UKR Optimist Coach Pavlo Dontsov Receives 2023 Seamaster Award

The guests at the Flagship Night on the opening evening of Düsseldorf Boat Show celebrated the new Seamaster 2023 with a one-minute standing ovation: The Ukrainian Opti Coach,  Pavlo Dontsov was honored for his outstanding and hope-inspiring commitment to his team of Optimist sailors. 

For the ninth time since 2013, the Seamaster Award was presented at the Flagship Night at the Düsseldorf Boat Show. Great sailors like Loïck Peyron, Jimmy Spithill, Clarisse Crémer, François Gabart, Carolijn Brouwer and “Malizia – Seaexplorer” skipper Boris Herrmann have won this award.

The Ukrainian Optimist Coach,  Pavlo Dontsov was honored at the Dusseldorf maritime kick-off gala. For a minute, hundreds of guests celebrated the 29-year-old coach from “Opti Sailing Team Ukraine” with standing ovations. Many had heard about the group of Optimist Sailors with the ‘reckless’ coach and their actions in the past year (Read the story "The Ukranian Optimist Team on the Move in Europe" from March 29, 2022 here).

Pavlo Dontsov came to Düsseldorf with the 15-year-old Ukrainian top Optimist sailor Sviatoslav Madonich and his father Slava Madonich for the honor.

Following this event, Sviatoslav Madonich won the XV Trofeo Euromarina Optimist in Torrevieja, Spain held Jan 26-29th where he topped over 400 sailors from 26 countries.

Madonich was 6^th overall at the 2022 Optimist World Championship in Bodrum, Turkey last year and is considered a top contender for the 2023 Optimist World Championship taking place in Costa Brava, Spain June 15-25^th.