Overseas teams dominate

Day two of the Optimist UK National Championship saw only two Brits in the top five

The first day of the Volvo Musto Optimist National Championships saw sailors from abroad dominate the top of the leader board. Apart from two British sailors, the top five of both the senior and junior fleets saw USA, Spain, United Arab Emirates and Holland all feature.

Two races were completed in perfect conditions inside the breakwater outside the host venue, the Weymouth and Portland National Sailing Academy. The 379 youngsters are divided into three fleets for the Nationals, with the senior fleet and junior fleet racing further out in the Bay and the regatta fleet for youngsters who are learning to race, nearer the shore.

129 young sailors make up the senior fleet, all aged between 13 to 15 years old. British sailor, Alex Mothersele from Emsworth Sailing Club (Hampshire) leads the senior fleet at the end of day one, with Tom Britz from the Royal Lymington Yacht Club (Hampshire), one point behind in second place overall. Spanish sailor Eric Plancon finished third, with a third and fourth place in his two races. American sailors Alex Curtiss and Sarah Williams finish off the top five positions in this fleet.

The visitors to UK waters also excelled in the junior fleet (12 years old and under), with Oliver Grogono, from the United Arab Emirates winning both of his races, while Team USA carried on their winning streak with the help of Duncan Williford, Clay Danly and Hunter Johnson. The three youngsters dominated their fleets giving them second, third and fourth places overall consecutively, with Danish sailor, Niels Broekhuizen receiving fifth.

“It’s brilliant to see the level of competition at this event grow annually, with the help of our oversees sailors. They will make the competition for the GBR sailors very interesting this week. Conditions tomorrow look to change from the 10 to 15 knots we saw today, to light winds, possibly allowing a few other sailors to excel,” said Digger Harden, Optimist Sailing Secretary.

The Volvo Musto Optimist National Championships continue tomorrow with a maximum of four races for the senior and junior fleets starting at 1100, weather permitting.