News Optimists for St Kitts & Nevis

Optimists for St Kitts & Nevis

In the first sailOptimist project for 2015 the Caribbean island state of St. Kitts & Nevis has ordered fifteen new Optimists with the help of IODA, the International Optimist Dinghy Association.

The SKNSA, headed by president Mark Theron, joined the International Sailing Federation in 2014 and identified the need for up-to-date equipment to get its young sailors on a par with more established islands. With the help of local fundraising and discounts for national members negotiated by IODA, the initial order grew to fifteen boats, two of them donated by IODA. Supplied by Shanghai builder Far East the new Optimists will be allocated to the two clubs on the islands.

Instructor training, also sponsored by IODA, is planned and the SKNSA hopes to hold a regional Opti regatta as well as use these boats to entice schools in colder climates to come to St. Kitts & Nevis in their winter time to hold sailing camps.

This latest sailOptimist project brings the number of Optimists sponsored by IODA to over 400 in recent years with the other most recent projects being 48 for Kyrgyzstan and a total of 60 for Belize.

Further applications are invited from national sailing organisations - see here for more details

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