Nippers in Sweden

David Campbell-James reports on the British performance at the Optimist Worlds

Held at the Royal Swedish Yacht Club (KSSS) in Sandhamn Sweden the Optimist Europeans attracted an entry of 268 competitors from 38 countries. With entry limited to a maximum of eight sailors per country there were 100 girls in the girls competition and 168 in the boys.

Selected in trials in May at Weymouth, the boys in the British team were David de Boltz, Patrick Metcalfe, Matthew Rainback, James Peters and Phil Sparks. The girls were Amelia Garnett, Imogen Stanley and Hannah Diamond, with Ollie Green the coach and David and Jenny Campbell-James the Team Leader and House Mum respectively.

The team arrived to glorious sunshine and after a short boat trip they arrived at the Island of Korso – a military base which was to be the centre of activities for the week. The accommodation in the army barracks was sparten to say the least, with 32 bedded rooms, 1 shower and loo! However nothing much has changed in Europe – the British and the Germans were given the officers’ quarters which meant their teams were only 1, 2 or 3 per room with much improved washing facilities. There was nothing else on the Island other than the army base; no shops and no bars, which made looking after the teams very simple! The parents were accommodated on the Island that was a couple of miles away and here the facilities were much better but still only a few shops and everything very expensive.

The sun shone for the first eight days with hardly a cloud in the sky in that time. Complaints from the team of 'it’s so hot' were counteracted by swimming in the refreshing almost saltless waters of the Baltic. In particular they enjoyed it when Ollie took them to another smaller island (the Archipelago consists of over 10,000 islands) where a natural slide on the granite rocks amused and cooled them. The mosquitoes also were enjoying the good weather and the fresh blood from the team. A new competition took place of 'who has the most bites!”' Our supplies of insect repellent took a hammering in the first few days; fortunately the parents arrived four days after us with new supplies.

Ollie Green, with Becca his girlfriend as navigator, did a sterling job driving and ferrying the boats from Newcastle to Gothenburg and then travelling across to Stockholm. Meanwhile the team arrived after a simple plane journey to greet the boats as they arrived. With no cars allowed on the Island of Korso, the trailers were put on a ferry and delivered by hand! The task of getting the rib off the trailer was quite some exercise and getting it back on at the end of the week was interesting too.

The light shifty winds in training demonstrated well the conditions we were to expect during the initial days of racing. The team were in good spirits and ready for action. Measurement went simply - apart from having to undo the towing knots in the painters to make them the correct length.

We all dressed up for the opening ceremony on Sunday evening, which was held in Sandhamn. In our Tescos Union flag shorts we hopped in the rib and pottered over to the Royal Swedish Yacht Club base. Everyone was admiring our shorts and they became really hot currency for swapping later in the week. We wished we had all taken 2 pairs each! The opening consisted of a flagparade of all the countries through the village. The mayor of Värmdö municipality, Lars Bryntesson, the chairman of the Royal Swedish Yacht Club, Jacob Wallenberg, and the vice president of IODA Mimi Santos declared the OptiEuropeans 2004 opened.

Now to the racing:

The fleets were divided into four groups with two sailing together at a time meaning 84 boats on the boys start line and only 50 on the girls start line. With the race committee setting lines that could take 100 boats and not changing them for the girls getting the right end of line was important.

The first day of racing saw northerly winds of around 6 to 12 knots and warm bright sunshine. The spectators’ area on a magnificent rock overlooking the race course provided some of the best viewing ever for a major championship. The British team started nervously, for most of the team it was their first experience of a European Championships and many had butterflies in their tummies as they left the shore. Philip Sparks was 3rd, James Peters 5th and Imogen Stanley 8th in the third race of the day showing they had settled in well. All the team felt they had reasonable speed and that the critical thing was to get the start and first beat correct!

Day two saw light fickle winds and only 1 race was possible. Patrick Metcalfe managed an 8th and Amelia Garnett a 12th. Sweden’s Nicklas Dackhammar was proving dynamic in the light conditions winning four of the five races.

The race committee decided to run 4 races on the following day to try to make up the schedule. The wind started light and then began shifting during the race, as per the forecast, to the right. Imogen Stanley and Hannah Diamond managed an 11th and 12th in the first race of the day. Then, fortunately while the race officer was pondering what to do next, the wind turned even further making the original beat the run! It also began blowing giving 18 knots by the end of the day.

It was time to see who in the team was fit and who was not, as a further three races were to be run - a total of 8.5 hours on the water and four races for the sailors! Matthew Rainback and Imogen Stanley pulled out stunning 2nd places in the fourth and second races of the day; Pat Metcalfe was the most consistent with 9th, 9th and 10th; David de Boltz (at last able to stretch his long legs) an 11th and Amelia Garnett an 8th. The team came home pretty tired.

The weather had started changing but the fourth day was light again and only one race was possible - David de Boltz, obviously inspired by the previous day had a great start and despite the light wind showed class with a 9th.

The final day was a complete contrast with winds of 20 to 30 knots. The launch was delayed due to thunder and lightening! David de Boltz was jumping for joy and this was reflected by a 7th, 4th and 3rd on the water. Philip Sparks was really gutsy with a 12th in the first race of the day. The time limit for the warning signal meant that the girls only achieved two races while the boys had three. Amelia Garnett was third in her final race and frustrated not to be able to do one more.

The Greeks had done exceptionally well, mopping up in the girls competition and also on the podium for the Europeans in the boys competition.

Final results

Girls
1st Katerina Koutsougera (GRE)
2nd Afrodite Kiranakou (GRE)
3rd Ermina Batsi-Gerogakapoulou (GRE)
4th Agnieszka Skrzypulec (POL)
British
25th Amelia Garnett (21st European)
46th Imogen Stanely (39th European)
55th Hannah Diamond (45th European)

Boys
1st Wojciech Zemke (POL)
2nd Nicklas Dackammar (SWE)
3rd Alexander Zimmermann (PER)
4th Alexis Katsios (GRE)
British
31st David de Boltz (26th European)
41st Phil Sparks (36th European)
48th Pat Metcalfe (41st European)
73rd Matthew Rainback (59th European)
97th James Peters (79th European)