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• Feb 22, 2010
• Date Sent:

Laurey-Ann and Ruargh Findlay, NETHERLANDS ANTILLES

Reflection of St Maarten's parent after CYC2010 Regatta, Optimist A, in Curaçao

We have just got back from Curacao where Rhône raced three solid days in heavy seas with 2 to-2.5 meter waves in winds that blew a constant minimum of 20 knots and a maximum of 30/33 knots. There were constant capsizes but these boys and girls are top-drawer, and as it was the selection for the South American and the North American Championships 2010, so much was at stake that the majority toughed out conditions I would never have believed possible. Rhône suffered some bad luck and was capsized by freak waves often, but righted himself and bailed out to continue without hesitation ending the regatta in ninth place, the older 14 year olds and 15 year olds tending to rise to the top with their greater experience in these obtuse conditions we have never encountered anywhere. At the end of the hectic and mind blowing experience Rhône qualified as one of the five to go to Uruguay in March and one of the nine to go to Canada in June to represent the Netherlands Antilles. We were very proud, and as Laurey-Ann endured the three days on the larger committee boat responsible for the Flag signals and I assisted on the smaller and busier rescue craft that was responsible for the safety around the Windward mark area, we had grand-stand views of the huge waves doing their best to smother little boys and girls in baby prams with sails.

I saw Rhône capsize twice by enormous waves that simply broke into his boat filling it brim full of water, and once, he was just about to complete his second round and head for a third or fourth place in the finish. On each occasion my heart went out to him, as he without hesitation set about rectifying the situation and continued undaunted to eventually finish ninth overall of the 15 competitors. Each race took up to an hour to complete so imagine how tough it was to complete the 11 races over the three days which requires about an hour just to reach the courses out at sea. We have a picture of Rhône having collapsed on his bed exhausted before he had a chance to eat his dinner. Watching them from the small unprotected launches day in and day out in the howling winds that caused our RC flag to flap like a machine gun and irritate us more than the constant spray generated by the white horses that crested the waves was enough to develop a tremendous respect for the determination of these kids and certainly restored tremendous respect for the youth of today amongst all the adults who were on the course in various capacities.

It was for all concerned a wonderful experience and will result in the long term effect to the benefit of an amazing life experience and the inner knowledge within each competitor those famous words first penned by Kipling:

“If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew to serve your turn long after they have gone.
And so hold on when there is nothing in you except the will which says ‘Hold on’
Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it.
And - which is more - you will be a Man my son! ”

It was a great, great regatta, we thank the Race Officer for good decisions and thank the CYC 2010.

NOTE: this letter has been edited by IODA for publication in this section.

• Jan 23, 2010
• Date Sent:

Mary E Black, SERBIA

Proud Star Sailors and their kids

Dear fellow Oppie parents, coaches and team leaders,

We all know that there is a fine line between being a Supportive Oppie Parent (a SOP) and a Totally Relentless Irritating Parental Engager (TRIPE). That line is easy to cross for all parents of junior sailors, and our kids know it. So when Ozren Tosic and Branislav Erac, (known to you all as Team leader and Coach of the Serbian Optimist delegation at the wonderful European Championship in Strunjan June 2010) were told in certain terms to get lost by their own teenagers they were devastated. Banned from rope fiddling, giving advice between races and generally dumped as confidantes by their teenagers they faced an uncertain future, stripped of their sailing identity and forced increasingly to watch from the sidelines.

According to many sports psychologists, this is a moment when parents often ramp up their interference, trying to impose parental authority, and become even more soppy. Sometimes it has the opposite effect and the said parent may degenerate into a sad figure of fun, hanging round the outer fringes of junior regattas, lost and lonely, treated as a mere taxi service and bank.

