peru 2

Rising standardsAs in Asia standards in countries

which were relatively late toadopt the Optimist have risen to

match the more traditional leaders.

In the Optimist world the 90sbelonged to Argentina

with five individual and four team-racing World golds

plus a virtual monopoly on the South American

championship.

But first Peru and more recentlyEcuador have steadily improved standards and now form part of

the “big four” whose sailors canbe expected to be among the

medals.

Brasil of course has the strongestsailing tradition in the region,

inspired by the Graels and Robert Scheidt.

Uruguay 2006The 2006 IODA Worlds has been

awarded to Uruguay (afterChristmas) and it will be interest-

ing to see how the SouthAmericans fare when competing

for once at the height of theirown season.

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AfricaNewer fleets improve

Fourth AfricanChampionship

In a continent with two very dis-tinct groups - north and south - itwas great to have a fairly central

venue, and Dar esSalaam in Tanzania

provided some greatracing.

East AfricaThe fleets developed in

Kenya, Tanzania andUganda over the last

three years have rapidlyimproved and can now

finish ahead of what were admittedly the second and third

South African teams.

First time for MauritiusIt was a particular pleasure to seesailors from Mauritius who have

recently introduced Optimists.This Indian Ocean island has a

great tradition of racing their traditional pirogues and it is hoped

to find other African countries inwhich such traditions can be reinforced by starting sailing

at a young age.

IV African ChampionshipDar es Salaam, Tanzania August 2005

Open Afr.1. Kristian Kirketerp Denmark2. Lærke Lokdam Denmark3. Ahmed Ragab Egypt 14. Stephanie Nissen Denmark5. Wassim Ziani Algeria 26. Amine Midoum Algeria 37. Kaare Kirketerp Denmark8. Lars Fjord Garvey Uganda 49. Dylan Emmett South Africa 5

10. Salomon Pedersen Tanzania 611. Stefano Marcia South Africa 712. Claire Walker South Africa 813. Marina Behrend Denmark14. Michael Crosland South Africa 915. Sam Hancock South Africa 10Girls:

1. Lærke Lokdam Denmark2. Stephanie Nissen Denmark3. Claire Walker South Africa 14. Marina Behrend Denmark5. Emma Walker South Africa 26. Ashleigh Crosland South Africa 3

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OceaniaDiverse activity

V IODA Oceanian ChampionshipNoumea, New Caledonia December 2004

Open1. Corentin Guegan New Caledonia (FRA)2. Thomas Saunders New Zealand3. Felix Denavacelle New Caledonia (FRA)4. Luke Deegan New Zealand5. Maaxime Mazard New Caledonia (FRA)6. Nicolas Poree New Caledonia (FRA)7. Matthew Jones New Zealand8. Etienne Lepen New Caledonia (FRA)9. Malo Leseigneur New Caledonia (FRA)

10. Sam Marshall New ZealandGirls:

1. Alexis Dubuc New Caledonia (FRA)2. Belinda Kerl Australia3. Coralie Simoni New Caledonia (FRA)

Team Racing:1. New Zealand 1 3. New Zealand 22. New Caledonia (FRA) 1

Four aspectsOceania is not only the geo-

graphically largest of the conti-nents but the most diverse in

terms of Optimist activity.

New ZealandAfter decades as the last home of

competitive wooden boats NewZealand has only recently applied

its great sailing tradition to theOptimist. 2004 was their annus

mirabilis with 2nd and 4th individual and the Miami Herald

Trophy for best team at theWorlds. This year they had to becontent with bronze in the teamracing and 6th place in Miami.

AustraliaReal progress is being made in

expanding the Optimist from itstraditional base in WesternAustralia. Queensland has recently formed the latest of four state associations.

Les françaisThe Oceanian Championship in

French New Caledonia producedno less than three teams of

French nationals, Tahiti, theWallis & Futuna Islands and thehosts. Winner Corentin Guegan

had been 10th in the 2004Worlds.

South PacificVanuatu joined IODA this year as

the seventh IODA mem-ber from the vast ocean. The 2006 Oceanians are scheduled for the Cook

Islands and it is hoped that as manyas possible of them will

make the huge effortrequired to attend.

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Sailing for girls Together or separately?There are many theories about

women and sport. At Optimist age there is very

little difference in the physical strength of boys

and girls.

A pragmatic viewThe Optimist world accepts

the evidence as it is.Some girls are as good as or

better than their brothers. Tina just proved it!

So at the Worlds we race as onefleet, boys and girls together.

But we also find that only around15-20% of those selected on

merit for theirnational Worldsteams are girls.

So at most continental

championshipswe reserve

places for them.As a result

nationally girlshave two

targets: qualifyfor the Worlds

by getting into the top five, orconcentrate on being one of

the best girls to go to a continental championship.

