© Matias Capizzano

 

North American Championship - Optimist

International North American Optimist Championship 2022 in the Bahamas

The winner - Isabella Calzadilla-Allora (PUR 81) from Puerto Rico is the International North American Champion after 10 races! 
?Isabella Calzadilla. ??   ?Diego Marrero. ??   ?Charles Julien. ??
Congratulations to Isabella Calzadilla who made history by winning the North American Optimist Sailing Championship. This is the first time since 2012 that a girl has won this event and the first time since 2009 that Puerto Rico has won. See more information about the events of her success in the following sections of "Race Days 1 to 5" and the "Closing Ceremony".

Training - Photos from Matias Capizzano

Matias Capizzano, the world-renowned photographer from Argentina, especially in the sailing scene, was also on assignment for the Optimist North American Championship 2022 in the Bahamas! His legendary photos of sailors during the races - sometimes very close to the sailor, sometimes in a combative situation boat against boat or taken from a great distance in a "bird's eye view" with a drone - show sailors, boats and the beauty of nature - here especially the turquoise blue water - to advantage in an impressive way. © Photos OPTINAM: Matias Capizzano


The Opening

Sigrid Beckmann (VP Americas IODA) opened the championship at Nassau Yacht Club with the following words: "Dear Sailors, enjoy this incredible venue with your teammates and friends, new and old. Have a great week of sailing, friendship, nature and endless sun. Sail fast, sail safe and sail fair."

Erin Tomlinson and Sean Raine from the organising committee of Nassau Yacht Club (NYC), a private members' club on the eastern end of New Providence in the Bahamas, were symbolically presented with a small "Optimist-Sail" signed by 155 participants in the championship by Sigrid Beckmann in recognition and thanks for their work.

155 Opti sailors from 20 countries took part in OPTINAM 2022 from 13 to 20 November:

  • Antigua, Argentina, Bahamas, Belgium, Bermuda, Brazil, Canada, Chile, France, Germany, Mexico, Netherlands, Panama, Peru, Puerto Rico, Sweden, Switzerland, United States of America, Uruguay, US Virgin Islands.

NEWS: We show the most spectacular photos by Matias Capizzano and you can read the current daily results here. You can find out "news" about "sailing in paradise" - from the Bahamas with the turquoiseblue waters of the beautiful "Montagu Bay".


Race days - Photos from Matias Capizzano

Day 1

Three races were sailed on the first day of racing. The breeze in Montagu Bay was light, around 8-10 knots at the start, but decreased during the afternoon. Some wind shifts required some course corrections and the decreasing wind, which dropped to around 6 knots, made it necessary to shorten courses during the day. Congratulations to Edward Hirsch (SUI 1973) from Switzerland, who was the winner today, followed by Diego Jose MARRERO-CUEVAS (PUR 86), and Felipe STRASSBURGER (BRA 4278)!
Team "Europe" could already achieve places among the top 10 in their respective groups (yellow, red, blue). Vic even on place 5, Levian with 8, 9 and 10! Jasper with his best place 17 and Maud on place 24 achieved remarkable results in the midfield. See the full Day1 results list here. A fantastic first day in light winds and glorious sunshine, congratulations to all sailors! The photo series from day 1 can be seen at Matias Capizzano.

Day 2

The second day offered the sailors "light air" again. The easterly wind from this morning with almost 9 knots weakened to only about 6 knots for the second race. The temperature was quite high at 86 degrees, or 30 degrees Celsius, and most sailors returned ashore a little tired after the day's racing. With a dip in the pool, there was huge fun for all! The photo series of the 2nd day can be seen at facebook Optiworld / facebook Matias Capizzano.

Day 3 Team Race - Tactics Tips

Team Race Tactics: The Tactical Sailing(TS) Team wishes you clever "tactical manoeuvres" for tomorrow's team races! 
Tricky tactical tips for your team, such as attacking, hindering, giving 'space' or forcing 'space' are included in the TS Trainer Toolbox, see here.

Watch the tactical manoeuvres for the Team Race in our youTube playlist, click here and watch the pathes the boats sail!

