Team USA
Many of the world's top sailors aged 15 and under gathered to race for gold this summer at the 2010 Optimist North American Championships. Over 200 sailors from North and South America, Europe and Asia competed on Lake Ontario, sailing out of Kingston's Portsmouth Olympic Harbour. The event included the individual Championship and Team Racing Championship, with racing over 6 days from June 27th to July 3rd.
The Last Mile
The final day of racing for the most part was not a big mover for many of the sailors on the US Team. Of course there were exceptions, most notably Connor Harding with a great final quarter of sailing to move into 3rd place overall. More so however it was a day of solidifying results. The breeze was a steady 15 from what turned out to be the prevailing WSW direction. With light winds predicted almost daily, Kingston came through with beautiful conditions, and as it turns out, Texas was a good precursor as the wind and sea conditions were quite similar... shifty, windy, choppy, difficult. The event overall was well orchestrated with just a handful of debates swirling around dockside regarding OCS's and the like.
(photo of Connor Swykart by Dave Hein)
