Optimist

At the Selections regatta 2009 held in Richards Bay, the Executive Committee, after consultation in the regions, decided on the following process for the selection of the teams to represent South Africa at the African Optimist Championships to be held in Kenya 2010 and the Optimist Worlds Championships to be held in Malaysia in December 2010:

1. Selection ranking for invitation to attend the selection regatta, will be based on the sailors results of at least 2 compulsory Provincial regattas, which will count 25% each, and a compulsory nationals result, which will count 50%.



2. The top 30 qualifiers will be invited to attend the selections regatta. If there are less then 30 sailors who qualify to be invited, less will be invited. If there are more then 30 sailors who qualify, and if some of the initial 30 sailors invited turn down their invitation to attend, their spot can be filled by the next qualifier.



3. The results of the Nationals, in order according to those attending the Selections regatta, will be added to the results of the selection regatta, each result counting 50%. Any ties will be broken as per ISAF racing rules applicable to the selections regatta result.



4. In 2010, we are able to send 7 sailors to the African Championships, of whom 2 must be of the opposite sex of the rest of the team. 5 sailors will be able to attend the Worlds.



5. The selection regatta 2010 will be hosted by Western Province at a venue and date still to be decided.



6. Broken leg policy: As it is compulsory for sailors to attend at least 2 provincials and the Nationals, please note the following: If for some compelling medical or family reason you are unable to attend the compulsory regattas, you must submit an appeal within 3 days after the event. There MUST be evidence of there having been an intention to attend viz. an entry form submitted and paid or an accommodation arrangement having been made and deposits etc having been paid. This appeal will then be considered by the executive committee and each submission will be dealt with according to its own individual merits.



7. In order for a provincial to count, you cannot enter and either not attend or not sail.


8. There will be an attempt to separate all provincials date-wise in order to grant sailors the opportunity to attend all 4 if they so wish.

MINUTES OF OCRA ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING

Held at MBYBC on 16 December 2008

Present:
30 members as per signed register

1. Welcome:

Glynis Baer chairman of OCRA, Special welcome to David Booth (IODA)

2. Apologies:

None

3. Confirmation of previous minutes:

Proposer: Brian Wilcox
Seconded: Richard Stubbs

4. Presidents report:

The year started off on a high with sailors full of enthusiasm after training camps held at ZVYC and the Nationals.

Provincials:
For the first time sailors had the opportunity to participate in all four provincials with no date clashes. We urge sailors to sail in as many provinces other than their own.

Selections:
This regatta was held in PE (ABYC) in April in a variety of conditions.

Selections for 2009 will be held in Richards Bay.

In 2008 it became compulsory to attend at least two provincials in order to qualify for ranking in the Selection squad

At the 2008 selection regatta the Exec committee decided to change the scoring system. The selection ranking is based on a sailors two best provincials (25% each) and their Nationals result (50%). The top 30 sailors qualifying are invited to attend the Selection regatta. At the Selection regatta a sailor's national result is added to their Selection regatta result to determine the team.
The top 5 sailors will attend the Worlds in Brazil in August.
The next 14 sailors will attend the Africans in Richards Bay in July. Of the 14 sailors 4 must be girls.

Africans:
We are very excited to be hosting the African Championships in Richards Bay and we call upon volunteers to assist Mike Leigh and his team.
David Booth (IODA) will be doing an onsite inspection in Feb

Worlds:
It was a pleasure to attend as manager and OCRA representative. The Worlds were held in Turkey in 2008. Reports have been tabled on the website

I wish to record my thanks to the Regional Representatives, Secretary, Treasurer and Coaching and Technical Representatives for their input over the last year.

We will have some new members on the committee for 2009 and we look forward to their contributions.

5. Technical Report - Peter Marcia:

At present not all foils are class specific. Sailors attending the Africans will have to have class compliant foils. Parents are encouraged to discuss this with representatives.
We will be making two more sets of templates for provinces to use for measuring.
Technical changes and proposals discussed at the IODA AGM have been reported on the website
This year spars will be discussed at the IODA AGM

Input from David Booth:
Foils- all foils are standardized. All sailors attending international regattas will need to sail with acceptable foils
RSA Nationals and Provincials- fall under the grand fathering rule.
Optiparts agents will motivate orders for foils
Boom- no restriction on minimum size but there is a restriction on maximum size

6. Coaching report - Eero Lehtinen:

Summary:
Bronwen Klaas and Silja Lehtinen did a great job coaching our Oppie fleet before and at Nationals 2007. This type of arrangement would be beneficial on an annual basis. Between Nationals and selections WP sailors were lucky to get Andre Giovannini’s input to bring up the intensity and quality of coaching. Results were convincing as WP took all 5 spots in the Worlds team. Andrea traveled with them to Turkey as coach reaching some of the best results for RSA in years. David Rae and Rudi McNeill did a great job training the Africans sailors and coached the doubled-up team in Mauritius.