Day 3 Team Race

Mixed weather! The day of the team races started with a light breeze of 5 knots, which died down to just under 2 knots around lunchtime. In the afternoon the breeze picked up to around 8 knots, followed by a nasty weather front that brought torrential rain and some dangerous splashes of water! Fortunately, the competition had just finished and our Royal Bahamas Defence Force was on hand to get the boats safely back to shore! Congratulations to Team USA for their outstanding performance at the North American Team Championships and to the equally victorious Argentinian Team ARG for winning the Nations Cup!
Team EU, GER, BEL, NED were not allowed to participate in the Team Race - no mixed nations. France FRA 2983, FRA 2811, FRA 2794, FRA 3032 and Switzerland SUI 1962, SUI 1888, SUI 1929, SUI 1973 sent their teams into the race.
Download here the diagram of flights. © Facebook Capizzano Photography.

Day 4

The fourth day in Nassau brought a brisk northeasterly breeze of 15 to 18 knots, gusting to over 20 knots, accompanied by choppy water, which was a challenge for some competitors, especially the bronze fleet. Despite this, three races were completed today. In the overall standings, Puerto Rico is holding on to first (PUR 81) and second (PUR 86) place with excellent sailing, while Charles Julien USA 22183 is in third place. The forecast for tomorrow's exciting final day is for 12 to 14 knots with a chance of light rain, which hopefully will hold off until the closing ceremony in the evening!
In Team EU, Levian and Vic are in good position ahead of Maud and Jasper, who were troubled by the fierce winds of over 20 knots. Familiarity with the local weather conditions gave the members of the local team from the Bahamas an advantage, Mary Jacqueline NASH (BAH 77) even managed to sail at the front in two races despite the fierce wind, finishing 7th and 9th in her group! © Facebook Capizzano Photography.

Day 5 Final

Isabella Calzadilla-Allora (PUR 81) from Puerto Rico is the International North American Champion after 10 races!

Isabella Calzadilla-Allora and Diego Jose Marrero-Cuevas of Puerto Rico continued their strong performances to finish first and second in the gold fleet. Charles Julien of the USA was third, Ruben Sulty of France fourth and Miles Cundey fifth. With only a one-point difference between second, third and fourth place, it really was an exceptionally hard-fought final. 
From Europe, Ruben Sulty from France came fourth and Capucine Deltel seventh. Levian Buescher from Germany was able to achieve the excellent 11th place.
© Facebook Capizzano Photography.


Final results after 10 races

Isabella Calzadilla-Allora (PUR 81) from Puerto Rico is the International North American Champion after 10 races!

It was an exceptionally hard fought finish for 2nd, 3rd and 4th positions!
The final day in Nassau produced some great sailing conditions with about 12-14 knots of breeze out of the east accompanied by broken cloud and temperatures around 30 degrees Celsius. The forecasted rain held off and two races were completed to end the competition.

Puerto Rico’s Isabella Calzadilla-Allora and Diego Jose Marrero-Cuevas continued their strong performances and finished first and second overall in the Gold Fleet with Charles Julien of U.S.A. in third, Ruben Sulty of France in fourth and Miles Cundey in fifth. With only a point difference between second, third and fourth, it really was an exceptionally hard fought finish. 
From Europe, Ruben Sulty from France came fourth and Capucine Deltel seventh. Levian Buescher from Germany was able to achieve the excellent 11th place.

In Team EU, the result positions from the previous day (day 4) hardly changed in the final races (day 5), Levin 11, Vic 27, Maud 87, except for Jasper 103. He risked two "early starts" in the 9th and 10th races and ended up on 103. He got the maximum score 53 on his account and the marking UFD in the result list..

Result positions Team EU
DayLevinVicMaudJasper
1172976103
219264071
49248692
5112787103

Ceremonies

Opening ceremony

Sigrid Beckmann IODA VP Americas: "Dear Sailors, enjoy this incredible venue with your teammates and friends, new and old. Have a great week of sailing, friendship, nature and endless sun. Sail fast, sail safe and sail fair." ?⛵️⚓️
Fantastic photos from Matías Capizzano of our participating teams at our opening parade and ceremony. Coach Pieter van den Bossche (NED) trains a small group from Europe (EU): from Germany Jasper Winter (GER 1610), Levian Büscher(1761) and with Vic Rosse (BEL 1200) from Belgium and the Dutch Maud van Rooij (NED 3455). Thank you to Royal Bahamas Police Force Band for their outstanding performance! Optinam 2022 has officially begun!

