For over 50 years our members, builders, event organizers, coaches, parents, families and volunteers have been building a unique global community where young sailors can grow together as friends, competitors and teammates while learning the sport of sailing.

We thank you for all your passion, dedication and support throughout this past year and we look forward to continuing to build the Opti community together in the future!

The 2022 Asian & Oceanian Championship that took place in Mumbai, India, from December 13 to 20th has just wrapped up after completing 9 races of fleet racing over 4 days.

101 sailors from 13 nations (AUS, BEL, HKG, IND, JPN, MAS, MRI, SGP, SRI, THA, TPE, UAE, and USA) competed in the championship. 9 teams were from Asia, 3 teams were international, and AUS was the only team from Oceania.

THA has been the top team at this championship over the past few years, but SGP has come back stronger than ever, placing 5 sailors in the top 10 overall.

Thailand, however, still has their grip on the Optimist Asian trophy with Chanatip Tongglum (THA) becoming the 2022 Optimist Asian Champion and the gold medalist finishing 15 points ahead of Ethan Chia from SGP who took the silver medal and 2nd overall.

Just 2 points behind Chia were teammates Nicole Lim, the top Asian girl and top overall girl at the championship taking the bronze medal and third place overall. She was tied in points with Amos Tham (SGP) who finished 4th overall and just off the podium.

In 5th overall was Prin Subying (THA), 2nd girl from Asia and 2nd girl overall followed by Isabel Veiga Thiesfeldt (USA) in 6th place and 3rd girl overall. The 3rd Asian girl at the championship was Shion Suzuki (JPN) in 11th place.

Five girls finished in the top 15 places in the championship, which shows the depth of Opti female talent in the region.

The 2022 Oceanian Champion was awarded to Levi Harrison (AUS), followed by teammates Saxon Foggo (AUS) in second and Heidi Bates (AUS) in third. She was awarded the top girl from Oceania.

The 2022 Asian & Oceanian Championship Team Racing Championship took place midway during the week. Teams from IND, SRI, AUS, TPE, HKG, JPN, THA, USA, SGP competed in the event.

The final standings for the 2022 Optimist Asian & Oceanian Team Racing Championship are:

• Gold: SGP 1
• Silver THA 1
• Bronze: JPN 1

COVID 19 has had a huge impact on the attendance of this championship and still does so today. Teams that would normally be participating such as CHN, KOR, NZL, OMA were absent again this year.

However, it was great to see teams from AUS, TPE, HKG, MAS and SRI, who had been away for 2+ years, back for the 2022 Asian and Oceanian Championship.

We hope that next year for the 2023 Asian and Oceanian Championship in Abu Dhabi that more teams from Asia and Oceania will be able to travel and attend the event.

IODA would like to thank our member, the National Optimist Association of India, for stepping up to successfully organize this event on such short notice after the original 2022 organizer was unable to do so due to COVID.

We look forward to coming back to India in 2024.

For full results, media coverage and images go to the Event Microsite here.

The 2022 Optimist North American Championship hosted by the Nassau Yacht Club, in Nassau, Bahamas took place from November 13-20th.

155 sailors from 14 nations from the Americas (ANT, ARG, BAH, BER, BRA, CAN, CHI, MEX, PAN, PER, PUR, USA, URU, and ISV) and from 6 international nations (BEL, FRA, GER, NED, SWE, and SUI) participated in the event.

Puerto Rico and the USA dominated the top 10 positions overall. The top two podium positions were teammates from Puerto Rico.  

Isabella Calzadilla-Allora (PUR), sailed a consistent series to finish 5 points ahead of her teammate to become the new 2022 Optimist North American Champion and gold medal winner. She was also awarded the top girl in the championship. Isabella was followed by Diego Jose Marrero-Cuevas (PUR) who took the silver medal and 2nd place overall.  