Observations during the year:
We underestimate how important correct settings and technique are while trying to reach top sailors speed on the water. Andrea worked on self-confidence and attitude on the start line. Mental fitness self-belief and attitude should be worked on more. In many cases the sailors own mind set is the biggest challenge.

The way ahead:
Andrea proved that a few months of consistent work with our top sailors can make us step onto a whole new level. The most concerning issue is the slow flow of new sailors and a shortage of good and dedicated coaches. Coaching coaches will have to be among top priorities.

How we all can help:
One of the most effective ways towards meaningful coaching is to help with fundraising and sponsor hunt. We need to market our sport within the schools in our areas and encourage new kids into sailing. We need to accept that a good sailing coach needs to be paid accordingly

7. Regional reports:

KZN - Kevin Bingham
There are currently 6 sailors in the A fleet and 4 sailors in the B fleet and a few novices.
The two clubs involved in Optimists are PYC and ZLYC.
The sailing events are Provincials, Inter-schools and 4x Grand Prix events.
Off shore training has been organized by Rudi and Lloyd McNeill and we also thank Rob Walker, Laurence Hancock and Andy Gray for their input in committee matters.

The Selections regatta will be held in Richards Bay from the 2nd to the 7th of April 2009.

The Africans will be held from the 11-19th July and the Nationals (altered after meeting) 13th -19th December 2009 at Midmar Dam(HMYC).

The KZN Provincials: 2nd -4th October 2009 Midmar Dam.

James Leigh, Matthew McCaul and Michael McNeill were awarded their sailing KZN Youth Colours for their representation at the 2008 Africans held in Mauritius.

WP - Richard Stubbs:
5 WP sailors were in the Worlds team and 9 in the Africans team.

Training is currently done by 5 clubs:
* MAC-which has an active novice fleet
* Izivungu -with its active development programme
* Hermanus-which has a novice fleet of 10
* FBYC
* ZVYC- with 60 sailors: highlights were team racing training, bring a friend day" and a sleep over training week -end with training done by Rudi McNeill

NorthVaal - Janet Hugo:
Yacht clubs are showing initiatives in training and coaching.
They are currently working with a small fleet

EC - Andrew Finn:
Oppie sailing is taking place throughout the province with a resurgence at Redhouse, George Lakes and Mossel Bay.
ABYC and Knysna both have sailing schools with a limited number of sailors but promising novice fleets.
All clubs have training programs and benefited from the visit by Rudy McNeill prior to the Nationals and would like to see the continuation of this training.
At the beginning of 2008 Rosy Finn and Tim Manley reached the final nominations after being nominated for Junior Sports Person in the South Western District for excellent Optimist sailing during 2007.
Sailing was nominated as the Sport of the Year 2007/2008 at the SWD sport awards.
Most clubs do not have adequate funding for training boats and equipment but are looking for corporate sponsors.
Mossel bay has 40 regular sailors and a development program in place.
GLYC have 30 novices currently and Redhouse shows a promising increase in sailing numbers.

8. Treasurers report - Jaquie Rubenstein:

Jaquie was unable to attend. the AGM.
Our thanks are recorded to Steve Rubenstein for his valuable input in compiling the financial report. The report was read and tabled and the financial statements were available for perusal.

Our thanks to Jacquie for all her hard work.

9. Annual subscriptions:

It was decided to maintain the annual class subscription of R150 per annum.
From Jan 2009 class membership subs will be collected by OCRA through the Treasurer and our own bank account.
Isivungu have made an application to join as an affiliate member paying membership for the number of boats (3) as many sailors sail these boats. The meeting agreed to this application but it is noted that any Izivungu sailor attending Selections or International regattas must be an individually paid up member of OCRA.

10. Proposals from the Executive Committee:

The website - the forum on the OCRA website is to be used for discussion and opinions.
The website will carry officials reports and documents which must first be submitted to the President before being posted (webmaster to be notified).
Official OCRA reports to the media need to be submitted to the President first.
The constitution is a ratified document.
The By-laws are un-ratified guidelines to be referred to and altered by the Executive from season to season.

