Erik climbs to 14th place the last day!

Erik gets his prize from Robert Scheidt, five time Brasilian Olympic medalist.

Coach Emil quote;

“Erik made a bullet in the last race and finished 14 overall! Emil 62, Lucas 77, Olle 87 and Fabi 114. All the guys has really pushed them self to the maximum and I’m so proud of them.”

Final results;

Click to access r1042-result-f2498.pdf

More in a couple of days, the blogger needs to sleep due to very early leaving time tomorrow morning for the 2000km drive to Sweden.

Lucas gave Company today on the team leader outpost!

Emil and Fabi race 9

Olle race 9

Erik in race 10 which he won!

Team racing podium, SIN Gold, ITA Silver and GBR Bronze

The incredible Team SIN

Erik on the podium!

World Champion 2013 Singaporian Yi Jia Loh

The medalists

Coach Emil got a girl friend from Peter and Stefan

Coach and the team (Lucas missing)

A last drink before heading home early in the morning

Stefan
Team leader/Photographer

Worlds day 5

Ahead of race 8, Lago di Garda!

Organizer press release;

“Tomorrow sees the conclusion of the Optimist World Championship with only the German, Sternbeck, keeping up with the strong Singapore team. After todays races Loh Jia Yi continues to lead and the rest of the 5 strong Singaporean team are ranked in the top 8, in the provisional standings. The 51st Optimist World Championship, organized by Fraglia Vela Riva, Lake Garda Trentino-Italy finishes tomorrow.

Eight races have been completed so far for all fleets with the yellow fleet having completed an additional ninth. The wind came in this afternoon at 14-16 knots but gradually decreased towards the end of the first race due to a storm in the mountains behind Riva del Garda. This blocked the revered southerly Ora and brought the echoing sound of thunder to Riva. The fleets were quickly brought ashore.

Tension is rising in the boat park as the sailors get closer to the end of the regatta and we hope that the breeze will be more consistent for them tomorrow.”

Replay – live streaming:
http://www.livestream.com/liveye

Provisional results after race 8;

Click to access r1042-result-f2487.pdf

Team Sweden update;

In the stronger Ora in race 8, first race today, Emil became the best Swede with a 12th. Olle came 21, Erik 23, Fabi 26 and Lucas 52nd.

At the start of fleet 1 in race 9, Erik and Lucas flight, the Ora was still going strong. Unfortunately Lucas got his second yellow flag of the regatta just after the start and had to withdraw. Even worse for him was that fleet 1 was the only one to finish the race 9 today. Fleet 2 was cancelled just before the top mark and the two other fleets weren’t even started. A thunder-storm came in the wind shifted and dropped. The three fleets that didn’t sail race 9 will do that first thing tomorrow.

Overall Erik is 20, Emil 59, Lucas 60, Olle 87 and Fabi 122. At the time of writing I don’t know Erik’s finish in fleet 1’s race 9 and Lucas had a DNC due to the two yellow flags.

World famous reagatta photographer, Matias Capizzano

Sail signing

Speed check Before start

Ahead of race 8, Lago di Garda!

Lucas and Erik fleet 1, race 8

Lucas race 8

Fabi and Emil, fleet 2, race 8

Olle, fleet 3, race 8

A Nacra passes by

Erik, fleet 1, race 9

Emil, fleet 2, race 9, soon to be cancelled

Film crew spots the supporters on the Cliff

Stefan
Team leader/Photographer

Worlds day 4, individual

Erik, Swede of the day, again

Organizer press release;

“With two days until the conclusion of the Optimist World Championship in Riva del Garda, Italy, the overwhelming power of Singapore is confirmed with 4 athletes in the top 6.
After yesterday’s lay day it was unfortunate that the Race Committee could only manage one race for each of the four fleets, due to the weather conditions.

