With a last race, held in light winds, the European Championship of the Optimists came to a close in Holland yesterday. With a daily 4th, Alex Demurtas ITA won the Boys title 5 points ahead of David Santacrue ESP. Thanks to the race win Lorenzo Pezzilli ITA advanced to third place. Andrea Manhes FRA missed out on a medal by just one point.
Cort Snyder USA managed to hold on to his 10th place overall. His teammate Connor Boland USA had a daily 10th in the final race and moved up to 16th overall. In the Silverfleet Jack Solmo finished 25th (= 100th overall). At the start were 150 participants from 42 nations.
Among the Girls Victoria Mackinnon ARG secured the overall win already after the first two races of the final. As overall second Cosima Schlüter GER conquered the EM title with the daily first. Silver goes to Mathilde Robertstad NOR and bronze to Anna Barth GER. Tied on points, Emily Mueller GBR follows in 4 th place overall. Lauren Russler USA finishes the European Championships in 53rd place overall out of a total of 114 participants. All Leaderboards, a final report is expected later on today on the Event website. Pictures of the prize giving ceremony can be found on the Event Facebook Page.

In 15-18 knots the first two final regattas were sailed in Gold- and Silverfleet yesterday. This morning, a final race of the Championship is on the agenda. A first decision has already been made: Victoria Mackinnon ARG is the overall winner Girls, she won both finals yesterday and leads unassailable with 27 points ahead. Behind her, there will be an exciting fight for the European Champion title: In the pole position is Emily Mueller GBR in 2nd, 6 points ahead of Cosima Schlüter GER in 3rd . Another 7 points behind are Anne Barth GER and Mathilde Robertstad NOR tied in the 4th and 5th place. Lauren Russler USA had a 42nd and a 45th in yesterday's final and dropped back to 53rd overall.
It remains exciting among the Boys too: As the daily best yesterday, David Santacrue ESP took the lead, but his advantage over Andrea Manhe's FRA is only 2 points. Another 7 points behind is Alex Demurtas ITA who is still 3rd. His gap to rank 4, Caspar Ilgenstein GER is only 2 points. Meriç Erdagli TUR at 3 points behind bronze remains in the medal race. Cort Snyder USA had a good day yesterday; with the daily ranks 3 and 17 he moved up to 10th overall.
All Leaderboards, the Daily Report and the Event Facebook Page.

With two further races for the boys and 3 races for the girls, the qualifications for the Gold- and Silverfleet finished yesterday in Scheveningen. In both fleets the leaders changed again. New at the top among the Girls is Victoria McKannon ARG, she is leading the second-placed Cosima Schlüter GER by 10 points. Third is the former leader Annemjin Algra NED. Lauren Russler USA finished the qualifiers in 45th place and will be sailing in the Gold Fleet.
Among the Boys Andrea Manhes FRA took the lead 4 points ahead of Meric Erdagli TUR. Third is Alex Demurtas ITA. Caspar Ilgenstein GER is the best German 5th. The best US sailor is Connor Boland had an excellent day with a daily 8th and a 3rd. He moved up to 19th overall and will be competing in the Goldfleet. Unfortunately the event websitepublishes the daily reports with a little bit of a delay. Additionally here the Event Facebook Page.

Yesterday the Seabreeze set in in normal strength of about 4 Bft, slightly stronger than on the first day. Conditions suited for the older and heavier participants. Among Boys Theofanis Zisis GRE took the lead one point ahead of Sam Ledoux IRL. In 3 rd and 4 th are David Santacrue ESP and Andrea Manhes FRA. The best ranked US sailor is Cort Snyder USA currently ranked 26 th.
Whilst the boys were able to sail 3 regattas, there were only 2 races for the Girls. Annemijn Algra NED defended her lead. as the best of the day (2/1) Cosima Schlüter GER moved up to second place. Anna Barth GER, also with a daily runner-up, follows in 3rd place. Lauren Russler USA is currently 62 nd overall.
The event site with all leaderboards and the Event Facebook page

After a delay the European Championship of the Optis in Holland started in light winds (10kn) yesterday. With two wins in his group (the fleet of 150 participants sails in 2 groups), Simon Mille SUI took the lead among the Boys, followed by Caspar Ilgenstein GER finishing second. Currently third is Finn McMahon AUS. Connor Boland USA on 19th is best rankend Northamerivan.
At the Girls (114 participants, 2 groups) Annemijn Algra NED took the top spot with a 2 nd and a 3 rd, Hannah Lanzinger GER (7 / 1) follows 3 points behind in 2nd place, Louisa Müller GER (4/6) is 3rd. Laureen Russler USA follows on 33rd. For today, winds around 15kn are announced, the races of the day can be watched on a [URL = 2018europeans.optiworld.org/en/default/regions/race-directcomplet]Live Ticker[/URL].
All Leaderboards, the Daily Report and the [URL=wxw.facebook.com/OptimistEuropeanChampionship2018]Event Facebook Page[/URL ].

The Optimist Europeans will start today in Holland. 264 participants from 43 nations and 4 continents will be on the starting line. The event website.