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Optimist 2006 News Sail Information || Optimist News || Optimist Tuning Guide || Contact Optimist Experts || Order
See also:2003-2005 Regatta Reports
Interview by Brian Bissell North Sails had a very successful weekend in the Optimist Class. Our sails were 1,2,3 at the West Coast Championship. 1st Place was Greg Dair, 2nd was Lauren Cefali, and 3rd place went to Chris' son Nevin Snow who made his debut in the opti fleet coming over from the Naple Sabots. The Optimist Atlantic Coast Championship was this past weekend and out of 298 competitors, Marlena Fauer finished 1st Girl and 2nd overall as she sailed her first regatta with her new DR2+. She had just switched from our NP-1 and said that she noticed the difference between the two sails. The DR2+ gave her some added power. For complete information about Optimist sails, contact our Optimist experts.
OPTIMIST PEGGY READ TROPHY Report by Chuck Allen
The Narragansett Bay Yachting Association held its 30th annual Junior Olympic Festival in the waters off of Ft. Getty Park, Jamestown, Rhode Island, from August 14th - 16th. A total of nine classes and 312 sailors from around New England and as far away as Chicago competed in challenging conditions ranging from light to heavy with a healthy dose of current to boot. Opti sailor Lucas Adams won the Peg Read Trophy for best sailor of the week in a tie-breaker with fellow Opti sailor Nick Johnstone. Other top finishers: Optimist Blue Fleet: Katia DaSilva For complete information about Optimist sails, contact our Optimist experts.
SCOTIABANK CARIBBEAN REGATTA Interview by Mark Stafford - North Sails British Virgin Islands
Thanks to major sponsorship from the BVI Tourist Board, brand new racing sails gave the young team an edge as they put their heart and souls into representing their Territory. North Sails BVI owned and managed by Mark Stafford, delivered the sails to the team’s doorstep just days before the event, making exciting preparation for all the athletes. 82 competitors in all sailed out of St Thomas Yacht Club over the weekend all 15 years or under. Team BVI was so successful, that they dominated the Green Fleet and took an impressive third place on the podium in the most advanced and competitive - Red Fleet. The Green Fleet attracted 21 entries from USVI, Puerto Rico and a record 14 from Tortola - all novice racers between 8 & 10 years old, who had never been exposed to anything even remotely like the ‘famous’ Scotiabank regatta before! These children sailed 21 races in 3 days improving their performances, vying for the top positions with finishes close enough to keep the most hardened spectator interested. The first day saw Christian Fay in an impressive fifth place with Hana Keegan and Charlie Tarn snapping at his heels! Alice Wilkinson had two successes off the water Friday afternoon, a protest went her way and she was the lucky winner of a new foil bag in the raffle!
The results in the green fleet show that the BVI Boys managed to see the ‘whites of the Puerto Rican eyes’ by Sunday - Christian finishing with a superb fourth place and Charlie and Matthew swapping positions to result in 7th and 8th respectively.
Finally we come to an athlete who is popular with everyone on and off the water. Alec Anderson is now one of our top international competitors in his class; he and his family have worked hard this year to put the BVI up with the top Optimist sailors in the world. Long, difficult races this weekend saw his results consistently in the top ten of the red, white and blue fleets which totaled a tight fleet of 62 boats. This is an unprecedented result for any BVI sailor young or old. Everyone from the BVI who has watched Alec grow over the past years was extremely proud to see him standing high on the podium to except his prize of third in the most competitive fleet in the regatta. Thanks to efforts and funding from the BVI Tourist Board, The BVI Watersports Centre and The Royal BVI Yacht Club, every member of ‘Team BVI’ came away from the event with great memories having done their families and Territory proud. OVERALL RESULTS GREEN FLEET
For complete information about Optimist sails, contact our Optimist experts.
INTERVIEW TAYLOR LUTZ Interview by Brian Bissell
TL - I practiced whenever I could. Mostly just on the weekends or at local regattas, but as the time cruch came for the regatta, I started going out on my own during the week sometime. I think that there is definitly a thin line between spending too much time in the boat and spending quality time in the boat. You want to make sure that every time you go out you can enjoy the time spent on the water, and enjoy seeing improvements every day. Was there anything different about your mental approach to the TT's 2005 and the TT's 2006? TL - Not really. I consider myself a very laid back type of guy, but getting focused isn't hard for me. Everybody has there own way of getting focused, whether it be rigging up their boat by themselves or just sitting down and visualizing the racing ahead, it has to be YOUR WAY. At trials I tryed to always stay calm and collected, no matter how tough the pressure was. (But as you start to trust your sailing, instinct just sorta takes over) During a big regatta like the TT's, do you have any tricks to get your mind in the right place each morning before you hit the water? Not really I like to hang out with friends and just sit back and enjoy myself. I have been known to get in a little bit of trouble with my coaches before racing because I can get riled up and hyper. But, as you get closer to start time I try to keep it cool and simple. What is your routine once you hit the water? TL -Check the course with my team, Check the course with my friends, Talk to my Dad and coach about the course, get boat perfect, check line and hang out until the start (remember to know about current and all that other good stuff) Your throw outs were an 11 and a 12. How did you stay so consistent in the shifty conditions? TL - There is no way I could ever say that luck didn't play a role. But, by giving myself great opportunities at the starts of every race, i maximized my chance for luck to play a role. I would set myself up on the edge of packs, so that I could always keep my air clean. Also, I used my sailing smarts to determine where and when puffs were coming. I think that connecting the puffs was the most important thing to do. You have been using the North DR2+ for awhile now. What rake do you like to set up at? What other tuning tips could you give other kids that are using the same sail? TL - I set my rake at 110.5, and I weigh about 110. Although most would think this is pretty far back, I knew that I was going fast so there was no reason to change it. Sometimes if it gets really light, i will move it up to 11ish. You need to keep your corner ties snug with the DR+2. This seems to help take out wrinkles and keep your sail nice and smooth. I love the sail and will use it in the North American Championship in Puerto Rico.