The southerly wind arrived later than usual but with a steady 10-12 knots for the first group of starts. But as these first four races progressed it continually decreased. Towards the end of these first races the strong westerly wind arrived and all fleets were instructed to quickly head for shore.

Singaporean Loh Jia Yi, with a scoreline of 1-1-1-2-3-2 recorded a 23rd today but continues to lead, 5 points ahead of German Nils Sternbeck. Sternbeck today scored a good second, and third overall is Swiss Damian Suri, who finished fifth today.
´
Nipping at the heels of the top three are the trio of Singapore with Edward Tan, fourth just one point from the podium, followed by teammates Han Bertha and Koh Kun.

Tomorrow, if the wind conditions are more stable, the Race Committee hope to complete 3 races.”

The event can also be followed tomorrow by web thanks to the live streaming http://www.fragliavelariva.it/regatta/live
and GPS tracking http://www.optiworld.org/MiniSite/13Worlds/tracking.php

Results after 7 race

Click to access r1042-result-f2484.pdf

Team Sweden update;

Emil, Olle and Fabi all went out in the first flight today. Emil unfortunately synched his watch by mistake and tried to start 30 seconds ahead of everyone else. When he realized his mistake he went below the line and started nearly last but finished as 13th. He had gotten himself a black flag DSQ on that mishap though… Emil is now 62 overall. Olle finished 29th and is 93 overall. Fabi finished 30th and is 130 overall.

Erik and Lucas both started in flight 3 and both got away nicely and tacked as fast as they could. Noramally in the Ora you need to hit the right corner on the first beat but be careful not to tack on the layline to late, it normally lifts all the way to the mark. Both Erik and Lucas knew what was going to happen today and tacked a bit earlier than normal. Erik rounded the top mark second and Lucas ninth. Erik finished the race 3rd and is now 17th overall. Lucas crossed the line as 10th boat and is 49th overall. Well done boys!

Team Sweden arriving to the starting area

Before start, SWE 4513 and 4511 checking speed

Back to shore after one race

Alen Kustic IODA Principal Race Officer (PRO)

Olle

Lucas and Erik

Lucas gets a hand

Erik, Swede of the day, again

back to the ground wit coach

Our kids did well today!

Debrief

The whole team if you look hard

Emil synched the w atch by misstake today, black flag DSQ…

Whar happened then?

Team Finland debrief

Coach debrief…

SUI Thomas Suri, damien is doing well!

Lucas Bergman, 1995, and Emil, 1998, started racing together 2007, now they meet again!

Stefan
Team leader/Photographer

Lay Day activities

Part off the team went up high in the trees today

On the official lay day the team went for a few different activities. Lucas and Olle choose to hang out with their families whilst the rest of the team went up in the trees!

Some parents went to local wine and olive oil producers and learnt among other things that in Italy you can fill up wine at the same price as petrol!

Tomorrow the individual racing starts again, three days and six races to go.

Emil ready to fly!

Coach is flying!

and so does Fabi

Erik longing for something to drink

Emil on the way to another surf session

Parents visiting wine yard

Only in Italy, you can fill up wine at the same price as petrol!

Winner ad showing off SWE 4511

Stefan
Team leader/Photographer

Peter Nevhagen gets credit for some pics today

Singapore World Team Racing Champions, again

Team Sweden relaxed today with windsurfing. The young Emil, who is an experienced windsurfer, coached his team mates in the lighter morning breeze and everyone improved their skills very fast and had great fun. In the heavier Ora later on Martin Linbom, Olle’s father who windsurfed all the time in his youth, and Emil got their fun for the day. Later on the Team and parents had a nice dinner together and enjoyed the warm Riva evening.

Team Sweden congratulate Singapore to their win of the Team Worlds!

