USODA New England Optimist Champs

Day 2 of the 2009 USODA Opti New England Champs is in the bag, with the weather and excitement one would expect from the Capital of sailing, Newport, RI.

The day provided an excellent opportunity for all sailors to prove their meddle with sustained breeze of 12 and gusts above 18. The shifty New England wind proved to be a true test of the sailors attention to detail and kept everyone looking across the race course to be the first to the puffs and shifts.

Day 3 is about to get under way and looks to be offering the lightest conditions of the event. Sail Newport is truly proving to give sailors a little of every condition as a real test of sailing abilities. Photos from day 1 are now available on the Dave Hein Photography site.

Opti New England Champs

As if just being in Newport, RI is not enough on it's own for a sailor; this week Sail Newport is hosting the 2009 USODA New England Championship regatta. With nearly 400 boats competing for an opportunity to qualify for the 2010 US Team Trials Invitational regatta, you can bet the level of sailing is at it's top.

Day 1 of racing ended after 4 complete races in the 4 flights. With shifty winds that did not top 10 knots, the sailors were required to stay attentive and watch for the shifts ahead while navigating the changing tidal currents.

I shot nearly 3000 photos of the first day of racing, and they will all be posted on Optisailing.com as soon as I get near adequate Internet access. Keep watching for more exciting sailing photos to follow!

2009 Opti National Championiships

The 2009 Opti US National Championship regatta took place in July at the Cabrillo Beach Yacht Club in San Pedro, California.

220 sailors turned out for the championship event and were honored with the most hospitable club and regatta committee ever! To make the event tops, the Commodore even arranged to have the wind build from 10 knots at the start of sailing each day to over 20 knots by the end of racing each evening.

Sailors in both the championship and green fleets enjoyed excellent sailing, plenty of wave surfing and hiking to prove their talents as the top Opti sailors in the country.

Photos of the event can be seen at Dave Hein's Boatyard Photography site and at OPTIsailing.com.

Lake Ontario Opti Team

The Lake Ontario Opti Team, or LOOT is one of a few teams that have been formed over the past fifteen years to help local Opti sailors grow in their knowledge of sailing and build advanced racing tactics that propel them to the top of the class. LOOT however is a bit different in that it is truely International in flavor. With 50% of the team (this year) from Canada and 50% from the US, and Roberto Fabini, full-time opti coach from Uruguay; the team is a collection of top sailors that are destined for success through this season and beyond.

The team format is to travel the entire summer, staying approximately one week at each venue to train before their regatta. This gives the sailors a variety of waters to train in and helps them to acclimate to the area before a big race. In 2009 the team is travelling to Cleveland Race Week, USODA Great Lakes Championships, Fogh Boorman Regatta, Island Heights Junior Olympics, Rochester Junior Olympics, USODA New England Championships, CORK International Regatta and Conadian National Championships.

If your Opti sailor is growing beyond the coaching at your local club, I strongly recommend looking into LOOT or any one of the other teams around the country that bring advancing sailors together to help build their skills while providing the most awesome summer experience any sailor can have!

CORK International Regatta

I have just received a request from the organizers of CORK asking me to be the photographer of the 2009 International Regatta in Kingston, ON!

Last year's event was the first time I had experienced CORK, and I have to say, the facilities, the race management and the waters are among the best I have seen anywhere. I constantly tell everyone involved with youth sailing that if there is one regatta to travel to in the season, CORK would be it! Make plans to attend. Register today and we will see you in August!

2009 Fogh Boorman Regatta

When a severe storm blew through at 9am on Saturday, I figured this regatta was going to be light and short on races.

After the storm had passed, it appeared that all of the wind had gone with it. Boats launched and it looked as if it would be a day of light and variable wind, basically a day of bobbing on the water.

Within a hour of launching, the wind started filling in and continued to build all day. In fact, the weather proved to provide for exciting sailing on the Opti, Laser/Radial and 420/29er courses. All fleets had tremendous wind and awesome sailing across the board. You can see photos of the Opti races at OPTIsailing.com and all others at Dave Hein Photography

2009 Cleveland Race Week

The 2009 Clevenad Race week Opti regatta hosted by Edgewater Yacht Club was bigger and better than ever, with sailors in town to compete the following weekend at USODA Great Lakes Champs at LSYC. The regatta provided the perfect venue to experience sailing in the waters of Lake Erie and preview the competition that would be present at the upcoming championships.

Featured in this photo is Edgewater Yacht Club sailor, Ian Moran completing a roll-tack in light breeze.

Make sure to see all of the photos from this event, and vote for the photos to be included in the 2010 OPTIsailing calendar by visiting OPTIsailing.com