News NORTH AMERICAN CHAMPIONSHIP 2012

NORTH AMERICAN CHAMPIONSHIP 2012

Summary, thanks and congratulations

Valle de Bravo, MEXICO
Untitled Document

Summary, thanks and congratulations

Useful links: | Event website | Capizzano's photos | Tracking |

October 29


Three first places in the closed event:
1- Odile van Aanholt (AHO); 2- Sean Brennan (USA); 3- Justin Vittecoq (CAN)

Another Optimist event has gone by: new experiences were lived, new friends were made, and new champions were crowned.

Valle de Bravo proved a wonderful venue, not only for sailors, who could sail on a lake 1800 metres above sea level, but also for the parents and supporters, who enjoyed strolling along the narrow and winding streets of a XIX century like village, with its church and square, where anything could be found, from local fruits at the central market, to state of the art boats.

We would like to take this opportunity to congratulate and thank Ricardo Navarro, the PRO from IODA, who did an excellent job coordinating the Race Committee activities together with Alberto Dana, the local PRO and Nicolai Borisov, also in charge of the management of the races. We also thank the Jury members Flavio Naveira, Tom Rinda, David de Vries, Francisco Jauregui and Jonatas Gonçalves.

We don't want to finish this report without congratulating the Organising Committee members, especially Giovanni Aloi and Hector Guzman, Chairman of the Organising Committee who had worked hard even before Mexico had been chosen as venue. Thanks Hector!

Our gratitude also goes to Telcel, the local mobile company that provided the SIM cards for the tracking of the races.

Last but not least, congratulations and thank you to ALL the sailors, the main protagonists of this sailing celebration, for their behaviour and good attitude at every time during the championship.

The following is the list of sailors who were awarded prizes:

1) First 15 sailors without gender distinction whose IODA member is from any continent

  • 1- ODILE VAN AANHOLT (AHO)
  • 2- SAMUEL JIUN JIE NEO (SIN)
  • 3- SEAN BRENNAN (USA)
  • 4- JUSTIN VITTECOQ (CAN)
  • 5- RYAN VITTIMBERGA (USA)
  • 6- ENRIQUE SAAVEDRA (MEX)
  • 7- ROMAIN SCREVE (USA)
  • 8- CLARA VIGNATI (ARG)
  • 9- WILEY ROGERS (USA)
  • 10- CHASE COOPER (BER)
  • 11- FAUSTO CRUZ PERALTA (ARG)
  • 12- MANUEL GARCIA (ARG)
  • 13- GABRIEL LOPES (BRA)
  • 14-HECTOR GUZMAN (MEX)
  • 15- AGUSTIN PEZZUTI (ARG)

2) First three sailors from North America

  • 1- Odile van Aanholt (AHO)
  • 2- Sean Brennan (USA)
  • 3- Justin Vittecoq (CAN)

3) First five girls from any continent

  • 1- Odile van Aanholt (AHO)
  • 2- Clara Vignati (ARG)
  • 3- Audrey Giblin (USA)
  • 4- Nicole Hovassapian (ARG)
  • 5- Shyn Ee Pua (SIN)

4) First male sailor from any continent

  • 1- Samuel Neo (SIN)

5) First three teams in the North American Team Racing Championship

  • 1- USA 1: Romain Screve, Sean Brennan, Wiley Rogers, Henry Marshall, JC Hermes
  • 2- USA 3: Eduardo Mintzias, Sophia Reineke, Alie Toppa, Ryan Vittimberga, Chance Weston
  • 3- USA 2: Audrey Giblin, Emma Kaneti, Hannah Steadtman, Eli Burnes, Henry Burnes

6) First three teams in the Nations Cup

  • 1- CHI 1: Exequiel Grez, Santiago Ugarte, Tomás Ugarte, Colomba Parodi, Victoria Novión
  • 2- BRA 1: Lucas Faria, Iagor Simoes, Gabriel Lopes, Pedro Correa
  • 3- CHI 2: Jens Kuhlenthal, Enrique Feliu, Benjamín Fuenzalida, Renata Parodi, Clemente Seguel

| Results Individual | Results NAM Team Races | Results Nations Cup | Tracking of races | IODA Facebook |

October 28

We have a winner!! Odile van Aanholt from Netherland Antilles won both of the races sailed yesterday and became the new North American Champion 2012. Congratulations, Odile!!

Samuel Neo (who was the runner up at the Worlds last July) also won the two races in fleet Blue, but this didn't allow him to catch Odile, who had been one point ahead of him before the day's races. Samuel finished second overall and first from outside of America.

The three first sailors of the closed event were:

  • 1- Odile van Aanholt (AHO) - 1st overall
  • 2- Sean Brennan (USA) - 3rd overall
  • 3- Justin Vittecoq (CAN) - 4th overall

Yesterday's morning was an unusual one, as it was windy, but with the wind coming from a different direction. The Race Committee had to wait for the morning breeze to die before starting the races, as they were sure the usual SW wind would fill in at some point during midday. And so it happened. Races had to be postponed and only started at 13. A general recall in all starts compromised the possibility of starting a second race but both fleets finished race 10 in time to start race 11 before the starting time limit at 1500. Both races were sailed in good wind of average 10 knots.

At the Closing Ceremony every sailor got a trophy or a medal but of course Odile was the star of the evening. Not only she took the trophies for being the first overall in both the closed and open events, but she took the corresponding girl prizes also. :)

More photos and a complete list of sailors who were awarded prizes will be posted later

| Final results |

October 26

Three more races were completed yesterday in 7 knots average wind. Odile (AHO) and Samuel (SIN) are swapping positions with every new race sailed. They didn't sail in the same fleet yesterday so it was just a question of sailing each race to their best. Before the day started yesterday it was Samuel who had the lead but after race 9, Odile was leading the ranking, just one point ahead of Samuel.