Below the organizer press release from todays team racing finals;

Sun, 21/07/2013

“Fraglia Vela Riva has seen some impressive Team Racing skills from the Optimist fleet over the last 2 days. After the group stage yesterday, today saw the best 16 teams compete in more difficult conditions with southerly winds of 14-18 knots and larger waves than yesterday. Singapore won all of their matches to put them straight in the final. Brasil, Great Britain, USA and ITA qualified for the fifth stage of the competition with Great Britain beating Brasil and Italy beating USA to get through to the sixth stage. Italy beat Great Britain to progress to the final with Singapore. Special mention must be made of the British Team who fought hard for their Bronze position. They were ambitious and confident from the start and their team racing skills were honed as they progressed through the competition.

Italy made the finals after winning against Chile, Peru, United States and Great Britain. Singapore were the favourites from before the start of the competition however Italy were clearly used to competing here at Lake Garda on it’s windier days and put up a serious fight. The first race in the best of 3 final match went to Italy, with both teams scoring 18. The second went to Singapore, again with both teams scoring 18. In both nail biting races the fight continued right up until the end, with places still changing on the final beat of the S shape course. In the final race Singapore showed their mettle and were the clear winners. We congratulate Singapore on their title, but commendation must go to Italy for pushing Singapore so hard, up until the final moments.

Tomorrow is a lay day for the fleet and the Optimist World Championship fleet racing continues on 23rd July.”

Result grid;

Click to access r1042-result-f2476.pdf

Film;

Team Race day 1

Course Bravo wating for the Ora

Organizer press release;

“The Optimist World Championship in Riva del Garda continues at full speed with the Optimist Team Racing World Championship which started today.

The two day Championship started today with 38 races on each of the two race courses. Each team races with four boats. Today saw the group stage start with 48 teams, the most ever in this competition, narrowed down to 16 by the end of the day. Tactics, team work, excellent boat handling, speed and knowledge of the Racing Rules of Sailing are essential to do well in this kind of racing.

On the alpha course Singapore, Peru and Spain progressed with 3 wins and no losses. On the bravo course China, Turkey and Italy achieved the same feat. These 6 teams will surely be the favourites for tomorrow.

The short S shape course, with matches lasting for an average of 6 minutes ensure exciting and adrenalin filled racing. The Championship will conclude tomorrow.”

Elimination round results:

Click to access r1042-result-f2454.pdf

Our update;

Unfortunately the two courses were too far from the shore for the supporters to be close enough to take good photos, it was hardly possible to follow the racing through binoculars, not so good we think.

After a small postponement, because the Ora was late, Team Sweden met Lithuania in the third match on the Bravo course. We won easily and the team was all set for the next match against Brazil. Everything went as planned until the last beat when a few tactical mistakes allowed Brazil to get back in the game and we lost 17-19…

We had another shot though, against Belgium, and the guys were all pumped up to show that Sweden is a force in team racing as last year.

After the start the individual recall flag went up and one sailor from each nation turned back but the flag was still up…

Sweden was 1,2,3 at the last rounding, but the boys figured they needed to be 1,2,3,4 in case we had been over the line. Erik turned back to do the job but got a very strange penalty against him, so they didn’t succeed in that plan. It turned out that it was a Swede that had been early and that meant it was game over for team Sweden. It was a very depressed team that came to the shore, we really think this years team are at least as good as last years and the hopes had been high…

The good news is that we now have two days to relax and come back to the last three days of individual racing, six races in total. Ie, half the regatta to go and lots of places to be gained!

Nice ferry passes by

Polizia rushing out

Last view today

Stefan
Team leader/Photographer (but not very many photos today)

Worlds day 3

iRelaxing fore the start

Oraganizer press release day 3;

“Another strong day for Loh Jia of Singapore, with German Sternbeck still holding second overall and Italian Dimitri Peroni following in third place. In the girls ranking another Singaporean sailor, Bertha Han, dominated today and stands fifth overall. She is followed by Spain’s Maria Bover Guerrero and in third Bte Mohd Fathin, also from Singapore.

Today was the third day of racing at the 2013 Optimist World Championships in Riva del Garda with 58 nations competing with some of the best international youth sailors.