11. Proposal from members:

Submitted by Eero Lehtinen:

Reference was made to the class rules regarding advertising and branding.
Dave Booth replied that IODA encourages a National and not an individual boat sponsor as sponsorship should be beneficial to all sailors.
IODA is busy changing their advertising code and more info will be fed back after their AGM in January.
(Brian Wilcox requested info on individual sponsorship with branding on boats and Dave Booth replied that SAS would need to be approached for dispensation.)

Submitted by Eero Lehtinen:

A proposal was made that coaching sessions could be held for parents at the Nationals.
Members considered this a good idea.

Submitted by Eero Lehtinen:

Sailor Exchange. This should be encouraged as it was great to see a number of international sailors attending our Nationals. We need to be proactive in this regard as it raises the level of our sailing.

Submitted by Eero Lehtinen:

Media - Regional Representatives need to feed back info for media and sponsorship and be pro active in keeping the media informed about sailing events to raise the sports visibility

12. General:

David Booth- Asia /Africa Rep for IODA

He explained that IODA comprises of a small Executive committee.
A new secretary has been appointed her name is Sally Burnett and she is based in England

Among the aims of IODA are:

* Keeping abreast of the International sailing scene and maintaining standardized boats and equipment.

DB apologised for not being present at the Africans in Mauritius in 2008
Internationally there are 4 - 4500 boats sailing each year with marked growth in the Caribbean
The payment of the IODA plaque on a boat is a contribution towards the development of sailing and coaching

Questions raised by members:

Does SA qualify for the "buy-4-boats-get-one-free scheme"?
ANSWER: We are unable to qualify as there are many less developed countries and sailing associations for e.g. Angola

What will it take to get a top 20 sailor at the worlds?
ANSWER: Increase the base of sailors; improve numbers generally; fund sailors to get to international events; improve coaches

Can we increase the number of sailors allowed to attend the Africans?
ANSWER: the number is set by IODA and is calculated according to the number of sailors in your region

13. Confirmation of date and venue for 2009 Nationals:

13th-19th December 2009
HMYC, Midmar Dam, Howick, KZN

14. Confirm date and venue 2009 Provincials:

WP - Easter weekend, Saldanha Bay
Northvaal - (date and venue to be confirmed)
EC - 1st weekend school holidays September (TBC)
KZN - HMYC, Midmar Dam, 2/3/4 October 2009

15. Selections regatta 2009:

Richards Bay (ZLYC) 2nd-7th April 2009
NOR to be sent out soon

16. International regattas:

IODA World Championships, Niteroi Brazil 14th August 2009
IODA African Championships Richards Bay RSA 11th - 19 July 2009

Lloyd Mc Neil:
Our aim is to win the Africans!!
We are looking at 71 competitors from 13 countries participating with RSA having a double team of 14. There will be a compulsory lay- day with an outing to a game park planned.
ZOU Intermarine will supply charter boats. The contract has been signed.
Boat spares will be supplied by both Zou and Beam Reach Sailing.
RSA team will stay in the hotel with the rest of the sailors.
NOR to be on the web site soon.

17. Election of office bearers:

Regional Representatives:
Eastern Cape - Faye Woolard
Northvaal - Janet Hugo
KZN - Kevin Bingham
Western Province - Pete Shaw

Technical Representative:
Nominated: Peter Marcia (proposed: Janet Hugo; Seconded: Kevin Bingham) Appointed

Coaching Representative:
Nominated; Lloyd McNeil (proposed: Mike Leigh; Seconded: Janet Hugo) Appointed

Secretary:
Nominated: Elfie Holden (proposed: Janet Hugo; Seconded: Sally Shaw) Appointed

Treasurer:
Nominated: Andy Long (proposed: Richard Stubbs; Seconded: Sally Shaw) Appointed

President:
Nominated: Glynis Baer (proposed: Kevin Bingham; Seconded: Sally Shaw) Appointed

18. Other business:

Kevin Bingham thanked Glynis Baer on behalf of the Optimist parents for her role as President over the past season.

There being no other business the meeting was closed.

