Optimists dominate at the Nationals for 2021

Published 11:00 on 23 Apr 2021

117 boats made it to Adelaide from across Australia to compete at the Optimst nationals. We had a strong showing with 16 boats travelling for the event beaten by 1 boat for the most participants by Brighton and Seacliff Yacht club (5km away from the event).

WSC sailors put in a strong showing in varying conditions ranging from windy with big steep swell in day 1 to some lighter breeze in the middle of the event.

A huge congratulations to our fleet, and special mentions to the below sailors for their placings. In the intermediate fleet we had 3 WSC sailors in the top 4.

Intermediate fleet.

3rd Male Walter Heeley WSC
1st Female Alice Holstein WSC
1st Male Saxon Foggo WSC

Open Fleet

1st 10 year old Stirling McKay WSC/RSYS
1st Female Hanako Tomishima WSC

Hanako was the 2nd ever female top 5 finisher (5th overall) since WSC's own Mina Ferguson. Unfortunately there will be no Australian team at the worlds and we will farewell Hanako and Tika MacMaster from the class. Tika signed off in style with a 7th in the last race and will join Hanako in the 420 soon (you'll hear them laughing around the course soon).

WSC won the coveted Ozi Opti trophy for the club with the lowest scores from their top 3 finishers in open fleet (Hanako in 5th, Spencer McKay in 7th and Isaac Freeman in 10th totalling 171 points). A big congratulations to the whole team and their efforts towards the trophy! The only other time WSC has achievement this, was 2016!

The families of the sailors all had a great time with many meals shared over the week. Plans are already being discussed for the WSC contingent travelling to Perth next Jan!

This regatta was a great representation of the commitment and support put in over the summer season from our sailors and parents and a testament to our program, with thanks to head coach Alex Zimmermann! Alex has created a cohesive team of sailors who've trained hard and produced some great results.

He has also fostered a culture of involvement from parents that has made a for a fun group of families who will continue to help the class growth from strength to strength and will no doubt attend many more regattas after such a great time in Adelaide.

Big thanks to our rockstar parents Campbell McKay and Richard Holstein for organising the logistics, not easy to out a team of 16 together on a very short notice. Special thanks to Jack Littlechild and Finn Sanderson who assisted coaching these kids towards a very positive experience.

Congratulations sailors, we look forward to watching the lengths you will go on your sailing journey!

Last updated 21:00 on 25 March 2024