There's no dominance by one particular country this time as the top ten is represented by 7 different countries. Mexico's Enrique Saavedra is the best local sailor in 5th place overall.

There are three more races scheduled for today but we presume that only two will be completed due to the time limit at 15.00. After the races, boats will be given back to the charter provider and later, at 20.00 the Closing and Prize giving ceremonies will mark the end of the event.

| Results up to race 9 | Colours for Oct 27 |

October 24

A few people had been a little sceptical about the probabilities we had of finishing two team race competitions in less than 4 hours, which is the usual wind span in Valle, but today's sailing conditions not only did permit the completion of the races but also allowed for excellent racing, exciting finishes, and even great photos (according to Matías Capizzano, official photographer of the event)

Racing started at 1230, and by 1630 everybody were back in the club. Both race courses had been set in front of the club close to the shore, so spectators had a first class view.

For the North American Championship there were two teams from Canada, three from USA and three from the host country. All three teams from the USA moved easily towards the final, which was between USA 1 and USA 3, who had defeated USA 2 in the semifinals. In the end, and after winning the first two of the three races of the finals, it was USA 1 who took gold, being crowned North American Champions 2012. Congratulations to team members

  • Sean Brennan
  • Henry Marshall
  • Romain Screve
  • Wiley Rogers

In the Nations Cup, Brazil 1 was the first team to qualify for the finals after defeating Brazil 3, Argentina 2 and Singapore. On the other hand, their opponents, Chile 1, reached the finals through a longer route as they lost a race to Singapore. Only two races of the finals were sailed with Chile being the winners of both, which entitled them to the first prize at the Nations Cup.

Congratulations to

  • Exequiel Grez
  • Santiago Ugarte
  • Tomas Ugarte
  • Colomba Parodi

Tomorrow is the spare day and fleet racing will resume on Friday.

| Results Nations Cup | Results Nations Cup |

October 23

Light winds were the main characteristic of the day's races. The first race had to be postponed for an hour and, even then, the breeze was not stronger than 7 knots, condition that remained for the rest of the day.

Samuel Neo from Singapore took over from Odile at the top of the ranking but with 6 races still to be sailed there is no clear winner yet. Samuel and Odile are tied in total points but with the discard he is 3 points ahead. Third overall is Sean Brennan and Hector Guzman from Mexico has climbed positions and is now the first local sailor, in 4th place overall.

| Preliminary results |

Tomorrow the fleet racing stops for two days, during which we have the team racing competitions. There are two separate events: one for the North American countries, and another -the Nations Cup- for the countries from outside of North America. We don't have the final list of teams yet but it is presumed that there will be 8 teams sailing the North American team racing championship and 16 sailing the Nations Cup. The seeding as well as the composition of the teams will be posted in our Minisite.

October 22

The first day of races saw the completion of three races in winds that ranged from 8 to 12 knots. The start of the first race of the day had to be postponed due to lack of wind at the scheduled time, but once settled the wind blew steadily and from the same direction, so no change of course was required.


No wind in the morning. Waiting for Delta flag to be displayed.

First in the leaderboard is Odile van Aanholt from Netherlands Antilles, with 8 accumulated points after a 2nd, 1st and 5th finishing positions. 4 points below is Sean Brennan from USA and third overall and second girl is Clara Vignati from Argentina. The first Mexican sailor is Eduardo Ragasol in 4th place overall.

Preliminary Results can be viewed here

Replay of the races available here


Big attendance at the Opening Ceremony yesterday evening.

Speech of Hector Guzman, Chairman of the Organising Committee, at the Opening Ceremony here

October 21


About to launch.

Today's practice race is the last chance for competitors and Race Committee to test their skills and become familiar with the race area and procedures. Alberto Dana, the local PRO, have gathered a team of experienced people for the race committee, all of whom will be accompanied by the IODA PRO Ricardo Navarro from Brazil. The weather conditions have proved pretty fair and predictable so, if conditions persist, they expect to have smooth races and complete the schedule.


Country 'flags' ....

The Opening Ceremony is scheduled for today as well. Local authorities have been invited to welcome the sailors and supporters, and to inaugurate what we believe will be another successful event.

October 19

147 sailors, 18 countries and 5 continents.

These are the figures of the forthcoming North Americans starting this Saturday 20th of October in Valle de Bravo, Mexico. The event is the last of the six '50th Anniversary' Optimist events sailed in 2012, marking the end of a busy year that took us to Argentina for the South Americans, Sri Lanka for the Asians, Italy for the Europeans, Dominican Republic for the Worlds, Tanzania for the Africans, Italy again for the European Team Races and now to Mexico.

Valle de Bravo (a 'magic village', as proclaimed by the government in recognition of its inhabitants' efforts to ensure that the long lasting cultural traditions do not die) is a small picturesque town with a traditional architecture dating from the XVIII and XIX centuries. Located 156km away from the Ciudad de Mexico, capital city of the country, the town has been the main touristic destination for the city dwellers for decades. Water sports are practised on the lake formed after the construction of a dam, built on one of the rivers.


Map of the village with location of main attractions and hotels for delegations.

Many of the teams are already there, have asked for their charter boats and are now familiarising with the area, not only off shore but also onshore at the venue and the hotels.

We will offer tracking of the races, with the viewers accessible through our Minisite: http://www.optiworld.org/MiniSite/12NAM/index.php