The Race Committee have now completed a total of six races with two being held today in light wind conditions rather than the usually predictable breeze of Lake Garda: they saw 8 knots which then rose to a maximum of 14 in the second race of the day.

The fleet racing programme tomorrow takes a break to make way for the 2 day Optimist World Team Racing Championships: 48 teams will be competing for the title, and will provide thrilling racing close to the shore of Riva del Garda.”

Results;

Click to access r1042-result-f2438.pdf

Team Sweden did not excel today either unfortunately as you can see in the result list. Erik is hanging in there, 5 and 13 today and 27 overall. Lucas sails well, despite an unfortunate incident in the start of race 6 he came back, 13 and 18 today, 54 overall for him. Emil is disappointed, 22 and 26 today and 56 overall. He has lost his speed a bit and is trying to figure out what to do. Olle got a 27 and a 12, total 88 and is looking more like himself now. Fabi had a bad day with a 30 and a 59, overall 128.

We now reload for the team racing starting tomorrow. In the first match we meet Lituania. The grids for the team racing looks can be found here;

http://www.optiworld.org/MiniSite/13Worlds/index.php

The course today was to far to get good photos from our view point on the west side of Lake Garda. Today alot of the photos are taken by Peter Bergman and are mostly from shore scenes.

Coach meeting, here USA, SWE and NED

Coach Emil

Team leader on the other side of the lens

Fabi

Emil adjusting the ties

High level coaching

Curling 1, father works while the two sons relax

Curling 2, mother this time

Team Singapore are looking good

Norways Uffe Tomasgaard with Lucas and Fabi

Olle, our model

Emil not as pleased to be photographed..

Time to launch, the Ora is here

Wating for the tow to the start

still waiting

SWE and ANG mixing on the water

Our viewing spot!

Olle and Lucas in race 5 far away

Stefan
Team leader/Photographer

Worlds day 2

Team SIN!

Organizers pressrelease day 2 below;

“Another beautiful, but long day of racing, confirming the strength of the Singaporean team. A day of redemption for Germany and Great Britain.

It was the second day of racing in the Optimist World Championship in Riva del Garda with highly variable conditions. In the first race the wind settled at 8-10 knots, allowing the lighter sailors to do well after the medium-strong wind of yesterday. By mid-afternoon, after an enforced break waiting for a steady breeze to return, the Race Committee was able to complete another 4 races, one for each fleet. Singapore continues to dominate in the overall standings with two sailors in the top 3 overall: three wins and a second to SIN 115, Loh Jia Yi, who maintains the championship lead. Fast behind him, German, Nils Sternbeck posted two wins today after a fourth and second yesterday. Third, Edward Tan of Singapore with 2 thirds yesterday and a first and an eighth today. The Italian Peroni Dimitri was second in the third race, he slipped to nineteenth in the last race in the lighter breeze. It was a good day for GBR sailor, Labrouche, with a second and ninth which leaves him two points behind Peroni. In the women’s ranking the Spaniard Maria Bover Guerrero is ruling (5-8-12-12 to date), second Ceci Wollman (Bermuda, excellent second in the first race of the day) and the third Slovenian Jana Germans, third overall in the race 3. It will be interesting to see how the overall rankings change after the discards come into play.

We have one more day of fleet racing tomorrow before a break for the Team Racing Championship.”

Intervju with Alen Kustic IODA Principal Race Officer (PRO);

Provisional results after 4 races;

Click to access r1042-result-f2430.pdf

Team Sweden weren´t too happy after todays two races, but the overall standings didn’t change that much for us.

Parts of Team USA, they stay at our hotel

Team Finland

Happy fathers to Erik and Lucas

Olle smiling today!

Erik prepares with an icecream

Nevhagen’s dog Apollo sports the same hairstyle as Emil J!

Lucas smiling!