Third overall by just one point was Charles Julian, (USA) winning the bronze medal followed by Ruben Sulty, (FRA) by one point in fourth. Miles Cundey, (USA) rounded out the top 5 positions in 5th overall. Racing for the podium was very close as there were only 4 points between 2nd and 5th overall.

Cooper Keeeves, (USA) was 6th overall, followed by Capucine Deltel (FRA) in 7th. Capucine was awarded the 2nd girl at the championships. Gian Marco Piovanetti, (PUR) followed in 8th overall. 

Rounding out the top ten were Felipe Strassburger (BRA) in 9th overall and Duffy Macaulay (USA) in 10th. 

In 12th overall and 3rd girl at the championship was Anna Ulmer from the USA. 

The 2022 Optimist North American Team Racing Championship was held midway through the championship. Only nations from North America competed for the title. Other nations in attendance competed in the Nations Cup. 

14 Teams raced in the North American Team Racing Championship. After 6 flights, it was Team USA 1 and Team USA 2 who battled it out in the final sail off with Team USA1 coming out on top taking the gold medal. Team USA 2 took the silver medal. Team PUR 1 lost in the semi-finals against Team USA 2, to take the bronze medal.

The 2022 Optimist North American Team Racing Results re:

1. Gold - USA1
2. Silver - USA 2
3. Bronze - PUR 1

In the Nations Cup, 8 teams challenged for the title. After a qualifying round, semi-finals and finals, it was Team ARG 1 that came out on top to take the gold medal with Team SUI 1 taking the silver. Team FRA 1 lost the semi-final to take the bronze medal. 

Not only was it fun week of Optimist racing but staying at the Atlantis Resort multiplied the fun-factor several times to make the 2022 Optimist North American Championship an incredible experience that will be remembered always. 

Many thanks to the Nassau Yacht Club, the Organizing Committee, and the many volunteers who worked tirelessly to make this event a success!  

To see all the full results, news items and the amazing images from Matias Capizzano, go to the Event Microsite here. 

The 2022 Optimist South American Championship (SAMS) took place from October 8 to the 15 and was hosted by the Iate Clube do Rio de Janeiro, Brasil.

I65 sailors from 14 nations from North and South America participated in the SAMS - ARG, BAH, BER, BRA, CAN, CHI, COL, ECU, GUA, PER, PUR, USA, URU, and VEN. 10 races were completed in the 4 days of fleet racing

The host nation of Brasil, which was also the largest team in terms of numbers of sailors, dominated the overall results taking 7 out of the top 10 results. Sailing on their home waters in Rio de Janeiro gave them a leg up on the competition.

The top 10 finishers were:

1. Arthur Black (BRA)
2. Joana Freitas (BRA) -1st Girl Overall
3. Breno Ramus (BRA)
4. Wylder Smith (USA)
5. Eduardo Essinger Backheuser (BRA)
6. Franco Sanchez (ARG)
7. Henrique Sasaki Tannous (BRA)
8. Uthar Veiga (BRA)
9. Zion Brandao (BRA)
10. Finnegan Grainger (USA)

Second girl at the championship was awarded to Lara Nakamura Candemil (BRA) finishing in 16th overall. She was followed by teammate and 3rd girl, Vitoria Borges Viegas de Lima (BRA) in 17th overall.

The 2022 Optimist South American Team Racing Championship was held midweek with 16 teams competed that represented Argentina (3), Brazil (3), Chile (3), Ecuador (1), Peru (1) and Uruguay (1). The Nations Cup was contested by Bahamas (1), Bermuda (1), Canada (2), United States (3) and Puerto Rico (1). Each country could enter a maximum of three teams

The team from Peru (1), formed by Isabella Suazo, Arantza Valdibieso, Ana Sofia Bedoya, Stefano Moy and Salvador Marchena, took the title of the 2022 South American Team Racing Champions.

The United States team (1), with sailors Finnegan Grainger, Wylder Smith, Cooper Keeves, Emilio Boanegra and Beck Brill, was the winner of the Nations Cup, a competition disputed by teams from Central and North America. 

