The IODA Annual General Meeting is taking place on July 4th in Bodrum, TUR during the World Championship.

The AGM is the highest authority of IODA and the decisions made at this meeting shape the direction of the Class in the future. 

There are 22 Championship Proposals, 4 Article Proposals and 13 Class Rule Change Proposals. 

All of the Proposals can all be found at the link here.

The deadline for the nominations and their seconders for the elections for the Executive, Technical & Regatta Committees are required in writing on or before 17:00 in Bodrum, July 29th. 

Registration for a Member's official country representative will open on June 1st. An online form will be distributed prior to that date. 

The deadline for registering a member's official representative or a Proxy Form is 17:00 in Bodrum, July 29th.

Note that the Proxy Form is only used when a member does not have an official representative at the AGM and they want to give their vote to another member. A member may only hold one proxy vote. The 2022 Proxy Form can be found here.

To find the Agenda and the 2021 AGM Minutes, go to the link here. The 2021 AGM Minutes will be approved at the 2022 AGM. 

We look forward to seeing our Members at the AGM in July.  

The Northern Hemisphere Steering the Course Women's Sailing Festival is taking place Friday May 20 to Sunday May 29th.

IODA has signed up to be part of the World Sailing Steering the Course Festival as it aligns with our mission to introduce girls to Optimist Sailing. 

IODA hopes that our members in the Northern Hemisphere have taken up the challenge to organize some 'girls only' Opti projects and activities.

It's not too late if you want to organize something. It can be a one day affair or you can have a number of events taking place over the entire period.

Here are some ideas:

• Girls only clinics - single day or weekend away.
• Girls only Regatta - all female race officers & volunteers & celebrate FUN & friendships - make it a themed regatta
• Bring a friend to try out an Opti & be her coach for the day
• Female Role Model Speaker Series - does not need to be a sailor - virtual or in person - a sailing Olympian
• Girls only Opti sleepover at the local yacht Club
• Become a Speed Queen and try a Wasp, FX, Nacra17
• Test drive the next youth boat - 420, ILCA 4, windsurfer, or kite
• Host a girls only eSailing event.

Register today at the link here and let us know how you will be celebrating the Steering the Course Festival.

Send us your stories, pictures and videos of your event or project and we will share them through our media channels and with World Sailing. Send to Fiona Kidd at sec_gen@optiworld.org.  

Harken Derm will be donating Ultimate Shield and Daily Skin Repair Prizes to the top submission from a member on their ‘Steering the Course’ activity. 

Together let's celebrate Opti Girls in the Steering the Course Festival!

IODA has renewed our partnership agreement with Harken Derm, to promote sun safety with our members and sailors in support of the Optimist Class.

Sailor health and environmental health are important values for the Optimist Class. We believe that education and awareness regarding sun safety is an important key message for Optimist sailors who spend long hours out in the sun on the water.

This year, Harken Derm will be partnering with IODA in the ‘Steering the Course Festival’ taking place Friday May 20 to Sunday May 29th. They will be providing prizes for the top submission from a member on their ‘Steering the Course’ activity. 

During the week-long festival, IODA will be hosting a Webinar with guest speaker Dr. Edit Olasz Harken. As an expert in skincare, sun protection, sunscreens and a skin cancer specialist, Dr. Olasz Harken will answer questions and talk about the importance of sun safety particularly for sailors and will provide fact-based evidence and information that supports the importance of skin care protection and cancer prevention. 

A key component of our partnership involves Harken Derm donating a % of sales to IODA. They will be offering a 20% reduced price on any purchase from their Ultimate Shield Sunscreen and/or Daily Skin Repair Lotion products during identified Optimist events during the year.

Event participants will receive an event-specific code to purchase their product(s) in their online store found at the following link https://harkenderm.com

Harken Derm will donate 10% of each purchase to IODA to help support the Optimist Class and youth sailors in the future.

We look forward to working with Harken Derm in the support of Optimist Sailing. 

As part of the Steering the Course Festival, join the Webinar SOS - Save our Sailors, Save our Skin, Save our Seas on Friday, May 27th at 14:00 UTC with quest speaker Dr. Edit Olasz Harken. 

As an expert in skincare, sun protection, sunscreens and a skin cancer specialist, Dr. Olasz Harken will answer questions and talk about the importance of sun safety particularly for sailors and will provide fact-based evidence and information that supports the importance of skin care protection and cancer prevention. 

Dr. Olasz Harken confirms that “sun care and the prevention of skin cancer starts at a young age, which is supported by the data that 5 or more sunburns in youth can double the risk of melanoma. We believe that education and awareness to sun safety is an important key message that can save lives and it will resonate with the young Optimist sailors and their families.”

To save sailors and their skin, Harken Derm have developed a Two-Step Solution created specifically for the global sailing community to save their skin.

Step 1 is a premium mineral sunscreen with antioxidants called Ultimate Shield, that is formulated to perform in the harsh sailing environment -   it won’t run or wash off easily and will keep skin healthy. Step 2 is an after-sun lotion called Daily Skin Repair that provides an advanced botanical antioxidant complex to stop the damage, and the nutrients needed to replenish a sailor’s skin after extreme sun and wind exposure. 