Opening parade

Thank you to Royal Bahamas Police Force Band for their outstanding performance!
© Photos by Sigrid Beckmann on instagram @sigridbeckriq

Closing party with a spectacular Junkanoo Rush performance

The awards presentation began after dinner at 7 p.m. The evening was rounded off by a spectacular Junkanoo Rush performance around the poolside of the Nassau Yacht Club. In perfect timing, the heavens opened and the long anticipated day’s rain began just as the evening drew to a close and the teams boarded their busses back to Atlantis Resort.
© Sigrid Beckmann instagram @sigridbeckriq

Closing ceremony

North American International Championship 2022: ?Isabella Calzadilla. ??   ?Diego Marrero. ??   ?Charles Julien. ??
Erin Tomlinson and Sean Raine from the organising committee of Nassau Yacht Club (NYC), a private members' club on the eastern end of New Providence in the Bahamas, were symbolically presented by Sigrid Beckmann with a small "Optimist-Sail" signed by 155 participants in the championship in recognition and thanks for their work.
The IODA flag was ceremoniously handed from Team Bahamas over to Team Antigua in salute of them being host to next year’s OPTINAM. The evening was rounded off by a spectacular Junkanoo Rush performance around the poolside of the Nassau Yacht Club. In perfect timing, the heavens opened and the long anticipated day’s rain began just as the evening drew to a close and the teams boarded their busses back to Atlantis Resort.
© Matias Capizzano instagram  @matias_capizzano
© Sigrid Beckmann instagram @sigridbeckriq

Award Ceremony - Trophies from Artists in the Bahamas

We would like to showcase the beautiful trophies awarded at this year’s Optinam, as they received so many compliments at the awards ceremony! They were made as a collaboration between Jen Bethel of Beached Treasures Nassau and Celestine Albury of Celestine’s Woodcarvings. See a report #artistsofthebahamas here.


News from OPTINAM 2022

News from the OPTINAM Organisation Team

Folowing Links will publish News from OPTINAM, regatta reports and photos:
Photos OPTINAM:      Matias Capizzano
Facebook Capizzano Capizzano Photography
Regatta reports:         https://2022northamericans.optiworld.org/en/default/races/race-news
Instagram:                  https://www.instagram.com/optinam2022/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y%3D 
Facebook OPTINAM: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100083550993450 
Facebook Optiworld:  https://www.facebook.com/optiworld/
Sail Optmist IODA:     www.optiworld.org 

Matias Capizzano, the famous photografer, is engaged in the Bahamas for the Optimist North American Championship 2022!
He shows his photos from OPTINAM here. See his great photo collections here: © Matías Capizzano (ARG) . See more photos in his great illustrated book -The Optimist Image Book.

The organising committee of this year's OPTINAM - represented by Erin Tomlinson and Sean Raine - is very much looking forward to welcoming competitors from all over the world to the Bahamas from 13-20 November! Nassau is proud to host the Optimist North Americans for the second time! As in 2019, we are delighted to be able to use this great venue - the Nassau Yacht Club - and we will also be holding the regattas in beautiful Montagu Bay.

Thank You - Countless memories, fantastic fun!
The OPTINAM 2022 organising committee would like to thank all sponsors and volunteers as well as the City of Nassau, the Nassau Yacht Club and their staff ... WE COULDN'T HAVE DONE IT WITHOUT YOU! It has been an incredible few weeks and we would like to thank all the many, many people who have made OPTINAM 2022 possible ❤️⚓️❤️. See a final report from the OPTINAM team here.

#nassauyachtclub#bahamas_sailing_association #sailoptimist #bahamasoptimist #rnscsailing #rbcbank 
#bahamasministryoftourism #bahamasministryofyouthsportsandculture bahamasministryofagriculture 
#regattadesk #legendyachttransport #campbellsshippingcompanyltd #sportscenter242 #nua #bahamablu 
#tacticalsailing #saferide242 #bahamaswaste #atlantisbahamas #mclaughlinboatworks #makerhemsailors 
#harkenderm #powerade #firstcaribbeaninternationalbank #damianossothebysinternationalrealty 
#hgchristierealestate #harboursidemarine #bahamasexperiencetours #bahamasbuilders

Tactical Sailing is generously giving all our sailors and coaches a free licence key for the game! Their amazing interactive racing simulations are fun for sailors of all abilities and offer valuable tactical tips for sailing against the wind and against your friends in other boats or in virtual team races. Many thanks to Tactical Sailing!