We want to thank the organizers of the SAMS and the Iate Clube do Rio de Janeiro for hosting and organizing such a successful and memorable championship for IODA.

For full results, images and other news items, go to the Event Microsite here.

The 2022 Optimist African Championship was hosted by the Theewater Sports Club in Langebaan, South Africa September 24th to October 1st.

A total of 66 sailors from 6 African Nations (ALG, ANG, MOZ, SEY, RSA, TAN) and 4 nations (ANT, ARG, AUS, BRA) representing 4 continents travelled to South Africa to take part in this championship.

The sailors were all very excited to be competing again at an IODA Continental Championship after a 3-year hiatus due to COVID 19.

After 10 races, Buastisa Iriberri (ARG) was the overall winner of the championship, followed by Murray Duthie (AUS) and Angela Vittoria Domine Zeano (ARG) and top girl in the championship. All three sailors were from outside Africa.

For the 2022 Optimist African Championship, Antonio de Sousa Junior (MOZ) in 8th place overall became the 2022 Optimist African Champion, followed by Valdir Moreira Francisco (ANG) in 9th place taking the silver medal and Wilson Rodrigues Camota (ANG) in 11th overall taking the bronze.

The top 3 girls overall in the championship were:

1. Angela Vittoria Domine Zeano (ARG) - 3rd
2. Heloisa Ruschel Concalves (BRA)- 5th
3. Mia Austin (AUS) - 10th

The top 3 girls representing the countries from Africa were:

1. Wilka Sousa (MOZ) - 20th
2. Elisa Falcon (RSA) - 23rd
3. Victoria Culipossa Camota (ANG) - 25th

The 2022 African Team Racing Championship took place midway through the week. Host nation South Africa fielded three teams, Tanzania two and Angola, Australia, Mozambique, Algeria, Argentina and Brazil one each.

The Team Racing Competition was fierce, with Angola finishing third overall and first African Nation. In an all-South American final, Argentina beat Brazil 2-0 to win the competition.

We want to thank the organizers and the many volunteers along with the Theewater Sports Club for organizing and hosting such a fantastic event.

For full results, images and news items go to the Event Microsite here.

16 Teams from CRO, DEN, ESP, FIN, FRA, GBR, GER, GRE, ISR, ITA, NED, NOR, POL, SWE, SUI, and TUR, participated in the 2022 Optimist European Team Racing Championship hosted by the Associazione Vela Lago di Ledro, Italy, August 23rd to 28th.

Teams were invited based on the ranking of the top 16 nations from the 2021 European Championships held in Spain last year.

A full round robin was completed in the first two days of the championship. Unfortunately, the remaining flights from League C and D could not be completed due to lack of wind, so the final results were based on the ranking from the initial Round Robin.

On top of the leaderboard after the Round Robin was host nation Italy composed of Enrico Coslovich (CV Muggia), Leandro Scialpi (CN Bardolino), Emilia Salvatore (FV Desenzano) and Aurora Ambroz (CV Muggia). They were crowned the 2022 European Team Racing Champions in the early afternoon on Saturday on Lake Ledro. 

Rounding out the podium in silver was Poland (Alicja Dampc, Julia Padzik, Szymon Kolka, Jan Marjanski), who during the first flights of the second round had shown great determination and a fighting spirit. The defending 2021 champions from Spain (Eduardo Reyes Alcocer, Pedro Adan Lledo, Elena Perez Manglano Sanchez, Marta Ferrando Babe) followed in bronze.

The teams from Turkey and Germany followed in fourth and fifth, with Greece, Croatia and France, ranked in the order from sixth to eighth.

The event was the last one organized by the Associazione Vela Lago di Ledro after 14 years. This is the 5th time that Italy has won this event - they won it for the first time in 2008, the first time AVLL hosted of the Championship and the last time in 2022.