To save our seas, the Ultimate Shield’s 100% mineral UV filter composition makes it environmentally safe for ocean health. The chemical formulations of many sunscreens have been proven to damage coral reefs and the entire underwater ecosystem, and certain chemical UV filters are absorbed into the bloodstream. Their product tubes are made from sugarcane and are fully recyclable which helps reduce plastic waste.

To register for the Webinar on Friday, May 27th at 14:00 UTC use the link here. 

We hope to see you at the webinar! Everyone is welcome!!

Following the launch and successful reception of the ROPE Program in 2021, IODA is expanding it further in 2022 to all our Championship Events.

The first IODA Championship in 2022 where ROPE will be present is the World Championship in Bodrum, TUR, June 27 to July 7th.

We challenge all of the teams attending the championship to bring extra sails, foils, spars, or parts that can be donated to local sailing school programs that are in need of equipment. This is our legacy to the local sailing community for their generosity in hosting our championship.  

For those of you travelling by car, bringing some extra equipment to donate should be easy to add and for those travelling by air, rolling up an extra sail in your travel tube makes it easy to bring a donated sail.

IODA was a finalist in the 2021 World Sailing 11th Hour Sustainability Awards for our ROPE Program. To find out more about the ROPE program, go to a recent interview with World Sailing here. 

Let's work together and grow the ROPE Program to help get more kids sailing the Optimist and assist Sailing Programs in need!

The deadline for submitting a bid to host a 2024 IODA Championship was May 1st. 

We received many excellent bids this year and we thank our Members for their interest in hosting an IODA Championship and for taking the time to prepare and submit their bids. 

The World Championship continues to be the most coveted IODA championship with seven bids received from three different continents - three bids alone from South America:

• Mar del Plata, Argentina
• Rio de Janeiro, Brasil
• Athens, Greece
• Al Mussanah Sports City, Oman
• Dziwnow, Poland
• Portoroz, Slovenia
• Punte del Este, Uruguay

We received three bids to host the 2024 European Championship from:

• Carrara, Italy
• Portoroz, Slovenia
• Vigo Pontevedra, Spain

We received two bids to host the 2024 Asian & Oceanian Championship from:

• Noumea, New Caledonia
• Marve Beach, India

We received one bid to host the 2024 European Team Racing Championship from:

• Yacht Club de Monaco, Monaco

The South American Championship is rotated each year by agreement of the members. The 2024 South American Championship is to be hosted by Ecuador. 

No bids were received for the 2024 North American Championship or the 2024 African Championship. 

The bidders will be presenting their bids to the Official Representatives prior to the AGM on July 4th. 

The link to the schedule of bid presentations can be found here.

The 2024 IODA Championships will be selected by the Members at the 2022 AGM on July 4th in Bodrum, TUR.

The Organizers from Yeosu, Korea have recently notified IODA that they have officially withdrawn as the host of the 2022 Optimist Asian & Oceanian Championship due to the COVID situation in their country. 

They had originally postponed the event to the end of August, but they have not been able to get the government approvals to host the championship.

The IODA Executive Committee has accepted their withdrawal and are currently in discussion with another Member from the region and are looking into dates in December. 

We will post any information as it is confirmed and keep our members up to date on any developments. Check back here on a regular basis.

We appreciate your patience and understanding. 

The planning for the 2022 Optimist World Championship taking place in Bodrum, TUR from June 27th to July 7th is well under way.

The Final Entry Deadline was May 15th. This is the entry to register all the sailors by name and gender.  

Registration stands at 285 sailors from 62 countries. This is the largest number of entries in the 60-year history of the World Championship. The record of 64 nations is still held by Antigua from the 2019 Worlds.

To get up to date information on the venue and planning, check out the Event Microsite here.

The  2022 Optimist European Championship is taking place at the Sonderborg Yacht Club in Sonderborg, DEN from July 30th to August 6th.

Registration is open and the Second Entry Stage deadline is June 1st and the Final Stage Deadline is July 1st. 

254 sailors have registered from 43 Nations - 11 are international teams.    AUS and NZL are back again after missing two years of IODA events due to COVID travel restrictions in their countries.

To follow the event news and announcements, go to the Microsite found here. 

The 2022 European Team Racing Championship is taking place in Lago di Ledro, ITA from August 23rd to 28th.

The Microsite is now open and can be found here.

The list of the top 16 qualified nations that qualified at the 2021 European Championship can be found here.

The attendance confirmation was May 15th and the Entry Fee payment deadline is May 31st.  

The 2022 African Championship is being held in Cape Town, South African from September 24th to October 1st.

Registration is now open and can be found here.  The Second Entry Stage deadline is July 1st. 

To date, 44 sailors have registered from 5 countries ALG, ANG, MOZ, RSA and TAN. 

The organizers have received interest from international teams that are looking into attending the championship. 

The dates for the 2022 Optimist South American Championship have shifted forward by one day!

The NEW DATES ARE OCTOBER 8 - 15, 2022.

The Notice of Race is being finalized now and will be posted this week!