Greetings Sailors and Parents,
With the change to a new decade the NZIODA Committee thought it appropriate to change the way we keep you informed with the latest information from the Optimist Class in New Zealand through a new website that is aimed to be more open, collaborative and accessible from any device from anywhere.
As part of these changes we are creating more technology integrations and connectedness through simplified class registration, online booking of OWNZ Trust boats, new sailor tags and electronic sign on/off. Our intention here is to better co-ordinate information about the Optimist class and its activities and make it easy for you to access, all in one place.
Over the winter months the Committee have met monthly in order to get things lined up for a new season that will allow sailors and parents to prepare their plans well in advance. As a result, all major Opti events are confirmed and listed as well as camps for the upcoming season and beyond.
Your elected committee, has representatives from across the country, from as far south as Christchurch and north to Auckland. We have listened to your desire to see improved support for smaller clubs throughout the country as well as be able to better support the journey of new to advanced sailors in our association. In the spirit of openness, we have listed their profiles on the new website and it should be noted that several have Green fleet sailors so there is a strong desire to improve the experience and engagement starting with their experiences at the new to class level.
With the introduction of the White fleet for this season we aim to ease the passage from Green to advanced levels of the Open fleet making participation more enjoyable and less of a challenge, allowing skills and confidence levels to grow without undue pressure, all while encouraging friendships and, we hope, building lifelong relationships
We encourage you to register by Sept 30th for the year. Registration enacts your sign on/off identity necessary to enter any ranking events or camps. Annual subscription, now $100 per sailor and $50 for Green fleet sailors ($0 for Learn to Race), will allow the association to invest in maintaining country leading systems, amazing officials and continuing to enhance and improve the experience for all sailors, families and organisations involved in this fantastic class.
Special thanks to David Clarke who freely supported the old website for many years and to Bryce Day who has constructed the new site. We encourage you to have a look over the site and if you have any events you would like posted, pick up any errors, or have suggestions that could improve our class we are keen to consider them.
From all the Committee we wish you a good seasons sailing
Kind regards
David Kayrouz
President
NZIODA
Where the future of yachting begins