36th Lake Garda Optimist Meeting - Overall
by Fraglia Vela Riva 2 Apr 2018 06:57 BST
28 March - 1 April 2018
It was a sunny conclusion for the 36th edition of the Lake Garda Optimist Meeting, international event of youth sailing that this year broke the overall record of 1374 participants, coming from 33 countries. After three days of unstable or rainy weather and light breeze, on Sunday the final day of the event organized by Fraglia Vela Riva in collaboration with Riva del Garda Fierecongressi it was possible to enjoy the stunning landscape enriched by the presence of all these sailors aged 9-15.
The entertainment on land was the real news this year, thanks to the partnership with Riva del Garda Fierecongressi. "Making the facilities of the congress area available has surely been a successful synergy, that allowed to offer extra comfort to the participants, operators and families. Beyond the shopping stands, the area Fit&Fun at the Garda Wind Garda Village was really appreciated by the boys and girls, where they could play, eat and stay together having fun, when the weather prevented the running of the regattas" stated Giovanni Laezza, Directory General of the MICE agency. The organization has payed special attention to the coach with a special dinner for them: the figure of the coach often stays in the background "but it is paramount to remember that these people are still educators, not only as long as sport is concerned. Understanding their needs and difficulties could results in a better management of this sporting discipline. For this reason, we are ready to organize tailormade educational events, grounding a proper Coach Forum held by professionals and experts of this sector" added Giovanni Laezza. The collaboration with Fraglia Vela Riva and Riva del Garda Fierecongressi proved to be successful for the Lake Garda Meeting, already certified by the Guinness World Records for the number of participants.
The Regattas
Cadets (305)
Six total races both for Cadets and Juniors with the good surprise of two athletes by Fraglia Vela Riva taking gold and silver: the sailors Mosè Bellomi and Manuel De Asmundis trained by Santiago Lopez managed to gain the top positions after a series of thrilling races followed by the talented Clara Lorenzi (CN Bardolino), first girl and third overall. The final Top Ten is completed by Lorenzo Ghirotti (Fraglia Vela Malcesine) (4th), the Hungarian Kis-Szölgyémi (5th), the Coratian Pettener (6th), the Swiss Lars Dittel (7th), Vos Manuel Henk (FVMalcesine) (8th), the Italian Niccolò Pulito (9th) and the Danish Wolff (10th). The Norwegian Dokrød is second among girls (11th overall), followed by the Italian Aurora Ambroz (JCCupa).
Great satisfaction for Fraglia Vela Riva, not only for the success of the event, but also for the results of its young sailors: once again the athletes trained by Santiago Lopez managed to mount on the podium. They have started to show their skills at the Meeting from 2012 with the couple Andrea Spagnolli and Tommaso Salvetta, in 2013 Guido Gallinaro placed 3dr, Agata Scalmazzi and Emma Mattivi won gold and silver in 2015, Mattia Cesana won in 2016 and Alex Demurtas took silver last year.
Juniors (1069)
The Juniors managed to sail all the races in the end, but the best ones hadn't had the opportunity to measure themselves in the gold fleet. The too light breeze on Saturday that forced two fleets to renounce to sail some races on Saturday prevented to seed the top 178 in only one final heat. By the way, on Sunday the races took place both in the morning with southward wind and in the afternoon with solid northward wind. Overall winner of the Juniors' division is the current World Champion Marco Gradoni (Tognazzi Village), who thanks to a series of 1 managed to climb the ranking 5 points ahead of Davide Nuccorini (CDVRoma), who showed a constant technical growth. The Latvian Martins ended 3rd, six points away from second place. The German Schlüter and Barth take respectively gold and silver among girls (5th and 7th overall), and Catharina Schaaff takes bronze. First Italian girl is Maria Vittoria Arseni 5th among girls, winner of last year Cadets' division.
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