Mason Jnr sweeps Optimist Inlands

Gusty conditions faced by 268 Oppie sailors

268 young Optimist sailors competed at the Volvo Musto Optimist Inland Championships, at Grafham Water Sailing Club last weekend (17-18th May). The Junior and Senior sailors raced as one fleet, which was then divided into two flights. They raced on trapezoid course with the first flight racing on the inner loop and the second flight racing the outer loop.

It was trying conditions over the whole weekend for all the sailors competing in the six race series. Saturday brought a gusty southerly force 4-5. This meant the more experienced and larger senior sailors fared better than the younger and smaller junior sailors. There was no respite on Sunday, with the winds again gusting force 4-5.

The competition on the water was tough, with the sailors who had recently been selected for the World and European Optimist Championships battling it out at the front of the fleets. Those sailing well, included twin brothers’ Ben and Tim Saxton, (13, Baldock) Hannah Mills, (15, Dinas Powys) now ranked Number 1 in the UK. But going into the final race, it was Greg Carey (14, Lymington) who led the regatta, with just four points after one discard. He was closely followed by defending champion Richard Mason (15, Lymington) two points adrift of the lead.

In the end however it was Richard Mason who held his nerve to win the final race, with Greg finishing fourth. This meant Richard regained his title of Volvo Musto Optimist Inland Champion for the second year, winning the regatta and beating Greg into second place by just one point.

Hannah Mills, who was sailing in her last Optimist National Championships before moving into the 420 Class after the Optimist World Championships in July, finished as first girl and in fourth place overall. Claire Lasko (13, Oxon) finished second girl, and in tenth place overall.

Forty brave young sailors, new to the Optimist class, competed over the weekend in the regatta fleet, including joint sponsor, Nigel Musto’s daughter, Anna Musto.

“It was great to see so many talented young sailors racing this weekend as well as those racing for the first time,” 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”
“I was astounded by how well the young sailors coped with the conditions over the weekend” said James Kendall, Sponsorship Manager at Volvo Car UK “I would also like to take this opportunity to wish the British World and European Teams the best of luck at their Championships this summer”.

“It was great to see so many sailors competing in all conditions that were thrown at them over the weekend and still come to the shore with a smile!” Said Jan Lasko, Chairman of the Optimist Class. “Competition as ever was extremely high, and confirmed that the best sailors will be competing for Great Britain at the World and European Championships this summer”.

The Volvo Musto Inland Championships is one of three ranking events to select the 2004 National and Intermediate squads. The other events are the Volvo Musto Optimist National Championships in August and the Volvo Musto Optimist End of Season Championships in October.

1. Richard Mason
2. Greg Carey
3. Robert Claridge
4. Hannah Mills
5. Ben Saxton
6. James Murdock
7. Andrew Conn
8. Tim Saxton
9. William Atkinson
10. Claire Lasko