British sailor Jonny Rogers was proclaimed absolute winner of the 36th Palam贸s International Optimist Trophy after a decisive final day. The sailor from Royal Lymington YC took advantage of the downturn of the then-leader, Canadian Will Keilty, to claim the title. On the podium with him were Brazilian Manuel Bragan莽a and American Briggs Kossman.
Tactical analysis: discard management and consistency in races 鉀?/h2>
Rogers' victory was based on fleet management and regularity in final positions. While Keilty added disparate results (10-2-13) on the last day, the British sailor maintained a solid record (2-1-5). This event also showed the importance of the discard in the rules; Spanish Nico Bastard, leader of the Optimist Excellence Cup circuit, needed to discount a 17 from the first day to finish fifth, one point off the podium.
The wind took two days off, but the sailors didn't 馃尋锔?/h3>
The edition began with two blank days due to weather alert, giving the 360 participants an unplanned long weekend on the Costa Brava. When the breeze finally blew, the standings moved like a boat in a puff turn: Keilty went from unbeaten leader to fourth, and Rogers sailed straight to gold. Even the youngest sailor, 7 years old, had plenty of time to rehearse his thank-you speech.