10 races over 4 days and the results for the 2009 African Optimist Championships that were sailed in Richards Bay, Kwa-Zulu Natal, South Africa are in:

The top 10 places went to:

1st: James Oliver (Australia)
2nd: Zakaria Khoualed (Algeria)
3rd: Alex Lehtinen (South Africa)
4th: Milly Bennett Australia)
5th: Tarick Nielsen Tanzania)
6th: Imene Ouneyssa Cherif Sahraoui (Algeria)
7th: Mohamed Raouf Ben Naceur (Tunisia)
8th: Marcello Marcia (South Africa)
9th: Tiran Long (South Africa)
10th: Denis Pierre (Morocco)

Final Results from the Optimist African Championships (PDF - 49.18 Kilobytes)

Final Results from the Optimist African Championships (PDF - 49.18 Kilobytes) - SORTED by Country.

Click Here to wish your Optimist Sailors Good Luck in the African Optimist Championships.

Discuss the Optimist Africans Regatta in an OPEN forum HERE.

8 races down and the last day of sailing today, Saturday 18 July 2009.

The top three places belong to:

1st: James Oliver (Australia) on 12 points
2nd: Zakaria Khoualed (Algeria) on 20 points
3rd: Alex Lehtinen (South Africa) on 26 points

With only three of the top 10 places being held by South African sailors it certainly looks as though the stranglehold that RSA has held on the top places in the African Optimist Championships in the past has been broken.

DAY 3 Results from the Optimist African Championships (PDF - 47.18 Kilobytes)

Click Here to wish your Optimist Sailors Good Luck in the African Optimist Championships.

Discuss the Optimist Africans Regatta in an OPEN forum HERE.

Team results from Optimist Africans:

1. RSA1
2. Angola
3. Tunisia/Australia
4. Algeria
5. Tanzania
6. Mauritius
7. RSA2
8. Kenya
9. Zim

Also Day 2 results can be found here.

The Optimist fleet managed to get three races in yesterday, 15 July and it is now official, as they have sailed the required minimum of five races.

The fleet sailed in challenging conditions on the South Side of the harbour, again approximately 2.5 nautical miles off shore. The winds varied from 15 to 18 knots South West with big swells.

A number of breakages necessitated sailors retiring before the rest of the tired fleet of Optimist sailors returned at 4:00 pm., grateful for the assistance of the Magic Sailing School in retrieving their boats.

For supper last night was sheep on the spit followed by a disco afterwards.

At the African Countries meeting last night it was confirmed that Kilifi, Kenya will host the 2010 African Championships in July next year and that Tunisia will host the 2011 African Optimist Championships in September that year.

The jury were kept on the hop, honest and justified their daily bread as they had to hear 4 protests after yesterday's sailing.

Today is a lay day and many of the teams have gone paintballing and intend to shop afterwards.

We believe that Juror Peter Johnson is intent on seeing a leopard so Dave Booth has taken the jury along to Hluhle Game Farm. My main concern is that the other jurors also want to see more wild animals - haven't they had enough seeing the wild animal Optimist Sailors in the Jury room! Of course it is also an opportunity for 'wild animals' to see a different type of 'wild sea animal' as well, so I suppose that it is 'All Good'.

Glynis and Ronnie Baer are off to St Lucia which is a great hippo viewing spot, just hope they don't bring one back to Richards Bay as a companion for the lonely hippo hanging around the club.

Some images from the Optimist Team Racing that took place yesterday, 15 July 2009:

Zakaria Khoualed (Algeria) and Edivaldo Torres (Angola)

Bilal Nedjari (Algeria 630) and Anis Guedmim (Algeria 365)

James Oliver (Australia) - Current Points Leader

Ruben Heard (South Africa 1271) and Marcello Marcia (South Africa 1271)

Mohamed Raouf Ben Naceur (Tunisia 85) and Milly Bennett (Australia 444)

Click Here to wish your Optimist Sailors Good Luck in the African Optimist Championships.

Discuss the Optimist Africans Regatta in an OPEN forum HERE.

The start of the African Optimist Championships yesterday saw two races sailed (First Day's Results).

The first race saw 4 attempts at getting a clean start amidst moans that the line was too long, but Principal Race Officer, Jimmy Melville soon whipped the fleet into shape and got a second race in before it was time to go home.

Both races of approximately one hour in length, were sailed on the South Side and about 2.5 nautical miles out owing to the presence of a dredger and large swells. Whales were also spotted by the sailors - welcome to Africa!

After the lucky draw the sailors all slunk off to bed (well, to the hotel at least!) at 7:30 p.m.

IODA rep, Dave Booth was sent out early this morning to check the conditions and came back shaking his head as the swells were taller than him - Dave is a good 2 metres tall.