Photo: FRIED ELLIOTT/www.friedbits.com

Faced with this awful predicament, Ozren Tosic and Branislav Erac, http://www.eractosic.com both enthusiastic SOPs, sought professional advice and took the only way out.... they started their own sailing campaign and entered months of rigorous sailing and physical and mental training. It worked and they got to the start line of the 2010 Star Class World Championship in Rio de Janeiro from 12 - 23rd January. To much surprise they came third in the pre-championship "Taca Darke de Mattos", the longest running regatta in South America, and completed all six gruelling days of the World Championship. They have already made history as the first ever Star Sailors from land-locked Serbia, and greater things are planned. Best of all, they will now be able to discuss campaigning with their teenage peers, leveling the parent-child gap.

Teodora Erac aged 15	Luka Erac aged 13
Luka Tosic aged 13	Tara Tosic aged 15

You can find their Facebook campaign website here

They also have a website http://www.eractosic.com

Their four children aged 12 - 15 are founder members of the facebook fan page along with many Optimist sailors. Teodora, Tara, Luka and Luka unite in saying "Please sign up on facebook and encourage our Dads to try for the Olympics, as this would keep them occupied for another 30 months".

• Aug 27, 2009
• Date Sent:

Mary E Black, SERBIA

When my daughter sailed home by Mary E Black public health physician, Belgrade, Serbia

At the European Optimist sailing championship in Strunjan, Slovenia, this June, 250 children from 40 countries competed for six days on the wide, wide sea. I was a proud "OptiMum" with two children in the Serbian national team. "Oppies" are the boats in which the world learns to sail. Children are captains of their own ship. Competing is about winning; but more importantly it is about gaining a love for sailing and learning life lessons.

There we were, of all nationalities, waving our children off from the shore. I thought of parents who have stood on shores waving their children off as they embark on a desperate search to escape poverty, or after a family argument, or off to war, unsure if and when they will meet again, hoping they would meet kindness and help on their journey. Although sailing can never be totally safe, we were fortunate to know that our children would sail home to us.

On the last race my 14 year old daughter gave up her boat for her 12 year old brother; his rudder had fallen off, and as he was the leading sailor in the team she did not hesitate when the coach suggested it, even though her own points would suffer badly. She limped back alone for 2 miles in his rudderless craft using only a sail, until the shore team helped her out. "Finally," she said, her face shining and without a trace of regret. "I think I really learnt a lot about sailing downwind."

Humans collaborating constructively is a wonder. In Strunjan the systems were not fully in place, yet a mini-army of coaches, team leaders, judges, cooks, boat washers, boat measurers, photographers, and parents jumped into action for a week to get the fleet safely on the water. They made the regatta a huge success by pooling their skills, invoking past experience, filling in gaps in the system, and, above all, doing the right thing.

There is a satisfaction I have always found as a doctor and which we do not speak about enough. I refer to the quiet joy of teamwork, when the situation is messy and uncertain, but for the greater good of others we create a bigger sum from the parts. We can focus endlessly on getting systems right, on setting standards, on developing care pathways. But systems alone are not enough; they may not be invoked, or they may break down. For good health care we need people and not machines. People who will work hard to do the right thing, irrespective of how the systems are set up. People who will help others who journey on life's waters with a broken rudder.

Published 29 July 2009 in the British Medical Journal and reproduced by kind permission of Mary Black

• Aug 17, 2009
• Date Sent:

Caio Swan, BRAZIL

Last Year Optimist

Dear Sir/Maddam,

Sorry if i'm bothering but, I'm writting to thank all the wonderfull structure of this class. My last optimist championship was the Worlds here at my hometown, Niteroi and I had the pleasure to receive people from all continents at the place I've sailed since I born. A excellent championship that have shown how strong is the optimist wherever it is.

I would like to give you this photo showing how hard it was to compete on the light wind of Niteroi when you're big, and this is the spirit that all sailor should have to sail on this class.

Now I'm going to 420, but I'll continue following all optimist regattas. Congratulations again.

Yours faithfully,
Caio Swan (BRA 3248)
Niteroi, Brazil

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