Australian Wins Race at Opti Europeans!

Tom Trottman revelled in the breezy conditions of the first 2 of the 3 races today, scoring a 1st & 5th place.

A reasonable start near the pin, followed by early clear air to the left, gave Tom the chance to work the shifts up the left hand side of the couse, rounding the top mark in the lead. He confidentely held off the attacking German on the down-wind and then sailed a sensible last leg to clinch the what is possibly the first ever race win by an Aussie at an Opti Europeans.

With winds in the first 2 races up near 18 knots, Carolina struggled a bit with the conditions. Starts were everything, and it all seemed so obvious to parents tucked comfortably in the club house watching on PCs using the GPS tracker, coffee in one hand and mouse in the other!

An errant starter bearing down in the last few seconds cost Tom's start in race 3, and so spoiled what could have been the best score line in the fleet today. Carolina fared better in the 3rd race; getting into the race at the start and mixing it with the fleet whilst benefitting from slighly lighter conditions.

Photo above: Zak, Tom, Carolina, Ellie and (seated) joint Kiwi/Aus coach Suzanah.

After overnight rain, todays winds bought a cold chill to the race area - quite a new experience for our sailors and the first time - especially in summer time. Anyway, apparently this is nothing for some of the nations here - we learnt that the Finns, who normally sail on the other side of the Baltic sea from here stop sailing in November every year, only when the ocean freezes. Imagine that in Fremantle!

Carolina - packing away after a windy day.

Regatta centre in Kamien Pomorski

More stories from today's AUS/NZ team on Facebook at "NZL/AUS Team Opti Europeans 2010"