155 Opti sailors from 20 countries - OPTINAM 2022

155 Opti sailors from 20 countries will compete at the OPTINAM from 13. to 20. November:

  • Antigua, Argentina, Bahamas, Belgium, Bermuda, Brazil, Canada, Chile, France, Germany, Mexico, Netherlands, Panama, Peru, Puerto Rico, Sweden, Switzerland, United States of America, Uruguay, US Virgin Islands.

International Guests from South America, Canada and Europe, namely France, Sweden and Switzerland have also arrived. From Germany, Levian Büscher (GER 1761) and Jasper Winter (GER 1610) are taking part. Together with Vic Rossel (BEL 1200) and the Dutch Maud van Rooij (NED 3455) they are coached by the Dutch Pieter van den Bossche, a small training group from Europe (EU).

OPTINAM: "Tactical Sailing (TS) is generously giving all of our sailors and coaches a free game license key! Their amazing interactive regatta simulations provide fun for sailors of all abilities and offer valuable tactical tips to sail against the wind and against your friends in other boats or in virtual team racing. Thank you to Tactical Sailing!"

Tactical Sailing - Partner of OPTINAM 2022

OPTINAM: Thanks to the support of Erin Tomlinson, member of the event organising team, we were given the opportunity to participate in OPTINAM 2022 as a partner and thus introduce "Tactical Sailing" to the participants of the championship. We have decided to make the complete Tactical Sailing programs, including the Coach's Toolbox, available to all sailors and coaches.

OPTINAM answer: "Tactical Sailing (TS) is generously giving all of our sailors and coaches a free game license key! Their amazing interactive regatta simulations provide fun for sailors of all abilities and offer valuable tactical tips to sail against the wind and against your friends in other boats or in virtual team racing. Thank you to Tactical Sailing!"

eureleA Winner 1st prize: "Tactical Sailing (TS) - A Game Against the Wind" has been used as a learning and coaching tool for optimst sailors worldwide since 2012. The special characteristics of this game - teaching and learning with the help of digital media - were also recognised very quickly:
- In 2012, the project "Tactical Sailing" was awarded 1st prize at the "eureleA - European Award for Technology Supported Learning."


Preparations

Coaches - Ideal sailing conditions

Coach Martin Manrique (ARG) trains with Patrick Tomlinson (BAH 121), he is the reigning national champion at the Bahamas National Championships held in early October. Patrick is 12 years old and has been sailing for 6 years, living in Nassau and sailing with Lyford Cay Sailing (LCS). Patrick has sailed in Europe before and was there at the 2022 World Championships in Bodrum, Turkey.

Coach Pieter van den Bossche (NED) supervised a group from Europe (EU): Jasper Winter (GER 1610), Levian Büscher(1761) and with Vic Rosse (BEL 1200) from Belgium and the Dutch girl Maud van Rooij (NED 3455). An interesting report by Petra Lomp ? can be found here about the training days of the EU-group, the surveying and the weather caprices.

Sailing like in "paradise" - turquoise blue water - Liquid Spirit:
Coach Keir Clarke and Lyford Cay Sailing (LCS) share a stunning video of training in the bay. See youTube video here.

© Fotos from Matias Capizzano or privat

Team BAH and GER - Experiences and expectations

Patrick Tomlinson (BAH 121) is the reigning national champion at the Bahamas National Championships held in early October. He is 12 years old and has been sailing for 6 years, living in Nassau and sailing with Lyford Cay Sailing (LCS). Patrick has sailed in Europe before and was there at the 2022 World Championships in Bodrum, Turkey. His expectations for OPTINAM 2022 are: "I know it will be tough, but I am looking forward to a great competition and meeting sailors from all over the world."
Conry Raine (BAH 180) is looking forward to representing the Bahamas in his last international event in Opti. "I am looking forward to OPTINAM 2022 and seeing all the other sailors from North America."
Jasper Winter (GER 1610) is from the Norddeutscher Regatta Verein(NRV) at Hamburg. He is 12 years old, sailed to a remarkable 3rd place at the "Tactical Sailing(TS) Cup 2021" during the German Championship at Chiemsee. His coach Ricky Stadel also knows TS very well and gives him useful tactical tips. 
Levian Büscher (GER 1761) is from the Düsseldorfer Yacht Club (DYC). For Levian (13) it will be his last event in the Opti after a successful season '22- he is Int. German and int. Polish Champion - he wants to continue sailing in ILCA 4.  For Levian, the most important thing is to meet all his friends again and make new ones. He sailed at the 2022 World Championships 2022 in Bodrum, Turkey, and now he's meeting some of them again ?. Levian also knows Tactical Sailing program. With his coach Fabian Kirchhof, he will also train in ILCA/Laser in the future.

