By Taylor Penwell
The Antigua Yacht Club hosted the 2016 Optimist North American Championship this past week. 144 competitors from 20 countries attended the event. Antigua hosted the 2015 Optimist North Americans and proved itself as a venue with wind, waves, heritage and beauty. It was no surprise with last year’s success, Antigua decided to host the event for the second consecutive year.
The event had four days of fleet racing along with one day of team racing. The average wind conditions for racing were 10-15 knots with gusts of 20 knots. Three days of fleet racing decided the qualifying for the last day’s separation into the gold, silver and bronze fleets.
Team Racing
The team racing was divided into two groups. Nations from North America competed in the North American Team Race Championship, while nations from other continents competed in the Nations Cup. In the Nations Cup, results were Chile in 1st, Australia in 2nd and Peru in 3rd. Team USA 1 bested Team USA 2 in the finals for 1st place in the North American Team Race Championship with Mexico 1 in 3rd place.
USA 1 Wins the North American Team Racing Championship
Fleet Racing
Hernan Umpierre of Uruguay dominated the four days of fleet racing. Hernan finished with 13 net points, discarding his worst race, which was a 5th. USA sailor Stephan Baker placed 2nd overall with two bullets and a third place finish on the last day of racing. Benjamin Fuenzalida of Chile took 3rd place. Mia Nicolosi of the United States Virgin Islands finished top girl with a 4th place overall.
2016 Optimist North American Champion Hernan Umpierre
Results Here
Full Fleet Racing: http://optinam2016.org/Docs/NAM2016day4v5.htm
North American Team Race Championship: https://sail1design.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/RESULTSNAM.pdf
Nations Cup: https://sail1design.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/RESULTSNC.pdf
Leave a Reply