© Matías Capizzano
World Champion 2024: GRE 3180 Iason PANAGOPOULOS, Vice: BRA 4273 Arthur BACK, Bronze: ESP 3611 Mateo CARBONELL.
GRE Coach Antonis Drosopoulos and Iason PANAGOPOULOS have been training together for many years.
His international Opti successes are special: in 2022, 2023 and 2024 he won the OPTIMIST EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIP.
GER Team: The German team ranks overall: Tizian 60, Jonny 84, Paul 144, Jasper 187 und Niclas 210, see the GER final report below.
Fotos © Matías Capizzano.
But it's not just the photos, mostly snapshots in his typical "handwriting" full of dynamism and passion that are his thing - he can do much, much more ... so now, in a completely new role, as Chairman of the 2024 Optimist World Championship in the Argentinian Club Nautico Mar del Plata, he has taken over the entire organization for this important event. The original ideas for the logo and bookcover of the 2024 World Cup also came from him - simply brilliant.
Matias describes his commitment to the 2024 World Championship: "It is an honor for me to host the Optimist World Championship at home for the second time. In 1992 I was an assistant to the Mark One boat and now I am a photographer. In Mar del Plata we don't have a beautiful lighthouse, a hill or an incredible skyline as a background, but sometimes we have waves, just waves that make my job - as a photographer - easier."
Waves and stormy winds - for the passionate photographer, this meant very special snapshots, incredibly expressive photos of sailing kids fighting for good placings.
They were unforgettable days that everyone will remember for a long time. They have summarized their impressions of the days in Mar del Plata in short statements, in order to thank Matias Capizzano's team for their perfect work:
Team GERMANY: "Absolutely unbelievable what Matias Capizzano's team is doing here...!" "...The closing ceremony at the Club Nautico del Mar: The organizers have shown once again that they are true world champions when it comes to ideas and organization. We would like to take this opportunity to thank Matias Capizzano in particular, who has set new standards with this event and created unforgettable moments for many people around the world."
Carmen Casco-Canepa (SUI), Vice-President IODA Europe: "Pictures say more than a thousand words."
Sigrid Beckmann(MEX), Vice-President IODA Americas: "Incredible closing ceremony at the 2024 Optimist World Championship! Gracias Mar del Plata!! Gracias Argentina! A piece of my heart stays with you."
The Sailing kids thanked him with an Opti sail signed by everyone at the closing ceremony, see the video on YouTube here.
Comment from Vito Contessi (Mar del Plata): "Thank you for your comments about Matias. They are truly deserved. The standing ovation he received during the award ceremony was an unprecedented recognition. I have participated in many championships and I have never seen competitors, coaches and parents applaud and cheer a Chairman in such a way. Obviously everyone had already realized that he was much more than the Chairman. ... He was the soul of the event, dreaming and planning every detail."
"These photos, taken in Mar del Plata in 2008, have become special images that capture the positive spirit that arises when teaching children to sail. They reflect the values of resilience, discipline and the deep connection with the forces of nature that this sport promotes in young people."
This can only be said by someone who loves his work more than anything and wants to use his unusual photos to show how beautiful and demanding sailing can be and how it represents a real, invaluable challenge in dealing with nature, especially for young people - namely Matias Capizzano.
The OPTIMIST WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP was won by the Greek sailor Iason Panagopoulos, with the Brazilian Arthur Back in second place. The bronze medal crowned the Spaniard Mateo Carbonell's participation in the World Championship. Spain won the team race.
The Spanish sailor Marta Mansito secured first place in the women's ranking (Helen Mary Wilkes Trophy) by overtaking the Greek Maria Makri in the last race.
The final results of the German team: 60th TizianLembeck; 84th Jonny Seekamp; 144th Paul Fiete Hickstein; 187th Jasper Porthun; 210th Nicolas Troeger.
See the daily reports days 1 to 8 here. (Diary.pdf)
| WM Results | 07.12.24 | 08.12.24 | 09.12.24 | 12.12.24 | 13.12.24 | 14.12.24 | 14.12.24 | |||||||||
| 14.12.24 | started: | 208 | 225 | 225 | 225 | 225 | 225 | 225 | ||||||||
| final | Total | Race | ||||||||||||||
| Result | Sail nr. | Name | Points | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | ||
| Position | ||||||||||||||||
| 1 | GRE 3180 | Iason PANAGOPOULOS | 62 | 15 | 8 | 1 | 8 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 15 | 3 | 2 | 4 | ||
| 2 | BRA 4273 | Arthur BACK | 80 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 21 | 7 | 13 | 24 | ||
| 3 | ESP 3611 | Mateo CARBONELL | 100 | 2 | 2 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 11 | 8 | 31 | 1 | 11 | 25 | ||
| … | ||||||||||||||||
| 11 | ESP 3640 | Marta MANSITO | 180 | 30 | 15 | 2 | 6 | 5 | 9 | 65 | 28 | 4 | 10 | 6 | ||
| 12 | GRE 3184 | Maria Anna MAKRI | 174 | 10 | 27 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 48 | 39 | 5 | 8 | 21 | ||
| 15 | CRO 1320 | Nina MARUŠIĆ | 200 | 5 | 7 | 24 | 32 | 12 | 1 | 19 | 5 | 30 | 63 | 2 | ||
| … | ||||||||||||||||
| 60 | GER 1729 | Tizian LEMBECK | 416 | 58 | 41 | 12 | 4 | 12 | 28 | 75 | 56 | 22 | 32 | 76 | ||
| 84 | GER 1902 | Jonny SEEKAMP | 321 | 37 | 62 | 10 | 33 | 27 | 25 | 32 | 53 | 15 | 14 | 13 | ||
| 144 | GER 1929 | Paul Fiete HICKSTEIN | 542 | 50 | 34 | 38 | 76 | 34 | 46 | 76 | 42 | 64 | 6 | 76 | ||
| 187 | GER 1973 | Jasper PORTHUN | 533 | 60 | 61 | 64 | 58 | 34 | 31 | 3 | 28 | 42 | 76 | 76 | ||
| 210 | GER 2002 | Nicolas TROEGER | 666 | 58 | 63 | 55 | 48 | 56 | 70 | 60 | 76 | 28 | 76 | 76 | ||
All Results: https://2024worlds.optiworld.org/en/default/races/race-resultsall
Photos @matias_capizzano
Photos © Matías Capizzano.
