USA Wins Nations Cup at Optimist Worlds

A fleet of 255 sailors from 59 countries competed in the Optimist Individual World Championship held June 26-July 1. Immediately following on July 2-3, 48 countries competed in the Optimist Team Racing World Championship. Both events were held in Vilamoura, Portugal.

Individual Worlds: Switzerland’s Max Wallenberg is the new Optimist World Champion, finishing second in the final race to pass Norway´s Mathias Berthet, who was black flagged at the start and fell to second overall. Malaysia’s Muhammad Fauzi Kaman Shah also was black flagged but secured the bronze medal. Malta’s Victoria Schultheis (20th overall) took the girls title. Details.

Team Racing Worlds: After two days of competition on July 2-3, Team USA is the 2016 Optimist Team Racing World Champions, topping 48 countries in a light air event at Vilamoura, Portugal. Sailing for USA were Justin Callahan (Florida/Rhode Island), Zane Rogers (Texas), Bella Casseretto (Florida), Sam Bruce (Maryland), and Thomas Hall (Pennsylvania). Argentina finished second with Italy in third. Details.

Nations Cup: Team USA won the Optimist Nations Cup, which is scored according to the lowest sum of final ranks of its top four ranked sailors in the Optimist Individual World Championship. The top sailors for USA were Justin Callahan (8th), Zane Rogers (9th), Thomas Hall (10th), and Samuel Bruce (37th). Finishing second was Germany with Singapore in third. Details.