The 2024 Optimist North American Championships was hosted at Club Nautico de San Juan in Puerto Rico from the 13th to 20th of July 2024. With 180 competitors (120 boys and 60 girls) from 16 countries, the regatta was run across 3 fleets.
The four sailors representing New Zealand were Arthur Rebbeck, Greta Hutton and Hamish Brown (all MBSC) and Philippa Wiltshire (GBC). Tiago Brito was the Team coach. Andrew Hutton (Team Leader) and Margaret Goodfellow (Assistant Team Leader) were supporting the team.
Knowing that the conditions in Puerto Rico would challenge the sailors physically, the team focused on physical training and solid preparation in like for like conditions. New Plymouth was touted as the place to be and over King’s Birthday in early June proved the best opportunity to fine tune the team’s skills alongside the World’s team looking for the same.
In addition to our group training sessions in New Zealand, the team travelled early to San Juan to make the most of the run up to the regatta. We were the first nation to arrive in San Juan 9 days ahead of the regatta.
The morning after our arrival our charter boats were available and we set to work getting the boats ready while we awaited Tiago’s imminent arrival from Brazil. Shortly after lunch the team took to the water for an orientation session to get a feel for the venue and to test the gear. That night the team moved into our official accommodation at the Sheraton Puerto Rico Resort & Casino.
Of the 9 days of training available, the team hit the water on 8 of them. Working with Tiago we structured a training plan that started with a 4 day clinic. During this time we increased the workload in the mainly 12-15 knot conditions with large swell. As more teams arrived in Puerto Rico we made the most of opportunities to combine for starting and race practices.
Measurement was conducted over five days leading into the start of racing. Compared to our measurement in New Zealand, the process was incredibly thorough with every component of the boats being checked including boar weight.
On the 14th of July the team enjoyed the opening ceremony which was hosted on the beautiful Paseo de la Princesa at the foot of the Old Town. It made for a picturesque walk along the boardwalk through a procession formed by supporters and a water welcome led by the local coast guard. The team’s choice of ‘How Bizarre’ by OMC proved to be a hugely popular entry song as the team hit the stage.
The racing schedule was for two days of qualifying races (5 races planned), a day of teams racing, before two days of finals racing (a further 5 races) with a maximum of ten races for the championship. With the tradewinds that treated the area, we expected the wind to come from the east all week and didn’t anticipate any delays throughout the week.
Day 1 – Fleet Racing
The first day turned out to be much lighter than the conditions the team had been training in, and in a race area that was covered in seaweed which threatened to impact the racing. With only 8-10 knots the conditions suited our team and we saw some good speed and great results from the get go. With both Arthur and Hamish in the yellow fleet they were first up, with Greta and Philippa following shortly after in the blue fleet. Greta and Hamish enjoyed some great results on day 1 with Greta recording two seconds and Hamish securing top ten results across all three races. Unfortunately both Greta and Philippa were impacted by the seaweed on the course in race 2 and both carried a significant drop after day 1.
Results from Day 1 – Arthur 37, 31, 31 – Greta – 2, 42, 2 – Hamish 7, 10, 10 – Philippa 20, 43, 37.
Day 2 – Fleet Racing
The breeze on day 2 was back to more traditional conditions with 15 – 18 knots and 1.5 – 2.5m swells in the area. With race management completing three races on Day 1, the fleet anticipated a shorter day with only two races remaining to confirm a place in the gold fleet. While some of the fleet were continuing to seek traditional lifts off the coastline on the right, the left continued to prove beneficial at the top of the course and the team pushed for solid results with Hamish bagging a bullet in race 1 and Arthur a 5th in race 2.
Results from Day 2 – Arthur 28, 5 – Greta – 22, 32 – Hamish 1, 8 – Philippa 22, 39.
Day 3 – Teams Racing
The day of the team’s racing was grey, rainy and very tricky. While the team definitely tried their best on the water, it became apparent that with much less teams racing training than some of the other nations, we couldn’t expect great results. For the team, they enjoyed being involved in the day, but were also happy to use an early finish to rest and recover for the finals races to come. The big learning from the event is that our sailors need to bring more focus to the format in their training back home should they wish to compete at IODA regattas.
Results – R1 vs BRA 3 (Lost 22 / 14), R2 vs BYE, R3 vs ARG 3 (Lost 23 / 13)
Day 4 – Fleet Racing / The first day of finals
The fourth day of racing was the biggest day on the water for the team. With three finals series races scheduled, and 12-15 knots on the race course the team went out prepared for a long and physical day on the water. Greta and Hamish were ready to compete against a strong gold fleet brimming with many of the top kids (and worlds team) from ARG, BRA and the USA. Having unfortunately missed out on the gold fleet, Arthur and Philippa were intent on finishing the regatta with strong results in the silver fleet. After a solid start in race 1, Arthur finished 1st and 5th in races 2 and 3. Unfortunately the race committee deemed him over at the start in both.
Results from Day 4 – GOLD: Greta – 40, 31, 24 – Hamish 34, 44, 4 – SILVER: Arthur – 14, UFD61, UFD61 – Philippa 46, 56 45.
Day 5 – Fleet Racing / Final day day of the finals
The final day of racing provided the fleet with possibly the trickiest day of racing with a number of rain squalls passing over the course. This resulted in highly variable wind speeds and direction. While the gold fleet saw their first race completed (even with a significant shift to the left midway through the first upwind), the silver fleet had theirs abandoned shortly after the front runners rounded the top mark. With two races completed for all fleets before the cutoff the teams headed back in to pack up and get ready for the prizegiving.
Results from Day 5 – GOLD: Greta – 40, 27 – Hamish 9, 26 – SILVER: Arthur – 16, 22 – Philippa 49, 38.
Final Results
Hamish – 12th overall
Greta – 40th overall / 8th Girl
Arthur – 87th overall
Philippa – 116th overall / 37th Girl
For context, looking at previous results it is noted that Hamish’s result is the best a kiwi sailor has ever achieved at NAMs (based on records available on the IODA website that date back to 2009). Additionally Greta is only the second kiwi girl to make the gold fleet since Liv Mackay, who placed an incredible 18th overall (2nd girl) back in 2009.
This event was an invaluable experience for all of the team. The conditioning and fitness work that was a focus of the group before we travelled proved its worth with the team on the water at some stage on 13 of the 15 days in San Juan. With big seas and strong trade winds on many of the days the lessons learned will stick with the team for years to come.
Unfortunately the weather that impacted most of the last day of racing continued throughout the evening, dampening the prize giving. That said, it was great to see Hamish up on the stage as one the top 15 sailors of the event and was celebrated in front of the supporters in attendance. The team then quickly got into action trading clothing with other teams at the prize giving and deep into the evening back at the Sheraton.
I would like to take the opportunity to extend our gratitude to the fantastic work put in by the parents and volunteers from the Club Nautico de San Juan. It was abundantly clear that they wished for all of the sailors and supporters to come away from the event with nothing but great memories of both the event and Puerto Rico. It certainly worked for us!
It was a huge privilege to support our team and I am very proud of the way our sailors conducted themselves throughout the event and their achievements. I would also like to thank all of the parents of the NAMS team who put in a huge amount of effort in the lead up and on tour and to Tiago, who given a week’s notice, didn’t think twice about dropping everything to be there for the team.
Andrew Hutton Team Leader
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