18:00, Tuesday 19th April 2022, Alimos, Greece.
After a month of hard work in full Team OPTIMUM spirit, time for OPTIMUM S to hit the water has come. More than 20 Team OPTIMUM-Samos Steamship team members, family, friends and fans joined and made the celebration memorable. N.C. Kalamaki Commodore George Christopoulos and H.O.R.C. Commodore Yiannis Maragoudakis along with Yiannis Inglessis of our proud sponsor Samos Steamship Co. were present to share the magic moment and prove their continuous support and wish for a bright future. Penelope(Penny) Lazos, wife of Team OPTIMUM co-Principal Nikos Lazos had the honor to smash the champagne bottle on the keel bulb at which moment the crowd assembled burst into cheers and applause.
“We unwrapped the boat on March 19th and today, April 19th, we lowered OPTIMUM S in the water in our base in N.C.Kalamaki. During this month our amateur but spirited team mates put long hours of work putting her back together, following detailed instructions provided by previous owners/campaigners, INDIAN Sailing Team. Working on the boat and its systems we realized how much the technology has advanced comparing to the structure and systems we were familiar with our Farr 52 OPTIMUM 3. Keel join, rudder system, mast & boom filled with locks, carbon EC6 standing rigging, 5thgeneration Harken winch/pedestal package, retractable propeller system, underdeck offshore running rigging systems and myriad other light weight smart solutions that allow you to handle the loads efficiently without hydraulics, impressive indeed. We did the work in true OPTIMUM spirit and enthusiasm and thanks to the OPTIMUM media team we documented the experience in seven short videos that we shared with our fans through our Facebook page, Instagram and Youtubechannels. The guys got back working together and are ready for phase two, learning to sail competitively such an advanced racing yacht. Paul Eldrid, pro-sailor, sailmaker and INDIAN Sailing Team Manager will join us for a week all the way from Australia to show us the ropes and pass on as much intellectual property as we can handle. We can hardly wait”, admits Team OPTIMUM co-skipper Vaggelis Nikolopoulos.
“We watch closely and support Team OPTIMUM since mid 2019. The more we get to know them the more we realize their passion for the sport of offshore sailing and their will to evolve and excel. The new boat OPTIMUM S presents a new challenge and has raised expectations to a whole new level. The guys delivered phase 1 of preparing the boat ready to sail and worked out solutions to do so on time. All of us at Samos Steamship, we admire their work ethic and we are sure that they will progress and fulfill their dreams. We are happy to sail along with them and be part of OPTIMUM story”, says Yiannis Inglessis of the Inglessis family that runs Samos Steamship Co., a Greek Shipping Company since 1875.
Expect to see OPTIMUM S soon, at a sail race start line near you!