Optimist, Open Skiff, Youth & Olympic Sailing Blog

Optimists in Squamish in Smoke with Level 5 Health Risk on Aug 19 - Level 10 Health Risk projected for Aug. 20. The scene is unreal. Youth sailors in the Optimist dinghy - typically aged 10 to 15 - are competing in an area of British Columbia, Canada, subject to an official smoke warning by Health Canada. The smoke is a consequence of intense forest fires present in British Columbia. « Smoky skies will continue across most of the province for the next few days. Local smoke levels may vary based on wind direction and fire characteristics but, until a significant change in the provincial weather pattern occurs, widespread air quality improvements are not expected. » says the Statement by Weather Canada. https://weather.gc.ca/warnings/report_e.html?bc41 While the health risk was considered moderate on the first day of racing (Level 5 on a scale of 10, on August 19), it is projected to be high today. (Level 10 - see graph) http://www.env.gov.bc.ca/epd/bcairquality/readings/a

Here are a few notes following the Ora Cup Ora, organized by Circolo Vela Arco - one of those big Summer high level European Optimist regattas that just concluded on Garda Lake, Italy. - this is a world level regatta, attended by many of the very best Optimist sailors in the world, including World Champion Marco Gradoni and European Champion Alex Demurtas, both from Italy. - there was a large number of participants - 540, while nearly 600 registered - in two fleets Juniors (U16) and Cadetti (U12). There were 167 sailors in the cadetti fleet, and 382 sailors in the juniors fleet. - there were big fleets from a number of countries: Italy, France, Germany, Netherlands, Croatia, Slovenia, Spain, Monaco, Austria, Hungary, Switzerland, Malta, etc. - many teams were travelling without parents, in vans for 8 to 10 sailors, and large trailers for 8 to 10 hulls and a coach boat - unlike with IODA regattas, the registration fees are kept very affordable: 60 euros for 3 days regatta - acc