Athens, Alimos Base, Tuesday, June 23rd 2020.
That was the longest “winter” for Team OPTIMUM in 27 years! The Covid-19 virus situation affected our plans as it affected and will keep doing so the lives of all. In association with our partner SAMOS Steamship we safely navigated through the turbulent times of March, April, May and in June we reshaped and extended our partnership and schedule at least until 31-12-2021. Samos Steamship provided great support during the worrying months and helped to outline all the safety protocols for resuming training and racing. Their deep knowledge and procedures they established to protect their ships and personnel across the globe provides comfort that we return in action with a well laid plan that assures safety to all involved. OPTIMUM 3 with fresh and inspiring branding and colours hits the water this week and training commences asap to get in shape for the 57th Aegean Rally.
“This is going to be a strange year for Team OPTIMUM as the whole world fights to return to a new normality. All major international regattas and championships are canceled one after the other like the TOKYO OLYMPIC GAMES and the same goes to local races. However, few major local regattas are reshaped to fit the guidelines issued by World Sailing for Offshore racing. As such, H.O.R.C. initially postponed for September the inaugural AEGEAN 600 and subsequently cancelled all together the 1st edition for July 4th,2021. But for the 57th Aegean Rally, H.O.R.C. reshaped the schedule of events, canceled the island stopovers and managed to position the regatta as a low risk event and get approval by the Greek authorities. We expect more local organisers to reshape their plans and get their races approved and available for Team OPTIMUM-SAMOS Steamship to participate and try to reach as many of the goals set under the new reality” says Nick Lazos, Team OPTIMUM co-owner and tactician.
“The Covid-19 virus heavily affected our involvement of our SAMOS Steamship associates blending with the OPTIMUM Sailing Team squad. All February and half of March our associates were enrolled on a dedicated offshore sailing course to get the theory and the hands on experience from A to Z to prepare boarding OPTIMUM 3 for the planned start of the racing season in late March. Instead, lockdown was applied and all has changed. We worked with Team OPTIMUM principals and we are slowly and safely move to save as much reshaped plans for 2020 and hope for a better 2021 season”, declares Team OPTIMUM-SAMOS STEAMSHIP coordinator, Fragiskos Nikolakis.
The lockdown provided some piece time and a bit of philosophical thinking of where Team OPTIMUM want to be, say in 3-5 years, and some interesting decisions were made and will be deployed soon. Stay safe and tuned!