2006 OPTIMIST TEAM TRIALS Report by Brian Bissell
Congratulations Taylor Lutz! This year's Optimist Team Trials took place in Bellport, NY at the Bellport Bay Yacht Club. It was a great venue for the event with plenty of lawn space for the 185 Optimists and a convenient beach to launch from. The weather cooperated for the most part with sunny skies and moderate to light wind. The race committee did a great job getting 13 races completed in four days. The racing was intense and sometimes lasted till 8 o'clock at night. It was impressive to see the young sailors keep their energy up all day long. I got tired just watching from a coach boat. There were 185 boats in the fleet which they divided into four colored flights and raced two colors at a time to keep numbers down to a barely manageable 93 boats on the starting line. Sailors using North Sails had an incredible showing. North Sails had 5 in the top 11. Taylor Lutz, using our DR2+ model, won the regatta with an uncommon level of consistency. He won the regatta by 13 pts, but if there were no throw outs, he won by 33 since his throw outs were an 11 and a 12. Nick Johnstone, also using our DR2+, finished in 5th place. The top five finishers qualify for the prestigious World Team, so Taylor and Nick will represent the United States at the IODA World Championship in Uruguay. Congratulations to both on a fantastic regatta!!!
Complete results: For complete information about Optimist sails, contact our Optimist experts.
2006 OPTIMIST VELENTINE'S DAY REGATTA - North Sails 1,2,4!!! Report by Brian Bissell
The 24th annual Valentines Day Regatta took place this weekend at St. Petersburg Yacht Club where 197 kids from all over the country were in attendance. They broke the fleet into four flights so they only had to deal with half the fleet for any given start. It sure didn't feel like Florida with dark cloudy skies, and low enough temperatures for everyone to be sporting drysuits. Three kids stood out from the very start of the regatta and all three were sailing with a North DR2+. Will Haeger consistently made his way to the front of the pack displaying a good combination of speed and smarts. Ian Holzworth, a local St. Pete YC sailor, used his local knowledge and his DR2+ to finish a respectable 4th place overall. Taylor Lutz, however, was on fire and couldn't be stopped. In dominating fashion, Taylor posted 4 bullets and two 2nds to become this years V-day Day Regatta Champion. Taylor will be recieving a Gold Star for his Team Blue hat for this victory. Congratulations Taylor, Will and Ian on a superb perfromance. For complete information about Optimist sails, contact our Optimist experts. To order our fast Optimist sails, click here.
Report by Brian Bissell Congratulations to Will Haeger of Lake Forest, Illinois! The results are in and it's official. Out of 215 boats, Will Haeger, using a North DR2+, came out on top. The contestants saw just about every wind range in the 4 days of racing. The first two days were very light, only 0-5 knots. The 3rd day of racing saw steady winds ranging from 15-20. It was sunny and warm the entire time and the Coral Reef Yacht Club did an excellent job of running races and managing the masses of kids and parents. A good time was had by all. Keep tuned for more information about the regatta! For results, visit the Coral Reef Yacht Club web site, click here. For complete information about Optimist sails, contact our Optimist experts. To order our fast Optimist sails, click here.
For more information on Sabot sails, contact the North Optimist experts.
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Luke Adams, Ed Adam's son, won The NBYA Best Performance Overall (Peggy Read Trophy) with Nick Johnstone finishing second. Both use our DR-2+ Sail. Kids in the Newport area are switching to our fast Opti designs! 
POWERED BY NORTH ]
The records will show that the largest and the most successful BVI Junior Sailing Team to attend the Scotiabank Caribbean International Optimist Regatta was this year’s 2006 squad, who between them completed 34 races in 3 days within 4 fleets.
The Puerto Rican boys were obviously the ones to beat with first and second places across the board, but it wasn’t long before the BVI fleet were on their tails. Mathew Oliver the lightest sailor of them all but the one with the most determined ‘hike’ raced his designated boat ‘Buddy’ into 7th place by Saturday afternoon in freshening winds. Cambria and Inigo Collins sailed well all weekend, along with Jason Putley who was following in the footsteps of his older sister Amanda, also working hard on the other race course in the white fleet. With only a handful of points separating the top half of the green fleet, Sunday morning came with tired but still enthusiastic young sailors rigging for the last time. Mollee Donovan and Jessica Oliver – both quiet but determined had some of their best results that morning, Jessica being older began to come into her own whereas Mollee was fighting against fatigue and sore toes! Annika Forde who finished the regatta in 12th place overall, was probably best known for her acrobatics – not yet totally convinced that having a flat boat is the most efficient (or fun!) Josh Morrell was a tired sailor on Sunday but coped even after a breakage during a race. He finished and then went on to complete the series with determination. The last race of the regatta saw several capsizes with Mollee claiming the ‘last boat on the water’ after bailing and completing the course! 
The Blue Fleet containing highly experienced Optimist sailors proved a challenge for BVI Competitor Dontae Hodge-Dickenson. He gallantly sailed to the ‘bitter end’ ignoring the frustrations of inexperience, learning all the time and earned himself recognition at the prize giving as the sailor who persevered and no matter what, kept going!
1 Juan Carlos Franco-Monllor PUR
How did you prepare for the 2006 Team Trials?
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