Other culturesIt is often thought that sport

for girls faces extra problemsin non-European societies. This is

not the Optimist experience.Sailing for girls seemsto be acceptable to all

cultures and creeds andwherever Optimist

fleets start to developthe girls soon realise

that this activity is fartoo much fun to allow

themselves to be left out.

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After the OptimistFollowing the concentration last year on the Olympic perfor-mance of former Optimist sailors (who made up over 60% of allskippers and 74% of skipper medallists) this year we look at theimmediate post-Optimist experience.

In the annual SkipperQuestionnaire at ourWorlds we ask whatboat the sailors intendto sail next. The answers show abig difference bet-ween European sailorsand those from the restof the world.In Europe 60% of ex-Optimists intend tosail two-hander boats.The 420 or 470 wasspecified by sailorsfrom 17 of the 26countries representedwith the 29er namedmostly by Norway andFinland.Outside Europe theLaser dominates, withan increasing numberof sailors naming the4.7 rig. But the 420 isalso on the increase.

ISAF World Youth ChampionshipThe success of Asian sailors at the 2005 championship mirrors closelytheir improved results in the Optimist from 2001.

Wee Chin Teo (SIN), 5th in the Optimist Worlds of 2001 and 11th in 2002 ,won the boys 420 ahead of Wataru Saito (JPN), while Xu Lijia (CHN), topOptimist girl in 2001 and 2002, narrowly missed goldin the Laser Radial.

The boys single-handed event is sailed in full rigLasers, whose target weight of 80 kg usually meansthat successful Under-19s will have left the Optimistearly. But both silver medallist Jean Baptiste Bernazand bronze Rutger van Schaardenburg attendedOptimist Europeans.

Lighter ex-Optimists are more comfortable with the4.7 Laser rig, where 8 of the top 10 in their Worldswere ex-Optimist Worlds sailors, or the Radial whereCroatian ex-Optimist stars dominated the Europeans.

A lifetime sportSailing is a lifetime sport wherethose aged 8 to 80 are practisingthe same skills. One of the tasks

of the Optimist Class is to provide the sailors of the future.

70-80% continue to sailA 2004 report to the ISAF

established that at least twothirds of the thousands of

Optimist sailors who reachnational championship level each

year continue to sail competitively after the Optimist.

Not just the OlympicsEver since the link between theOptimist and the Olympics was

established in the 1990s pressures on successful

Optimist graduates has increased.

But while half the Olympiansmay be former Optimist internationals, less than

5% of Optimist inter-nationals will in fact become Olympians.

It may take 15 years or more toreach Olympic level and the

financial rewards are not those of tennis or golf.

Fortunately there is a lot more tosailing, from team-racing

to offshore.

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All Sailors420/470 37%29er 7%Laser 35%Europe 8%Byte 4%Others 9%

Europeans420/470 48%29er 10%Laser 24%Europe 14%Byte 0%Others 5%

Rest of the World420/470 25%29er 4%Laser 48%Europe 1%Byte 10%Others 13%

420/470

420/470

420/470

Laser

Laser

Laser

IODA1965 - 2005The governing body is the Annual Meeting where each membercountry has one vote.

The Executive Committee is composed of the president, threevice-presidents - each from a different continent - and the chairsof the Regatta and Technical Committees.

In forty years IODA has had just five presidents and three secre-taries.

President:René Kluin I.R.O. (NED)

Vice-Presidents:David Booth (RSA)Peter Barclay (PER)Mimi Santos (POR)

Technical Comittee:Chair: Curly Morris I.M. (IRL) Nuno Reis I.M. (POR)Paolo Luciani I.M. (ITA)Consultant:Luis Horta Moragas I.M. (ESP)

Regatta Committee Chair: Luis Ormaechea I.R.O., I.J. (ESP)Ajay Balram I.J., I.U. (IND)Alen Kustic I.R.O. (CRO)Peter Valentino I.J. (MLT)Secretary:Amneris Cloos (ECU)

International Measurers:Jean-Luc Gauthier I.M. (FRA)Ms. Hyo-Kyung Jang I.M. (KOR)Paolo Luciani I.M. (ITA)Luis Horta Moragas I.M. (ESP)Curly Morris I.M. (IRL)Nuno Reis I.M. (POR)

Presidents of Honour:Viggo Jacobsen Helen Mary Wilkes

Members of Honour:Lars Wallin Nigel RingroseErik C. Hansen Al ChandlerJens Andersen Fred KatsRalph Sjöholm Norman JenkinsMichel Barbier

www.optiworld.org

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Secretariat:International Optimist Dinghy AssociationBalscadden View, Abbey St.Howth, Dublin, Ireland

Secretary: Robert Wilkes Tel: +353-1-839 5587Fax: +353-1-839 4528e-mail: 100540.2646@compuserve.com

Photo credits:Tim Wilkes http://www.timwilkes.comGregory Scott http://www.create3d.comBill Miller http://eventphotocenter.comwith thanks to them and all the amateur photographers whose pic-tures appear.