27th Ora Cup Optimist at Lake Garda, Italy
by Elena Giolai 6 Aug 18:43 BST
5-7 August 2022
Another perfect day for the almost 500 sailors present on Garda Trentino, Italy, for the Optimist Ora Cup Ora class regatta organised by Circolo Vela Arco: the decision to start the fleet in the morning at 8:30 was rewarded with three beautiful races with a northerly wind of 12-18 knots for the junior fleet, which then gave way to the younger cadets when the wind started to drop.
A total of six races were sailed in these first two days, allowing the junior fleet to be split up for the finals at this point, with the best 92 together in the gold fleet.
Meanwhile, after the first six races, Alberto Avancini (CNBardolino) still leads among the juniors with a string of six firsts. Behind him is Erik Scheidt and third the Hungarian Benedek Barna Heder, a little further behind in terms of points.
Excellent fourth overall and first female Victoria Demurtas, who in her category precedes Anna Avanzini and the Spanish Blanca Ferrando. In the cadet category the girls are putting their male adversaries in line with Vittoria Berteotti (Fraglia Vela Riva), who is dominating with over 20 points ahead of the Czech David Dàda Hruby; third overall the Dutch Liselot Bijlsma; fourth and third female Ginevra Rovaglia.
On Sunday, the last day of the programme, the first race is scheduled to start again at 8.30 a.m., hoping that the expected rain will also bring enough wind to race. In any case, on these first two days, the programme went very well, with conditions that really suited everyone. Among the 20 participating nations were the USA, UAE, Hong Kong.
Full rankings here...