Team France

Team GER

Uffe Tomasgaard’s dad

waiting for launch

Team Chile

Erik on the layline race 3

Emil in the middle race 3

Heavy traffic for Emil

Fabi race 3

Lucas race 3

Olle race 3

and a 49er zoomed past!

Stefan
Team leader/Photographer

Worlds day 1

Erik, Swede of the day!

Oraganizers press realease day 1;

“A fantastic start to the 51st World Optimist Championships: Italian Dimitri Peroni leads after two races with sunshine and winds of 15-18 knots, neck and neck with the formidable helmsmen from Singapore Loh and Koh.

The first day of the World Optimist Championships, organised by Fraglia Vela Riva, got off to a perfect start. 58 countries are taking part with 259 helmsmen who each surpassed the technically challenging qualifications in their home country. Despite the grey skies early this morning, a good wind of 14/18 knots picked up just at the time of the start of the first race, the sun then broke through and all of a sudden the day was transformed into one of perfection for this the 51st World Optimist Championships which ends on the 25th July after 12 total regattas, as well as the team regattas scheduled for the 20th and 21st July.
Two races were held today: the first results confirm that Singapore is one of the strongest teams with Italy, who in this opening day of the Championships, confirmed with their ability their knowledge of the regatta course. In this the first phase there are many ties since the participants have been divided into 4 heats according to the regulations. Today the strongest were well focused as they achieved their first important points. Three different heats gave 2 clear wins for Dimitri Peroni of Malcesine, Italy and Singapore’s Loh Jia Yi and Ko Yi Kun. They were followed by Houtman of The Netherlands (2-3) and Liado Duran of Spain (4-2). Singapore dominates also in the girls: 13th overall for Han Bertha, with a third and sixth partial (the girls rankings will be extracted from the overall one).”

Results;

Click to access r1042-result-f2428.pdf

And what about Team Sweden? Erik and Emil both got a 4 in the first race, Lucas an 11, Fabi an 18 and Olle a 33. In the second Erik followed up with an 11, Lucas 13, Emil 23 (got blocked in the start by a port boat), Olle 33 again and Fabi 37. That means Erik is 24th overall, Lucas is 38, Emil 42, Fabi 103 and Olle 125.

It is easy to feel intimidated in ones first Worlds, but now when the first day is over and done with, we are sure Fabi and Olle will relax a bit and sail to their true potential. A long way to go, the plan is for for 12 races with one discard and we hope you hold your thumbs for Team Sweden!

Follow the Worlds live from this link;

http://www.optiworld.org/MiniSite/13Worlds/tracking.php

Before launching, supporters and sailors

Erik and Emil getting into their “bubble”

Fabi focused

Emil race 1 layline

Erik SWE 4514

Erik race 1

Team leaders from Ecuador and Chile also found the best viewing spot

Polizia, didn’t really keep the windsurfers away though…

Lucas race 2

Olle race 2

Lots of different crafts on the lake today

Finland and Sweden share coach boat here

Stefan
Team leader/Photographer

Opening cermony and more

Team Sweden marching during the opening parade

Today it was time for the practise race, but our tradition for the last couple of Worlds has been to skip that and rest ahead of the first race day. Tomorrow the first race starts at 1 PM and the plan is to sail two races per day in four fleets with 65 boats in each.

Coach went out and watched the practise race and the team leader put the regatta sponsor stickers on the teams boats, a total of five stickers on each opti. The team relaxed with some paddle boating and Emil also did some windsurfing in the nice breeze.

At 5 PM it was time for the opening cermony and you can see some pictures from that below;

Emil having a blast

and here too

Sporting the team clothing

Svezia!

Playing with?

The KSSS sailors and future 29er crew, Fabi and Emil

Happy supporters!

Team Sweden marching during the opening parade

“Du gamla du fria”

Team SIN

Olle, the man from LDSS!

Fabi!

Lucas!

The RÖSS guys, Erik and Lucas

Stefan
Team leader/Photographer