SAMS Day 1 Finals - Waiting for Wind

The first day of the Finals at the 2018 South American Championships was a day when new friends are made as 168 sailors from 12 countries waited for the wind to fill in in Montevideo, URU.  These are the times when sailors get to hang out, play games and just meet new sailors from other parts of the world – an important part of the Opti experience.

Racing did however, get underway by mid afternoon in light sailing conditions.   One race was completed for each of the Gold, Silver and Bronze Fleets.

After the day’s racing , top of the leaderboard is 2017 North American Champion, Stephan Baker (USA) in a commanding lead with a total of 6 points after 5 qualification races and one race in the finals.  Eleven points behind Baker is Lorenzo Balestrin (BRA) in second place overall, top South American sailor at the championship. The battle for bronze is very tight between 3^rd place Peter Foley (USA) and 8^th place Santino Marcatelli (ARG) only 3 points behind.

Top girl overall is Maria Gracia Vegas (PER) in 10^th overall, followed by Katharine Doble (USA) in 11^th and Rafaela Salvatore (CHI) in 13^th overall.

Three races are scheduled for the final day of racing.  Positions will change as a result and consistency will pay off.   Todays racing will be topped off with the awards ceremony this evening where there will be a celebration of a new 2017 Optimist South American Champion.

Check out the event website 2018southamericans.optiworld.org for results, tracking, images, social media and more!