Lake Ontario Opti Team

The Lake Ontario Opti Team, or LOOT is one of a few teams that have been formed over the past fifteen years to help local Opti sailors grow in their knowledge of sailing and build advanced racing tactics that propel them to the top of the class. LOOT however is a bit different in that it is truely International in flavor. With 50% of the team (this year) from Canada and 50% from the US, and Roberto Fabini, full-time opti coach from Uruguay; the team is a collection of top sailors that are destined for success through this season and beyond.

The team format is to travel the entire summer, staying approximately one week at each venue to train before their regatta. This gives the sailors a variety of waters to train in and helps them to acclimate to the area before a big race. In 2009 the team is travelling to Cleveland Race Week, USODA Great Lakes Championships, Fogh Boorman Regatta, Island Heights Junior Olympics, Rochester Junior Olympics, USODA New England Championships, CORK International Regatta and Conadian National Championships.

If your Opti sailor is growing beyond the coaching at your local club, I strongly recommend looking into LOOT or any one of the other teams around the country that bring advancing sailors together to help build their skills while providing the most awesome summer experience any sailor can have!

CORK International Regatta

I have just received a request from the organizers of CORK asking me to be the photographer of the 2009 International Regatta in Kingston, ON!

Last year's event was the first time I had experienced CORK, and I have to say, the facilities, the race management and the waters are among the best I have seen anywhere. I constantly tell everyone involved with youth sailing that if there is one regatta to travel to in the season, CORK would be it! Make plans to attend. Register today and we will see you in August!

2009 Fogh Boorman Regatta

When a severe storm blew through at 9am on Saturday, I figured this regatta was going to be light and short on races.

After the storm had passed, it appeared that all of the wind had gone with it. Boats launched and it looked as if it would be a day of light and variable wind, basically a day of bobbing on the water.

Within a hour of launching, the wind started filling in and continued to build all day. In fact, the weather proved to provide for exciting sailing on the Opti, Laser/Radial and 420/29er courses. All fleets had tremendous wind and awesome sailing across the board. You can see photos of the Opti races at OPTIsailing.com and all others at Dave Hein Photography

2009 Cleveland Race Week

The 2009 Clevenad Race week Opti regatta hosted by Edgewater Yacht Club was bigger and better than ever, with sailors in town to compete the following weekend at USODA Great Lakes Champs at LSYC. The regatta provided the perfect venue to experience sailing in the waters of Lake Erie and preview the competition that would be present at the upcoming championships.

Featured in this photo is Edgewater Yacht Club sailor, Ian Moran completing a roll-tack in light breeze.

Make sure to see all of the photos from this event, and vote for the photos to be included in the 2010 OPTIsailing calendar by visiting OPTIsailing.com

RHYC Lilac Regatta

Spring sailing is always great. If the winds and air temperature are not ideal, at least we have the thoughts of the warm and windy summer to come.

This May, Royal Hamilton Yacht Club in Hamilton, Ontario hosted it's spring event, the Lilac regatta. While the winds on day 2 were disappointing and did not allow for a single race to get off, day 1 was great with a building breeze all day and some terrific conditions on the Opti course. As always, you can see thee complete set of photos at DaveHeinPhotograpy.

2009 USODA Great Lakes Championships

The 2009 USODA Great Lakes Championship regatta, hosted by Lorain Sailing and Yacht Club in Lorain, Ohio was an event for the record books. With light and shifty breeze throughout day 1. The race committee was able to challenge the sailors with a true course that provided difficult navigation through the constant oscillating winds.





Day 2 proved to be a test of strength and deft understanding of race tactics as the winds provided 18-25 knots of force to blow the sailors quickly across a long and trying windward-leeward course. The sailors swiftly navigated the legs, twice around to demonstrate their abilities in all conditions aboard the world's largest one-design fleet! Opti sailors are awesome!

In the end, the top 18 sailors at Great Lakes Championship regatta qualified for the 2010 USODA Team Trials Invitational Regatta. Congratulations to everyone!

To see all of the photos from this event, visit daveheinphotography.

USODA Team Trials Regatta

The 2009 USODA Team Trials Regatta hosted by Noroton Yacht Club in Dairen, CT was an awesome event, providing a litte of all wind conditions and lots of cold wet rain. Here is one of my favoriate photos from the regatta. You can see more at my site http://www.daveheinphotography.com and OPTIsailing.com.