09:00, Monday 24th July, 2023, Syros Island, Greece.
The first leg of the 60th Anniversary of the Aegean Rally from Vouliagmeni to Syros proved an extremely light wind-slow progress affair. As such, only three boats out of sixteen managed to cross the finish line within their time limit, with OPTIMUM-Samos Steamship taking line honors and the win on handicap. The Optimum youth team on board O.S.A.’s OPTIMUM 4 showed good pace at the start but run out of time, learning the hard way about glassy seas….
“Cool boat, cool guys and OPTIMUM spirit is what Team OPTIMUM is all about. Six years have passed since the last time I raced with the team to sail half around the world on my Hanse 47. I return and I find Nikos and Periklis in great spirit and company on board a new OPTIMUM race boat leading from start to finish to Syros. Focused, determined and positive attitude allowed us to patiently push for almost 18 hours and cover the 78 miles to the finish. I could feel that the team was in a good rhythm following their AEGEAN 600 glory and the guys were rolling in and out of the two-hour shift system happy and fresh. The zero readings in boat speed time and time again didn’t spoil our spirit and I enjoyed another Aegean magic night with good friends from the past”, says long time trimmer and loyal Team OPTIMUM member George Panagiotidis for decades.
The OPTIMUM-Samos Steamship lineup for the 60th Anniversary AEGEAN Rally is Fanis Dalezios, Stavros Kouklakis, Nikos Apostolakis, George Panagiotidis, Kostas Doufexis, Nikos Kountouriotis, Giannis Kavalaris, George Kouklakis, Periklis Livas, Tasos Dikastopoulos, Mily Tirla and Nikos Lazos.
Next stop the unique IOS island, stay tuned!!!