2023 Musto Australian Optimist Championships

The 2023 Musto Australian Optimist Championships were held at the beautiful Royal Prince Alfred Yacht Club in Newport. Boat measurements took an entire afternoon, with nearly 100 sailors getting their equipment checked and certified.

Western Australia was represented by the following competitors:

Open Fleet

Murray Duthie

Thomas Cooper

Nicholas Cooper

Lucas Page

Orlando Ligovich

Intermediate Fleet

Sijia Denja

Alexander Eyles

Green Fleet

Harry Cooper

The team were fortunate to have Shelley White coach them throughout the regatta - thanks so much Shelley!

The conditions throughout the Nationals varied from extremely light conditions, with the racing being held very late in the day and then up to 17 knots on other days. Three days of qualifying races were held with open fleet being split into yellow & pink. This was then followed by Championship racing with the fleet being split into gold and silver. Murray, Thomas, Nicholas & Orlando qualified for the gold fleet and Lucas silver fleet.

A fantastic experience for some of our new sailors experiencing sailing in a fleet of 50 competitors for the first time! The competition was extremely strong, our WA sailors showed a lot of resilience and determination.