Italy repeats at Optimist Worlds 2018

After posting all firsts in the 6-race Qualification Series, 2017 Optimist World Champion Marco Gradoni (ITA) continued to blitz the fleet in the 5-race Finals to win the 2018 Optimist World Championship in Limissol, Cyprus.

Gradoni beat Stephan Baker (USA) by 33 points in the 11-race series with Thailand’s Panwa Boonak four points further back in third. Completing the top five was Richard Schultheis (MLT) in fourth and Tommy Sitzmann (USA) in fifth.

Qualifying for the World Championship was held August 29 to 31 after which the 258 sailors from 58 Nations were sorted into the Gold, Silver, Bronze and Emerald fleets. After a break for the World Team Racing Championship on September 1-2, the Finals were held on September 3-5.

Event details – Results – Facebook – Photos

Final Results (Top 10 of 258; 11 races, 1 discard)