Canadian Opti Nationals, 100-boat Fun at Squamish, BC

If you’re one of those who decries the Optimist dinghy as holding back the sport of sailing, please, please don’t tell that to the 100 or so kids that just got back from sailing the Canadian Optimist Nationals at Squamish, BC Aug 17-23. They had a blast, from full-on hiking conditions to no-air delays to an orca-on-the-course race delay. A total of 10 races were sailed, and full credit goes to the organizers for pulling off an epic event.

With Optis, there is of course an overall winner but many others as well. The overall winner was Noah Adler (overall Red fleet winner), second was Seattle’s Dieter Creitz (overall Blue fleet 11-12-year-olds winner) and third was Andreas Steinitz. The first girl was Carling Davies.

Andrew Nelson, NW Youth Director of The Sailing Foundation, submitted a report below. As far as I can tell, the coverage from the event itself is all on the Canadian Optimist Dinghy Association Page. At the end of this post there’s a brief report lifted from that site.

I got a chance to talk to Dieter Creitz and has dad Nate after their drive back from Squamish.

“The trick was to sail to ‘The Wall,'” Dieter explained. The Wall is a towering shoreline where there’s plenty of depth and a current that carries the boats to weather. Boats lined up beam to beam, bow to stern, at the boat end of the start line trying to get over to The Wall the quickest. “The boats that got to ‘The Wall’ first won, every time. There were no changes to the places after that,” Nate said.

Creitz was in first place after two days, but on the last 5-day race the 14-year-old Noah Adler came through and won the event, with Creitz hanging on just ahead of Steinitz. Adler qualified for the Canadian Opti team and he and others are headed to Cyprus for the Worlds.

The story of this regatta is as much about the turnout and great venue. Squamish has long been a favorite for great winds and natural beauty. Nate reports that there’s a new sailing center taking shape which will make Squamish even more of a Mecca for small boat sailing. “It’s like a mini Lake Garda,” Nate says. “It blows from one direction in the morning, then you take a break for lunch, then it comes in from the other direction.

Click on any image to enlarge.

It’s clear that the Canadian Optimist Dinghy Association is well organized and eager by the number of participants and the quality of racing. It’s also clear there’s an ever increasing amount of cross-border cooperation in the youth sailing programs. US and Canadian youth sailors and coaches are creating a regional boom in small boat skills. And while it’s quite a hike for Seattle sailors to get to Squamish, seven made the trip in large part because of Andrew Nelson’s commitment and energy. “The fact that Andrew Nelson stepped up and got all the kids to go was really big,” Nate said.

And before I could say goodbye to Dieter and Nate, Dieter made absolutely sure I got in a big thanks to his parents, “None of this would have been possible without my parents!” Amen. Parents take note.

Youth events coming up include the SYC Junior Olympics this weekend at Corinthian YC on Puget Sound and the JAM Regatta at Port Madison in early September plus the Northwest USODA (Opti Assoc) Championships in late September. Youth sailing is alive and well throughout the Pacific Northwest, whether in Optis, 29ers (a Vancouver team won North Americans – more on that later), Lasers or whatever floats!

From Andrew Nelson:

A group of seven sailors representing several different clubs/teams (SYC, TYC, SSP, OIYC, and Mt. Baker Rowing & Sailing Center) attended the CODA Opti Canadian Championships Aug. 18-22. There were nearly 100 Optis competing this year and they ran everyone together (no flights/fleets). Most of our team had never sailed a big international championship like this before. I arrived in time for measurement/check in and the practice day. Afterwards there was also a “parade of nations (provinces)” and a traditional welcome by the Squamish people, which the kids really got into. We raced Sunday-Wednesday, except that Monday was cancelled because of smoke. 

We were “Team Northwest” for the regatta and also “Team USA.” The kids and families all got to know one another much better by the end of the event, and many new friendships were made. For most of our team it was unlike any regatta they’ve ever sailed. When do you see 100 boats on the start line? When do you see the U-Flag on the very first start of the regatta? The sailors had a great attitude despite long days spent sailing in VERY difficult conditions, which included strong winds, lots of current, smoke, VERY challenging conditions which included strong winds, crowded boat end starts, current, smoke, and a postponement caused by an orca on the race course. There were a lot of lessons learned the hard way, but it’s an experience I’m sure none of them will forget! I would say on all fronts this was a big success and I’m proud of the way Team Northwest did.

Results are on the Event Website. There are also tons of great pictures and videos on the CODA Facebook Page. Photos are courtesy of Sonya Ramsey who said to use them as we please.

From the Canadian Optimist Dinghy Association:

2018 Fleet Racing Opti Canadians wrapped up yesterday in Squamish with a long day on the water of very successful racing.
5 races were raced on the last day which made it a total of 10.
Winds were strong through out the event and up to 20 knots the last 2 days.
Sailors had a great performance spending more than 6 hours on the water and multiple races a day.

Kurt Hoehne

Kurt grew up racing and cruising in the Midwest, and has raced Lasers since the late 1970s. Currently he is a broker at Swiftsure Yachts. He has been Assistant Editor at Sailing Magazine and a short stint as Editor of Northwest Yachting. Through Meadow Point Publishing he handles various marketing duties for smaller local companies. He currently is partners on a C&C 36 which he cruises throughout the Northwest. He’s married to the amazing Abby and is father to Ian and Gabe.