Cook Diaries - Optimist World Championships - Royal Varuna Yacht Club, Thailand
Posted by gill_admin on 27th Jul 2017
I recently just competed in the Optimist World Championships, which was held at the Royal Varuna Yacht Club in Thailand. The event was extremely well run. The team of 7 travelled out on the 6th July, comprising of 5 sailors, a Coach, and a team leader. When we arrived at the hotel, I was amazed. We stayed in a superb 5-star hotel with a massive outdoor pool in the middle. It was awesome! The Yacht club was also brilliant, we were given great chartered equipment which was nice and functional. The weather was a nice 30 degrees; however, this meant I had to be extremely careful of what I wore on the water and I needed to stay hydrated. I chose to wear the Long Sleeve Rash Vest, with Hydrophobe Trousers. On my feet, I had the Gill Aquatech Shoes. The UV kit clearly surpassed its protection, as I managed to leave Thailand without a suntan!
When the races started it was made very clear that the standard was extremely high, especially since this was the largest Optimist World Championships ever, attracting over 280 boats from 62 countries. In the races, I didn’t finish very well. This was because I struggled in the light and sloppy conditions that Thailand has to offer, the wind averaged from 6 - 8 knots; not my ideal wind strength! Our team however did extremely well in the team racing, on the first day we won all of our races and that put us in a strong position going forward into the second day. We then faced some tough teams, we won two races and lost one. Eventually we were knocked out of the racing by a very fast Chinese team.
A massive thanks to our coach Sarah McGovern and team leader Kat Colvin. They made the trip possible and were also great help throughout, thanks!
In the evenings, we had a chance to socialise with competitors from other countries and meet new friends. As most teams were staying in the same hotel the main pool was a great place to either have fun or relax. When starting Optimists, I didn’t realise how many new people I would meet and how many friends for life I would find.
Although I will be competing at the British Optimist Nationals this year, I have decided to transition to 420 class. This is because I have physically outgrown the boat; which is why I struggle in light to medium wind. It makes it difficult to have vital boat speed at the start which gives you options to make tactical decisions up the beat. I am extremely excited to compete in the 420 class and I hope to invest a lot of time into it so I achieve great things in the class. I also look forward to updating my Gill blog with my progress and any challenges I may face along the way. My time in Optimists has been amazing and I will have memories and friends that I will never forget. I think that It is the best class in the world to learn to sail, so enjoy it whilst you can!
