08:00, Thursday 24 March 2022, Alimos, Greece.
Team OPTIMUM will celebrate the establishment of OPTIMUM Sailing Academy by competing in HYDRA Race this weekend with all three Academy brand new DEHLER 30ods, AETHER, OPTIMUM 4 and LAVORO III. OPTIMUM Academy aims to introduce, seduce and immerse anyone into the sport/hobby of sailing and the joy it brings to our lives. First timers, novice, seasoned sailors, young, old, male, female, families, groups, singles, pairs, corporate or private are welcome to taste sailing the OPTIMUM way from our base in NAUTICAL CLUB KALAMAKI in ALIMOS Marina.
Team OPTIMUM operates as an Academy from day one back in 1994. Team founders Periklis Livas and Nikos Lazos who sail and race together since 1981, have passed their love and passion for the joy of sailing to tens of OPTIMUM Team members, most of whom became great athletes, skippers, instructors, bought their own boats, sailed the seas of the world. It was the introduction of the DEHLER 30od and the multiple international awards she won that attracted the attention of Team OPTIMUM members as the game changer to introduce a more formal Academy. Spending a 3-4 hour session on a DEHLER 30od with an OPTIMUM team member is like going skiing with a friend who wants to share with you the beauty of the frozen mountain. That’s it, after you taste the experience, two things can only happen. Either you never go back to the mountain or to the sea or you come back for more. If you do come back, you soon realize that there is no end to the challenge as there is no end to the mountains or the seas of the world. Skiing and sailing are two sports/hobbies that you can start/learn at any age. Both open up your world as they bring you back in nature and can accompany you for life, offering balance and recharging your batteries from the exhaustion of day city life. Easy access, rental equipment, experienced instructors, huge investments in infrastructure have made skiing easily accessible and affordable to enjoy at any level one wishes. Sailing has not been so successful to attract a wide audience and in OPTIMUM Academy we aim to offer the same accessibility and affordability at sea level.
“Competitiveness but also fair play are structural elements of my character coming from my early youth, been part of the Greek National Team in Gymnastics. This background and the restless spirit led me to try various sports and then, I tasted sailing. In 2014, I entered Team OPTIMUM as delivery crew to Malta and never looked back. I was the first Team OPTIMUM member to invest in the brilliant DEHLER 30od AETHER in 2020 and in 2021 became the first Greek female to compete and also win 2ndplace in the AEGEAN 600 Yacht Race in the Double-Handed category. The easiness and safety you feel sailing with the DEHLER 30od opens up new frontiers to conquer”, says Team OPTIMUM member and AETHER owner Evi Delidou.
“We started sailing and racing together with Nick Lazos in 1981 in Nick’s father DEHLER db1 MARVIN. It was a revolutionary boat back then and played a huge role to our passion and success in sailing. German Shipyard DEHLER hit us back again with the revolutionary DEHLER 30od and alongside with Team OPTIMUM members and friends we establish this year the OPTIMUM Academy with 3 DEHLER 30ods to share our world of sailing with as much-interested people we can. For forty years now, relatives, friends, business associates, Team OPTIMUM fans you name it, ask me to get them out to the sea to get a taste of sailing, our world. Now, I can say yes to all since we have the right boat and the OPTIMUM Academy as a vehicle. In addition, the OPTIMUM Academy and the DEHLER 30ods will be the pathway to enter Team OPTIMUM-Samos Steamship new race boat OPTIMUM S that just arrived from Australia”, admits Team OPTIMUM co-principal and OPTIMUM boats co-owner Periklis Livas.
“Life should be fan is the motto in Team LAVORO. And life is full of coincidences. LAVORO was the DEHLER db2 MARVIN AGAIN that Periklis and Nikos won 7th place overall and 1st place as non-professional sailors (amateurs) in the 1989 ¾ Ton World Championships in Athens. LAVORO II was the MUMM36 that Team OPTIMUM won 5th place overall and 2nd place as owner-drivers in the 1996 MUMM36 European Championship. At some point we met and introduced with Team OPTIMUM at an island stopover during a race that both OPTIMUM 3 and LAVORO II competed and slowly became friendly. When we broke our MUMM36 boom during a race, they helpfully pointed out where we could locate an original spare boom and we were back in action at no time. We sailed on LAVORO II with various Team OPTIMUM members the last 2-3 years and we had good fun and felt we had good chemistry. And when we started talking for LAVORO III, the DEHLER 30od and the full collaboration with Team OPTIMUM was the way to go because not only life but especially sailing should be fun too”, shares Team LAVORO and LAVORO III co-owner Meletis Paterakis.
The OPTIMUM Sailing Academy is established to make our world of sailing easily accessible to all, so join the fun the way it matches your time and manner.
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