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Melges 15

Optimist World Championships Overall

by Editor 30 Jul 2000 09:24 BST

Sime Fantela from Zadar, Croatia is the millennium Optimist world champion.

As the day started the situation was complex. If the two possible races were sailed then Sime could discard a 10th and would have been in a strong position. But, with a 1430 cutoff time this was never likely and without that discard he had a real battle with Lucas Calabrese (ARG). As it turned out the second race would have been almost academic. Sime led from the start and finished at least eight boat-lengths ahead of the fleet, while Lucas could "only" manage a 10th.

14 year-old Sime has already had a distinguished Optimist career. Bronze medallist in 1998, his 1999 Worlds was disappointing with OCSs and DSQs pushing him down to 12th. This year he made no mistake.

Croatia, or more accurately the beautiful Dalmatian coastline, has bee one of the most progressive areas of the Optimist world with medallists in four of the last five years. Following the Optimist their sailors have been equally successful in the Laser Radial (e.g. Aron Lolic) which is the boat Sime intends to sail next.

South American champion Lucas Calabrese was a worthy opponent. From Olivos Y.C., Buenos Aires, he, like Sime, has one year left in the class and will be looking forward to a renewed battle in China next year. Italy, champions for the last three years, provided bronze and fourth.

Overall Results:

PosSail NoHelmsmanR1R2R3R4R5R6R7R8R9R10Pts
1CRO 761SIME FANTELA41410104251132
2ARG 2739LUCAS DAMIAN CALABRESE23242344431035
3ITA 5584JARO FURLANI621054271741254
4ITA 5461FABIO ZENI3621661133311367
5CRO 785IGOR MARENIC5367711182155787
6SWE 3739ANTON DAHLBERG67151323213452494
7BEL 1003CORENTIN DEMANET41268184820212594
8BEL 983BASTIEN MEUR1355416131518111698
9BRA 3050THOMAS SUMMER18583585359117101
10FIN 267MATTI HAAPIAINEN1281992261210206102
British Placings in the Top 100:
30GBR 4791THOMAS MALLINDINE412534033OCS132524159
38GBR 4789TIM BOYDELL277478183327OCS97183
43GBR 4790TOM SMEDLEY27161327131738OCS1927197
77GBR 4793JONATHAN FRASER18403147144218271442246
93GBR 4861NIC THOMPSON4920293137412956382276

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