2017 Volvo Gill Optimist Inland Championship at Grafham Water Sailing Club
by Claire Mueller 18 May 2017 16:18 BST
13-14 May 2017
Volvo Gill Optimist Inlands at Grafham © Peter Newton
IOCA UK and Grafham Water Sailing Club hosted IOCA's Inland Championships this past weekend, officially kicking off the start of the 2017/ 2018 Optimist Winter Squad ranking series.
205 sailors competed in the main fleet over the 2 days. Overall winner was Will Pank, winning 2 out of the 5 races, followed by Maria Athina Vogiatzi in 2nd place and Callum Davidson-Guild in 3rd place. First junior was Henry Heathcote in 7th place.
57 sailors competed in the regatta fleet with 11 races completed. Overall winner was Johnny Sargent, aged 10, followed by Leo Yates in 2nd place and Erin Pank in 3rd place.
Will Pank and Callum Davidson-Guild were both recently selected at the GBR Optimist Team Selection Trials to represent GBR at the Optimist World Championship in Thailand in July, whilst Maria Athina Vogiatzi and Henry Heathcote were selected to represent GBR at the Optimist European Championship in Bulgaria in July.
Ryan Jamison of Gill was on hand to give out the awards and commented, "Congratulations to everyone that took part over the weekend. Having jointly supported IOCA UK with Volvo for the last 6 years it was once again fantastic to see so many young sailors battling it out on the water. As always lots of credit should go to all the parents and volunteers who without them, events like these simply wouldn't happen. We absolutely love being involved with the class and can't wait for the Nationals in August at the WPNSA."
The next IOCA event will be the 2017 Volvo Gill Optimist British National and Open Championships from 29 July - 4 August at WPNSA. To register, please visit www.optimist.org.uk.