News THREE MORE GRANTS AWARDED

THREE MORE GRANTS AWARDED

IODA is delighted to announce three more recipients of development grants.

St. Kitts

The latest Caribbean island to join the Optimist club is St. Kitts. Their first six Optimists have been imported

IODA is delighted to announce three more recipients of development grants.

St. Kitts

The latest Caribbean island to join the Optimist club is St. Kitts. Their first six Optimists have been imported under the "6 for 5" scheme and a 10-day introductory course was given by Peter Hoad from Barbados.

Mauritius

The beautiful Indian Ocean island has placed an order for 48 Optimists to add to the 12 already bought this year. These will be used initially for the IODA African Championship in August and then by the Mauritius Y.A. to expand its bases around the island. This is a major step forward for a country with little tradition of dinghy sailing but an active fleet of traditional pirogues. The main sponsor is Investec Bank (Mauritius) Limited and Indian Optimist builder Praga Marine is donating four of the hulls.

Guatemala

To promote sailing in Central America ASOVELA is buying 18 new Optimists. President Juan E. Maegli writes: "You might be interested to know that 60% of our Opti sailors now come from very low income families from a local village at our lake. With the increased fleet (we will have around 40) we are going to be able to host the sailors from Salvador and Nicaragua (as well as the Mexicans) for regional regattas."