12:00, Tuesday 11th September 2024, Alimos Marina N.C.Kalamaki, Greece.
Retiring due to a technical issue in the Aegean 600 and the late arrival of spare parts grounded Team OPTIMUM for the remaining of July and August. Come September and the Team raced the OPTIMUM Sailing Academy two Dehler 30s in Korfos Race posting podium results. OPTIMUM 4 and LAVORO III sponsored by LALIZAS and PERFORMANCE TECHNOLOGIES scored 1st and 3rd place respectively in the Performance category. The first weekend of September delivered light winds up to 10 knots and calm seas and many no wind zones that tested the nerves of the crews all the way to the finish lines.
“I am an O.S.A. student about a year now and in Korfos Race last weekend, it was the first time for me to helm in both starts but also most of the duration of the race. The experienced Team OPTIMUM crew on board allowed us students to feel comfortable and deliver our best based on our training sessions. We managed a perfect start in Faliro, deploying and filling the Code0 sail in perfect timing at the pin end, took the lead which we managed to hold both in the scoring gate in Platia and the finish line in Korfos Bay. On the return on Sunday we were leading again until we decided to sail closer to Egina than some others that elected to go closer to Salamina. This poor tactical choice allowed stablemate LAVORO III to not only take the lead but finish 2+ hours ahead. We, on the other hand got tangled in a complex variable wind zone that tested our patience and persistence like if we were racing an 80-mile race instead of a 28-mile! Our anxiety grew as our time limit to finish was approaching fast and the wind wasn’t promising at all. However we held our nerve and sailed positively and consistently managing to finish within our time limit in Faliro and in third place on corrected time. This score combined with a second in the scoring gate in Platia and a first in Korfos was good enough for the top podium position overall for the Korfos Race. I really enjoyed my O.S.A. racing weekend”, said George Badogiannakis, an enthusiastic O.S.A recruit.
O.S.A. and Team OPTIMUM is open to all passionate sailors to join and dive in the OPTIMUM spirit that has produced so many memorable experiences of successes and few failures in the last 30 years. So get in touch and be our guest!