The call was then made to rather have Team Racing today in the inshore sailing area right off of the Zululand Yacht Club. Great for spectators. Team racing officials can look forward to an action packed day as they run a scheduled 36 races in a Round Robin elimination format in which all teams are taking part.

Glynis tells me that the hippo is still hanging around and the Zimbabweans are taking it's presence in their stride as they are quite used to sailing around hippos and crocodiles. Although it is quite a blast for some of the more foreign sailors who have never seen such a beast.

Click Here to wish your Optimist Sailors Good Luck in the African Optimist Championships.

Discuss the Optimist Africans Regatta in an OPEN forum HERE

The results from the first days sailing at the 2009 African Optimist Championships are in.

The top three places are currently held by:

1st: James Oliver, Australia on 2 points with two firsts
2nd: Alex Lehtinen, South Africa on 6 points with a 4th and a 2nd
3rd: Zakaria Khoualed, Algeria on 9 points with a 3rd and a 9th

Click HERE for the full results (PDF - 62 kilobytes).

Click Here to wish your Optimist Sailors Good Luck in the African Optimist Championships.

Discuss the Optimist Africans Regatta in an OPEN forum HERE

The Opening Ceremony of the 2009 Optimist Africans being held from the Zululand Yacht Club in Richards Bay, Kwa-Zulu Natal, South Africa, went off without a hitch yesterday.

All the teams were bussed to the small craft harbour where they boarded various small boats and proceeded to the Zululand Yacht Club Marina carrying their country flags and dressed in team uniforms. After embarking the sailors were introduced individually to the assembled dignitaries and spectators.

The Mayor of Umhlatuze District, incorporating Richards Bay, The Honourable Zakhele Mnqayi welcomed the sailors to the Championship and wished them fair winds and good sailing.

The blessing of the waters ceremony was presided over by David Savides who kept a watchful eye on the sailors as they poured water from their home country into the massive urn provided for the occasion.

Traditional Zulu dancers and a Marimba Band provided entertainment whilst hungry sailors fell onto the traditional eats provided in the tent.

Then it was back to the hotel for weary excited sailors who were on an early curtain call for the first day of racing, with the first bus leaving at 7:30 a.m. today.

Helped by members of the Magic Moments sailing school, launching took place at 9:45 a.m. today and Bridge Officer Jimmy Melville chose the South Shore area as the place for the first set of races today. After 4 attempts the first race finally got underway in a rising wind.

Currently the wind is blowing at around 18 knots North North East.

All the coaches and judges are firmly settled on brand new Rubber Ducks and hard at work.

Daily breakfasts are provided by the Zululand Yacht Club ladies committee called the Salticrax (The ZYC is not without humour, I am told!).

Click Here to wish your Optimist Sailors Good Luck in the African Optimist Championships.

Mayor of Umhlatuze - Zakhele Mnqayi

South Africa Sailor Trent Bingham adds to the Mixing of the Waters

The Algerian Team raise their flag

The Angolan Team raise their flag

The Tunisian Team raise their flag

The South African Team march in with their flag

The Zimbabwean Team raise their flag

The Tanzanian Team raise their flag

The Mauritian Team march in with their flag

Racing Canned for the Day

The scheduled practice race today, Sunday 12 July 2009, for the Optimist Africans 2009 was cancelled due to inclement weather and high winds.

The opening ceremony was, as a consequence moved forward to 3:00 p.m when the Mayor of Umhlatuze will welcome the sailors, officials, parents and spectators to the Africans 2009. The mixing and blessing of the waters brought by the various teams will take place at the Zululand Yacht Club in Richards Bay.

Helping the sailors launch and retrieve their boats are members of the Magic Moments Sailing Academy. The Magic Moments Sailing academy is a Zululand Yacht Club initiative that trains orphans from the "House of Shalom" orphanage. These children are coached by Bushy Greef and their mission is to;

1. Have fun
2. Be introduced to sailing
3. Experience Sailing and Club etiquette
4. Increase boat maintenance skills.

....... all in order to to lead to further opportunities in life.

The Magic Moments Team that are assisting at the 2009 Optimist Africans

The first race will take place on Monday 13 July and the WindGuru seems to be looking on the venue with favour with predictions of a 10 knot Northerly at 11:00 a.m., kicking slightly to the east and rising to 14 knots at 2:00 p.m. An air temperature of 25 degrees and sea swell of 1.4 metres should ensure a good start to the regatta.

Click Here to wish your Optimist Sailors Good Luck in the African Optimist Championships.

