Optimist Open at Warsash Sailing Club
by Jane Saunders 2 Aug 15:52 BST
27 July 2024
Warsash Optimist Open © Jason Foster
Last Saturday saw our annual Optimist Open meeting at Warsash Sailing Club with 60 competitors from as far away as Derwent Reservoir SC attending.
Thankfully summer finally arrived and we had hot and sunny weather on shore and a good sea breeze on the water for all our sailors! As the last event prior to the 2024 Optimist Nationals at Pwllheli, it was a great opportunity for everyone (from main fleet frontrunners to coached regatta newbies) to get some racing practice under their belt and have fun both on and off the water.
We had three fleets racing, our most experienced sailors in the Main Fleet, younger and less experienced sailors in Regatta Fleet and those just starting their racing journey in Coached Regatta. While the sailors were on the water, the club held its "Olympic Day" so there was also plenty of fun on shore for parents and younger siblings while the racing took place. After racing, our famous Warsash SC sausage sizzle was held for all the competitors on Saturday evening after racing, sponsored by local super chandlery Xtremity (who will be at the Nationals next week!) with the sizzling energetically led by Jo Alvarado. Sitting on the club lawn, in the sun with a sausage in a bun in hand, the Costa del Warsash was the place to be!
Our main fleet sailed out in Southampton Water, in classic Solent sea breeze conditions, reaching a spanking 18kts, to a backdrop of the many Cowes Week yachts who were also out enjoying themselves. Our fantastic PRO Peter Knight set a course just off Hill Head, and he and his team did a great job of running 4 races, with the wind and waves proving excellent practice for Pwllheli!
There was some really tight racing throughout the fleet, with an intense battle at the front between the top UK Optimist sailors, to those starting out in Main Fleet, and we saw some fantastic improvement from the less experienced sailors over the course of the day. The overall win went to Patrick Di Salle (Gurnard SC), showing some great tidal sailing skills, with Bear Baker (Royal Lymington YC) second, and Eliana Edwards (Parkstone YC) in third place and first girl. Merryn Wealthy was first Warsash SC sailor and second girl. The main fleet sportsmanship award went to Iain Coward (Hayling Island SC), with some great improvement over the day, and endeavour went to Ameli Browne (Hayling Island SC) who performed an excellent man over board drill on a much loved visor at the end of a long day!
Regatta fleet sailed at Cat Head, just to the west of the entrance to the Hamble River, where the younger sailors enjoyed the sea breeze but with flatter water. There were a lot of place changes at both ends of the fleet, which was great to see, and some really tight racing over the weekend by our less experienced sailors. RO Ben Owen and his team reprised their role from last year and again ran some fantastic racing!
The overall win went to Finn Simmons (Lymington Town SC), followed by Rory Bubb (Royal Lymington YC) and then our own William Foster (Warsash SC). First girl (and 4th overall) was fellow local sailor Lumia Greenaway (Royal Southern YC). Sportsmanship award went to the extremely smiley Evie Rogerson (Warsash SC) who showed a fantastic attitude to fellow sailors. Endeavour went to our youngest sailor, Clemmie Renard (Hollowell SC/ Draycote) who did a great job in the strong winds.
Coached regatta fleet, who were mostly taking part in their first ever Optimist regatta, sailed just off the club in the shallow bay, close to the shore (and all the Olympic fun!). A crack team of Warsash SC parents ensured that the coached regatta fleet ran seamlessly, so a big thanks to the race organising/ rescue team of Kirsty Lynch and the Warsash Race Optimist parents - you were awesome!
While it was all about good fun and an introduction to racing for this fleet, they also got some quality racing in, with Riva Alvarado (Warsash SC) taking the overall win, first girl and first Warsash sailor awards (wowzers!), Skye Lynch came second, followed by Fynn Jamieson (both also Warsash SC). The coached regatta endeavour award went to Euan Green (Netley SC).
As well as a big well done to all of our competitors, we'd like to give a big thank you to our fabulous sponsors, local chandlers Xtremity Sports, Spinlock and North Sails and, who provided some lovely prizes for all our competitors! Thank you for your support - we really appreciate it.
An event like this couldn't happen without the help of many people, both on and off the water. As well as those above, and the Warsash SC executive committee, we'd like to give a special thank you to Alex Wealthy, who organised the event and who (together with her husband Dan) wore many hats over the weeks leading up to the regatta and on the day. Alex Wealthy, Sarah Ellis -Asquith and Jo Alvarado registered, tallied, beachmistressed, arranged results and prizes and kept the show on the road on shore in a whirl of energy.
Thank you to the club members without children also kindly helped on the water, Martin, Malcolm, Marian, Matheus and Simon (you don't have to have a name starting with an M but it clearly helps!), and our safety leads Mark Saunders, Dan Wealthy and James Ward. A special thanks to Richard Hall who obtained not one, not two but three committee boats for main fleet over the weeks preceding the regatta (and probably gained a few grey hairs in the process), and thank you to the Fletcher family for the loan of their yacht at the 11th hour!
We look forward to welcoming you all to our club again for the 2025 edition!