Layline Optimist Great Lakes Championships

In 2010 Layline has been selected by USODA as their Platinum sponsor. Among many benefits of being awarded this honor, Layline is able to require all competitors at USODA events to place their logo on the boats.

At the Great Lakes Championships we witnessed the first event with the Layline logo and debate erupted over the placement of the stickers. What do you think? Should it be on the starboard side as shown, or directly on the bow?

Chautauqua Lake Yacht Club in Lakewood, New York was the host of this event and proved to be a great place to sail in the spring. With light, 8 knot breeze blowing in the beginning it looked like an average regatta, but the 18 knots were not far behind. 21 sailors from this event qualified for the 2011 USODA National Team Trials which will be sailed in San Francisco at the St. Francis Yacht Club in late April.

All photos posted

All photos of the incredible sailing action of last week's IODA North American Optimist Championship regatta at CORK in Kingston, Ontario are now online and available at http://pix.daveheinphotography.com/event/2010-OPTINAM-at-CORK. Here you can view the photos, purchase any prints you want and save your favorites to view online or vies as a slideshow and share with your friends.

Remember to vote on these photos at http://www.optisailing.com. The top photos here will be used in the 2011 OPTIsailing calendar, which will be distributed worldwide this fall! Login every day and vote for the top photos from OPTINAM 2010!

2010 OPTI North American Championships

So, you think you are too big for an Opti? Is the boat not "cool" enough for you?

Well this year, IODA sent the Opti NAM's to Kingston, Ontario, Canada and there are 200 of the World's top Opti sailors competing for the title in both fleet and team racing. Take a look at the photos below that will give you an idea of just what the calebar of sailing that the Optimist class is turning out.


These sailors are competitive in winds ranging from 3 knots to above 25, and CORK is delivering a challenging mix to provide a full-range assessment of the sailing abilities of the world's best sailors.

Valentines Regatta at SPYC

Getting ready to travel to St. Pete for the Valentines Regatta. This is the final qualifier for the 2010 USODA Team Trails regatta. See you there!

USODA New England Optimist Champs

Day 2 of the 2009 USODA Opti New England Champs is in the bag, with the weather and excitement one would expect from the Capital of sailing, Newport, RI.

The day provided an excellent opportunity for all sailors to prove their meddle with sustained breeze of 12 and gusts above 18. The shifty New England wind proved to be a true test of the sailors attention to detail and kept everyone looking across the race course to be the first to the puffs and shifts.

Day 3 is about to get under way and looks to be offering the lightest conditions of the event. Sail Newport is truly proving to give sailors a little of every condition as a real test of sailing abilities. Photos from day 1 are now available on the Dave Hein Photography site.

Opti New England Champs

As if just being in Newport, RI is not enough on it's own for a sailor; this week Sail Newport is hosting the 2009 USODA New England Championship regatta. With nearly 400 boats competing for an opportunity to qualify for the 2010 US Team Trials Invitational regatta, you can bet the level of sailing is at it's top.

Day 1 of racing ended after 4 complete races in the 4 flights. With shifty winds that did not top 10 knots, the sailors were required to stay attentive and watch for the shifts ahead while navigating the changing tidal currents.

I shot nearly 3000 photos of the first day of racing, and they will all be posted on Optisailing.com as soon as I get near adequate Internet access. Keep watching for more exciting sailing photos to follow!

2009 Opti National Championiships

The 2009 Opti US National Championship regatta took place in July at the Cabrillo Beach Yacht Club in San Pedro, California.

220 sailors turned out for the championship event and were honored with the most hospitable club and regatta committee ever! To make the event tops, the Commodore even arranged to have the wind build from 10 knots at the start of sailing each day to over 20 knots by the end of racing each evening.

Sailors in both the championship and green fleets enjoyed excellent sailing, plenty of wave surfing and hiking to prove their talents as the top Opti sailors in the country.

Photos of the event can be seen at Dave Hein's Boatyard Photography site and at OPTIsailing.com.