12:00, Tuesday 12th November 2024, Alimos Marina N.C.Kalamaki, Greece.
We had a much-needed training session on Saturday in order to get our act together for race day Sunday. Our crew work seems to improve slowly, and we were eager to measure where we stand against good competition. Although not forecasted, Sunday morning greeted us with rain at the dock until almost the start at 11:00. For Race 3 of Winter Series the organizing committee selected a 15-mile coastal course around cans for all boats in ORC SPORT and PERFORMANCE 2 category and up to three W/L races for ORC PERFORMANCE 1. The wind was dying as the day progressed, so in the end only two W/L races were made possible. Team OPTIMUM-Samos Steamship managed a credible 8th and 6th places after pushing hard around the course and returned to base under full sunshine and no wind at all.
“Racing around the cans in short Windward/Leeward races is not our specialty as the boat and crew is more set to perform in offshore races. But we look at it as good crew training opportunity under pressure and enjoy ourselves when our crew work is smooth and coordinated. W/L races is also a good opportunity to train in multiple race starts within the day and improve positioning and acceleration skills under tight situations. And we were not sharp today I have to say. The addition of good friend and competitive sailor/coach Charis Piperakis in the afterguard brought a fresh air and can prove valuable for next season as we short out the communication loop. The new guys on board also had the opportunity to taste boat to boat action, measure themselves in the big boys category and decide if they want to commit for next season. So, although the result was average, we ticked all boxes we had set for the day and we lay the steppingstones for next season”, says Team OPTIMUM co-Principal and co-Skipper Periklis Livas.
The 13-crew line-up that put the fight today was consisting of Fanis Dalezios, Theodore Papakyriakou, Mily Tirla, Charis Piperakis, Nikos Apostolakis, Vasilis Kritidis, Manolis Markogiannakis, Giannis Kapos, Vaggelis Nikolopoulos, Periklis Hoegger-Anemogiannis, Periklis Livas, Nikos Lazos.
We look forward to next weekend, the last in a series of six consecutive Team OPTIMUM scheduled outings, to complete our season, evaluate all of 2024, and alongside our patron Samos Steamship set the goals and schedule for season 32, in 2025.
Stay tuned!