Optimist Inlands this weekend

300 young sailors to descend on Grafham

Grafham Water Sailing Club will host up to 300 young Optimist sailors for the Volvo Musto Optimist Inland Championships, this weekend, 17-18th May 2003. The Inland Championship marks the start of the national circuit that includes the Volvo Musto Nationals and End of Season Championships.

The young sailors will be split into Senior, Junior and Regatta fleets, with six races planned for the sailors. Competition on the water is set to be of a very high standard. Reigning Optimist Volvo Musto National Champion Hannah Mills, 15 from Dinas Powys will be competing along with the other top British sailors recently selected to represent Great Britain at the Optimist World Championships in Grand Canaria and the Europeans in Croatia.

Others to watch out for are, Junior sailor Claire Lasko, 13 from Oxford who just missed out on selection for the GB Optimist World’s Team after rounding the wrong windward mark in the last race of the selection trials in April. Claire will instead represent Great Britain at the Optimist European Championships in July. This is quite an achievement as Claire is still classed as a Junior Optimist Sailor.

Although the girls have dominated recent Optimist events, Ben and Tim Saxton, 12 from Baldock and Richard Mason, 15 from Lymington will be chasing hard for the top spot. Richard has come back from New Zealand where his Dad was part of GBR America’s Cup Team, and will be representing Great Britain at the Optimist World Championships in July.

The Volvo Musto Inland Championships is a mandatory event for those wishing to be selected for the 2004 National Optimist Squad. The two other mandatory events are the Volvo Musto National and End of Season Championships.

“We are looking forward to some exciting racing this weekend,” said Jan Lasko, Chairman of the Optimist Association in the UK. “The calibre of racing on the water is going to be extremely high, especially amongst the sailors who were recently selected for the World and European Championships.”

“Volvo are proud to be sponsor of the Optimist Class, as we feel the importance of supporting the grass roots of sailing,” said James Kendall, Sports Sponsorship Manager at Volvo Car UK. “It’s really exciting to see so many young sailors out on the water, and I’m sure that some of them will go onto much greater success in the future.”

“Musto is delighted to be on board with the Optimists,” said Nigel Musto, Deputy Managing Director of Musto Ltd and an Optimist National Champion himself in 1977. “At Musto we support some of the World’s top sailors and crews, but it’s also great to support the future stars of our sport.”

The Volvo and Musto sponsorship of the Optimist class includes the National, Inland and End of Season Championships as well as the GB Optimist World and European Championship teams.