Particularly touching was the speech by Camilla Baruzzi, president of the organizing yacht club, who in thanking those who contributed to the success of the event, commented "The Associazione Vela Lago di Ledro owes part of its growth to the Optimist European Team Racing Championship: an event that we have organized with great satisfaction since 2008. The time has come to let others have fun too, but for us it is a goodbye and not a farewell".



IODA would like to thank the Associazione Vela Lago di Ledro and Camilla Baruzzi for organizing and hosting this very important Championship for the past 14 years. It has been a highlight for so many teams to attend this championship every year.  Your warmth and hospitality will not be forgotten. 

For full results, images & news items, go here.

The 2022 Optimist European Championship was hosted by the Sonderborg Yacht Club, in Sonderborg, Denmark from July 30th to August 6th.

After 5 days of racing with each day offered up completely different racing conditions throughout the week all 253 sailors from 43 nations at the event had their sailing skills challenged

The European Championship is the only IODA Event that the boys and girls compete separately. 142 boys were divided into 3 fleets and the 111 girls were divided into 2 fleets.

Six races were completed in the qualification series in the first 3 days of the championship. For the final series held on the last two days of the championship, the sailors were allocated to Gold, Silver and Bronze Fleets for the boys and Gold and Silver Fleets for the girls based on their position after the qualification series.

Unfortunately, only the Gold Boys and Gold Girls fleet could get a race in on the final day due to the late start in the day.

As a result, three races were completed in the final series for the Boys and Girls Gold Fleets and only 2 races for the Silver and Boys Bronze fleets.

It was close racing right down to the final race whereby Iason Panagopoulos (GRE) passed Artur Brighenti (ITA) in the standings to put him on top of the leaderboard and become the 2022 Optimist European Champion. It was a nail biter finish to the end of the championship. Brighenti took the silver medal ahead of teammate Andrea Tramontnao (ITA), who took the bronze.

Host nation sailor Erik Futtrup Havemann (DEN) came on really strong in the final series with 1st, 3rd and 8th place finishes to leapfrog from 12 overall coming into the finals to 4th overall, just missing the podium by 6th points.

Fifth overall was Gabriele Maria Viti (ITA) who came from 7th to 3rd overall in the finals series followed by Juan Bennassar (ESP) in 6th, Szymon Kolka (POL) in 7th, Harrison Gandy (USA) in 8th, Ulysse Raison (FRA) in 9th, and Leandro SCIALPI (ITA) in 10th place overall.

Italy dominated the boy's leaderboard with 4 sailors in the top 10. Other countries with one sailor each were GRE, DEN, ESP, POL, USA and FRA.

In the Girls fleet, leading into the finals was Petronille Lescanne (FRA) followed by Emlia Salvatore (ITA) in second and Alicja Dampc in third overall.

Emilia Salvatore (ITA) pulled out all the stops to finish with a 2nd and two 1st place finishes in the final series to put her 24 points ahead of her nearest competitor to become the 2022 Optimist European Champion. 

Clara Sigge (GER) took the silver with Biana Marchesini (ITA) taking the Bronze.

Just off the podium was Prin Subying (THA) in 4th overall, followed by Justine Barbarin (FRA) in 5th and Aurora Ambroz (ITA) who leapfrogged from 19th place with a 1st, 3rd and 5th in the finals to end up in 6th overall.

Elizabeth Xydas (USA) followed in 7th, with Alicja Dampc (POL) in 8th. Petronille Lescanne (FRA), the leader going into the finals ended up 9th overall with Ayla Poyraz (TUR) following in 10th.

In the Girls Top 10 leaderboard there were 3 sailors from ITA, 2 from FRA, 1 each from GER, THA, USA, POL & TUR.

Top Overall Team at the 2022 Optimist European Championship was Italy, followed by France and Denmark.

We would like to thank the Sonderborg Yacht Club and the team of organizers and volunteers for hosting a very successful championship.

For full results, images, & news items, go here.

The 2022 Arkas Optimist World Championship featuring 276 sailors from 61 countries was the scene of unique challenges. The white houses of Bodrum, accompanied by their historical texture and windy weather, gave the participants an unforgettable experience.

