Kalamaki, Monday, May 16, 2016.
The 23rd racing season for OPTIMUM Yacht Racing Team started last weekend with OPTIMUM 3–THENAMARIS-OPTIMISE competing in the 7th ATHENS Trophy organized by Hellenic Offshore Racing Club. H.O.R.C. is also the organizer of Possidonia Cup and the Aegean Rally top events in the Greek offshore sailing calendar and us such no less than fifteen good sailing teams selected to compete and fought hard for the podium in five windward/leeward type of courses around buoys, three on Saturday and two on Sunday. Wind was about 10-14 knots from the South both days and Team OPTIMUM tried hard to find its rhythm in the new season. On Sunday night, the scoreboard for OPTIMUM 3–THENAMARIS-OPTIMISE placed us in 8th position with a scoreline of 10, DNF(16), 2, 11 and 3, a series of up and down results pointing that we were a bit rusty for the season opener.
“We had a great weekend on board, put a lot of work down and tried to align a host of new parameters in our racing for the new season. In the Sunday evening debriefing, the analysis of the five races found that in the last race of both days we posted podium results which lead us to believe that time on the water racing will get us where we want to be. We tested our new mainsail and are happy with our investment and more importantly we had the opportunity to show our new three young crew members our trade and get their feedback too. What Periklis and Nick are doing with introducing year after year young talent to the grand prix offshore sailing scene is what has kept Team OPTIMUM going further and achieving more for longer. So heads down, work hard, and all happy to be back in Racing Mode!” says Team OPTIMUM navigator Manos Roudas.
For the Athens Trophy, one could identify on board OPTIMUM 3–THENAMARIS-OPTIMISE the usual suspects such us Gary Gabri, Stratis Tsamparlis, George Hatzigeorgiou, George Eliopoulos, Nikos Apostolakis, Alexis Chrysochoides, Manolis Markogiannakis, Thanos Papasideris, Patroklos Tachtatzis, Lambros Nakis, Manos Roudas, Periklis Livas, Nikos Lazos and new OPTIMUM recruits Lefteris Fanioudakis, Manos Maganiaris and uprising young Greek Olympic sailing talent Charris Mavrogeorgis.
Last but not least Team OPTIMUM was able to present officially the new look of OPTIMUM 3 branded nicely in the THENAMARIS and OPTIMISE colors, our sponsors for the 2016 season, an opportunity that the OPTIMUM Media Team duo of George Kyragiannis and George Eliopoulos didn’t miss and have produced a hot OPTIMUM 3–THENAMARIS-OPTIMISE three minute video clip that includes aerials from drone and on board cameras soon to be released…
Look for it and see what we are talking about and enjoy the ride!