The launching area for the Optimist Africans 2009 - a gathering place for upright birds with binoculars glued to their eyes and cold Fanta Browns at the ready!

Richards Bay and the Zululand Yacht Club are a hive of activity as the Optimist Africans Committee prepare the venue and welcome sailors to South Africa for the 2009 African Optimist Continental Championships.

As of today 5 teams have arrived at the venue; Mauritius, Tanzania, Algeria and South Africa. For the last three days the South African team have been training at the venue.

Penny Ma, from Zou Intermarine has been hard at work preparing the boats which all have white hulls, grey decks, dark and light grey stripes on the transom and boat covers. Two of the South African sailors, Ruben Heard and Josh Woolard will be sailing charter boats and the rest of the team will be sailing their private Optimists.

I believe that the Australian parents will have to re-asses their wishes that they sent to their sailors and, especially the warning to not step in Elephant poo, as a hippo was spotted in the lagoon close by, so sailors; "Don't step in the Hippo poo!"

The practise race is scheduled for 11:00 a.m. on Sunday and the WindGuru is predicting a 4 knot westerly, rising sharply to 15 knots Southerly at 2:00 p.m. Air temperatures are predicted in the low 20 degrees centigrade. At 5:00 p.m. on Sunday evening the Mayor of Umhlatuze will welcome the sailors, officials, parents and spectators to the Africans 2009.

Registration will take place from Saturday morning and measurement will be done under the watchful eye of Hans Thijsse.

The jury consists of Mohammed Azoug (Algeria), Peter Johnson (United Kingdom, Andrez Peres (Spain), Geoff Myburgh and Alan Keene (both from South Africa). These fine gentlemen will be keeping a beady eye on the sailors and Bridge Officer Jimmy Melville for the duration of the regatta.

The first race is on Monday 13 July and the wind predictions for the rest of the week are mostly for light in the morning increasing significantly in the afternoon, from all directions on the compass, except for Tuesday which looks as though it may favour the heavy wind specialists throughout the day.

Penny from Zou Intermarine

Africans Sailing Area

Zou Intermarine Optimist Charter Boat

Click Here to wish your Optimist Sailors Good Luck in the African Optimist Championships.

Mike Pammenter was the youngest of the young guns on Telefonica Blue which came 3rd in the Volvo Ocean Race and he was bowman.

Despite his tender years, Pammenter has some previous offshore experience on big boats. Three years ago he was a crewman on the 98-foot super maxi Maximus, which smashed the round the Isle of Wight record at Cowes Week.

The Volvo, he says, is the ultimate challenge. "For me this is a big thing, I mean, this is the start of hopefully many major sailing events to come and I am just really looking forward to the opportunity of racing around the world with a lot of awesome guys and a great team."

Hello Guys,

Firstly I must say well done for reaching it this far and being able to represent South Africa at the African Championships. It is an excellent achievement to be able to tell your friends and family that you will be sailing for South Africa. Not too many people get the privilege to represent South Africa. So before the regatta has even started you must be proud of what you have achieved to date.

By now you would have done all the sailing, training and preparation needed to race in the Regatta. So just remember that when the first race starts on the 12th of July, you will be ready. The best way to start a regatta is relaxed and confident in your ability and your preparation.

Like yourselves I also sailed optimists in South Africa. I was born and grew up in Durban. I sailed as a junior for Point Yacht Club in all the regattas around the country. I must say that I was never good enough to represent South Africa at such a young age. But I enjoyed my sailing and always made sure that I was enjoying myself. From optimists, i moved onto Dabchicks and then 29ers. From there I started to sail small Keel boats. All the time I was enjoying my sailing, which is the most important thing. Just last week I finished the worlds toughest sailing race. Its called the Volvo Ocean Race. The Volvo Ocean Race is a race around the World and it took 9 months to complete. The race took us into some of the roughest Seas in the world. We even sailed around Cape Horn. The Volvo Ocean Race is something that I have dreamed of doing since I was your age and sailing my optimist in Durban Harbour. So just remember that dreams can come true for anyone. As long as you put your mind to it and never ever give up!!

So good luck for the regatta, my thoughts will be with you and I will be checking your results on the Internet. Make South Africa. and me proud!

Cheers

Mike Pammenter

Michael Pammenter, bowman, Antonio Cuervas-Mons, pitman, Pablo Arrarte Elorza, trimmer, Daryl Wislan

Send your messages of encouragement to the Optimist African Championships 2009 Sailor of your choice here.