Everyone is looking forward to, for example, making new friends, meeting other sailors from "all over the world" and having fun together.

Nassau Yacht Club (NYC) - Host in the Bahamas

The Nassau Yacht Club looks forward to providing a warm Bahamian welcome to this year’s North American Championship to all sailors and coaches! As in 2019, The Nassau Yacht Club (N.Y.C.) will be the host venue for OPTINAM 2022. It is a private members club located towards the eastern end of New Providence with perfect access to launch and sail in the picturesque Montagu Bay.

We expect to welcome our visiting sailors and their entourage with some nice Bahamian sunshine! Temperatures are usually around 28°C / 83°F with some humidity and winds are generally a comfortable average of 10-12 knots, predominantly from the east. The sea temperature is likely to be around 27°/ 81°F with waves of around 2 feet. Generally at this time of year there is only a small likelihood of rain.

The Bahamas

The Bahamas' main industry is tourism, which contributed about 50% of GDP as of 2019. Cruises by US passengers from Miami are particularly important. Filming for several James Bond movies has also had an extremely beneficial effect on tourism. The Bahamas - or Nassau - was used as a filming location for "Casino Royale", "Fireball" and the 1983 remake of "Never Say Never", among others. Source: wikipedia.org/wiki/Bahamas. See a Video clip here "Nassau & Paradies Island".

Tropical Storm "Nicole" - We got off lightly here on New Providence

Date 10.11.2022: Here are private reports from on site:
Cyrill A. "We got off lightly here on New Providence. The tide is too close to the shore power box - so we are running on generator. Abaco and Grand Bahama were much closer to Nicole though and will probably have taken more." 
Petra L.: "We landed completely unproblematic on Tuesday, at least in terms of the storm. The airport in Nassau was also open the whole time. Flights have apparently been cancelled from Europe on Wednesday! It feels more like a lukewarm breeze than a hurricane here now. Nassau got off lightly in any case. In this respect, I don't have any spectacular pictures, here of what was to be seen on Paradise Island." 

Date 09.11.2022: Currently, tropical storm "Nicole" is in the area of the northern Bahamas. The core of "Nicole" lies in the area of the northern Bahamas, for which a hurricane warning has already been issued. This also applies to almost the entire east coast of Florida, as "Nicole" is moving westwards and is expected to hit Florida as a category 1 hurricane in the early hours of Thursday (©) German Weather Service).

Date: 10:00 PM EST Wed Nov 09, 2022 (USA)
© NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER and CENTRAL PACIFIC HURRICANE CENTER 
This graphic shows how the size of the storm has changed, and the areas potentially affected so far by sustained winds of tropical storm force (in orange) and hurricane force (in red). The display is based on the wind radii contained in the set of Forecast/Advisories indicated at the top of the figure.

Date 09.11.2022: OPTINAM Organiser for the championship:
NO SAILING TODAY! Update on Tropical Storm Nicole
Hurrican Hunters are in the air this morning as "Nicole" strengthens to possible CAT 1 by landfall. Due to the severe weather conditions developing today the Organiser for the championship is not permitting any sailing out of Nassau Yacht Club until further notice on Wednesday November 9 and possibly including November 10. This decision is a mandatory safety decision. The worst of the storm will hit later today and may be upgraded to hurricane status. Stay safe and avoid the coastal roads and do not approach the surf on the beaches.

Montagu Bay: Sailing like in "paradise" - turquoise blue water

Lyford Cay Sailing (LCS) and coach Keir Clarke share a stunning video of training in the bay. See youTube here

© Copyrights Photo sources and translation service

© Photo International Optimist Dinghy Association (IODA),  
© Photo OPTINAM 2022:  Matias Capizzano
© Photo Matias Capizzano at fb: https://www.facebook.com/capizzanophotography
© Photo Matias Capizzano instagram  @matias_capizzano
© Photo Sigrid Beckmann instagram @sigridbeckriq
© Automatic translation service: German, English, Spanish with ©DeepL Translator:
Recommendation from experience for this Tactical Sailing website: The 1st draft succeeds with high translation quality through "Artificial Intelligence" (AI) technology, minor corrections in technical jargon "sailing" if necessary.

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