Coming to the last day of the championship series, Danyil Mykhailichenko (UKR) was in first place, followed by Henric Wigforss (SWE) in second and James Pine (USA) in third.

On the final day of racing all of the top sailors had mixed results – one good finish and one further down the leaderboard. But it was Weka Bhanubandh (THA) who was 6th place coming into the final day who came from behind and leapfrogged 5 places to become the 2022 Arkas Optimist World Champion dropping his 28th worst race.

After 12 races, Bhanubandh nudged out James Pine (USA) by one point who ended up taking the silver medal moving up from 3rd the day before. Francesco Carrieri (ITA) was 5th coming into the final day but moved up to a bronze medal with two good finishes. 

The finishes on the final day were so close that nobody celebrated until the top three places could be confirmed.

Danyil Mykhailichenko (UKR) the leader on the first and second day of the Championship Series, had a really tough final day pushing him back to 4th overall and just off the podium. Danyil sailed extremely well all week long.

Tied in points with Mykhailichenko in 5th position overall was Henric Wigforss (SWE) who was second coming into the final day. 

Following in 6th place overall was Sviatoslav Madonich (UKR) with Erik Scheidt (LTU) in 7th who was 4th overall the previous day.

Eighth overall was Malcom Dahlberg (SWE) followed by Davi Nevis (BRA) in 9th and Ioannis Tournis (GRE) in 10th.

Top girls at the 2022 Arkas Optimist World Championship were Medine Havva Tatlıcan from the host nation Türkiye, finishing 24th overall. Her closest competitor, was Chrysoula Kanellou Kokkinaki (GRE), in 37th overall followed by Joana Freitas (BRA), in 53rd place overall.

Medine Havva Tatlıcan (TUR) met with great enthusiasm when she arrived on land. Teammates and officials held a small celebration for the young sailor, who became the champion in the Girl category. 

In the Silver Fleet, Craig Ferguson II (BAH) finished 1st overall followed by Alejandro Ferrer Freire (PUR) in 2nd place and Levian Buscher (GER) in 3rd.

In the Bronze Fleet, William Willkinson (AUS) finished in 1st overall, followed by Leif Kahle (GER) in 2nd place, with Lars Keller (SUI) in 3rd.

In the Emerald Fleet, Oisin Pierse (IRL) finished in 1st overall, followed by Partel Orusalu (EST) in 2nd place, With Richards Plavis (LTU) in 3rd. 

The Jacobsen Trophy, awarded to the top national team at the Championship, was won by Italy for the second year in a row, followed by the USA in second and GRE in third.



Earlier in the week, Team USA was awarded the IODA Challenge Cup as the winner of the 2022 Arkas Optimist Team Racing Championship followed by Team UKR with the Silver medal and team SWE with the Bronze.

For full results, images and media coverage, go here.

The ROPE Program continued again this year at our IODA events with mixed results.

The highlight of the year were the donations received at the NAMS in Nassau Bahamas, in part due to the generous donations of ex-Opti sailors, the Olsen twins from the USA. They sent several sails and a 35 kg bag full of equipment and clothing to the event.

The ROPE Optimist Boat was filled to the brim and was the best collection in the last 2 years. Everything from sails, bailers, oars, sheets, blocks, airbags, tiller extensions and lines. We also had boots, life vests, gloves, buffs, shirts, rash guards, pants, hats, sunscreen, backpacks and sunglasses.

We worked in partnership with Make Them Sailors who together distributed the equipment to some local schools in the northern islands of Eleuthera and Grand Bahama, and to local schools in Antigua.

At the African Championship, team Tanzania was the recipient of donations from both the World and African Championships.

We are very grateful for all the help and interest in the ROPE Program this year.

Thank you to all of those who have donated to this wonderful program. We hope to expand it in the coming year

To read the article on the ROPE Program as a 2021 finalist of the 11th hour Sustainability Award on the World Sailing website go here.