See a dramatic video of the race: https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=615111870860168
The final results of the German team:
60. Tizian Lembeck; 84. Jonny Seekamp; 144. Paul Fiete Hickstein; 187. Jasper Porthun; 210. Nicolas Troeger. Here is the complete final result.
The crazy thing about this regatta was that the wind conditions changed completely every day. It was really challenging to correct old mistakes and not make new ones. Unfortunately, the many top ten placings achieved are hidden behind the letters UFD and BFD in the results list. The world champion was the Greek Iason Panagopoulos, who was able to show his full class on the last day. As the only one in the leading group, he sailed two confident races, kept his nerve and won comfortably.
Then the closing ceremony followed at the Club Nautico del Mar. The organizers have shown once again that they are true world champions when it comes to ideas and organization. We would like to take this opportunity to thank Matias Capizzano (https://capizzano.com ), who set new standards with this event and created unforgettable moments for many people around the world. (full report (German) by team leader Silja Wolff).
Your World Cup team, Jasper, Jonny, Nicolas, Paul, Tizian, Jan and Silja.
Training day 3.12.2024. 2024 Optimist World Championship. Club Nautico Mar del Plata, Argentina / © Matías Capizzano.
Pre-training in Argentina was amazing! 🌊💨 Unforgettable opening ceremony—ready for big waves and strong winds! 💪
Coach @jan.m_u_e_l_l_e_r , Teamleader @siljawolff.
Photos @matias_capizzano
GER team report: It's a matter of pooping, pooping and when you don't want to anymore, just keep on scooping. Then hang, hang again... and no matter how well it goes, sooner or later you realise that you definitely haven't done enough strength and athletic training. With offshore winds averaging 22 knots, with gusts of 30 knots, there were a few challenges for everyone. Big waves, barely noticeable but present running water and gusts. We did training races with some teams from Poland and Switzerland. That gave us a direct insight into our strengths and weaknesses and helped us prepare - here's a video of it. Photos @matias_capizzano.
At the 2024 Optimist World Championship we will have 227 sailors from 52 countries around the world coming to sail in Mar del Plata.
Argentina, Australia, Austria, Bahamas, Belgium, Bermuda, Brazil, Canada, Chile, China, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Ecuador, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Great Britain, Greece, Guatemala, Hong Kong, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Libya, Mexico, Malta, Monaco, Netherlands, Norway, New Zealand, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Puerto Rico, Singapore, South Africa, Slovenia, Spain, Switzerland, Sweden, Thailand, Turkey, United States-US, Virgin Islands.
Information about World Championship 2024 see here:
Sail Optimist World Regatta (Sail Optimist),
Club CNMP https://cnmp.org.ar/ (Website),
Opti Worlds (2024 Opti Worlds Instagram)
Opti Class Germany (Website),
Magazin of Worlds 2024 (PDF, issuu.com).
The plan for the trip: The 12,000 km route begins on December 1st, flight from Frankfurt to Buenos Aires; bus ride to Mar del Plata 400 km. The focus here: wave, wave, wave & team, team team. Gaining experience for ARG in the long, high Atlantic waves and getting to know and finding each other as a team. Coach is Jan Mueller and Teamleader Silja Wolff. For information about the World Championship 2024 see here:
Opti Class Germany (Website).
Team Germany (Instagram).
Jonny Seekamp has been an enthusiastic user of Tactical Sailing since 2022, here is his opinion: "I really like the game Tactical Sailing. You can do great things like play team races with your family, but also alone against the computer or with two people play against friends, siblings, etc. A few things could be improved, such as the coverage, or even if the other player violates the rules, for example, he gets a time penalty.
It would be nice if you play against the computer that there are different difficulties. But there are things that - in my opinion - are very well done: the wind changes, there are gusts in different places and you can choose your favorite boat. My favorite boat at Tactical Sailing is, for example 49ers."
The plan for the trip: The 12,000 km route begins on December 1st, flight from Frankfurt to Buenos Aires; bus ride to Mar del Plata 400 km. And in mid-November we'll be going to a training camp in Cascais/Portugal for 9 days. The focus here: wave, wave, wave & team, team team. Gaining experience for ARG in the long, high Atlantic waves and getting to know and find each other as a team. Source Birgitt Mueller-Genrich: OptiClass GER (German).
Tactical Sailing (TS) sponsored the World Cup team at the qualification regatta in Travemuende in May 2024 with a voucher for the TS Highlights version.
Arguments: What can you recommend to the 5 World Cup participants about Tactical Sailing (TS)?
1. Continue practicing on the PC with TS,
2. “Play” TS in three languages,
3. Make new contacts with TS,
4. A TS lexicon offers help.
The deserving winner of the qualification regatta is 13-year-old Tizian Lembeck from the Inning Ammersee sailing club. With this success he qualified for the OPTIMIST WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP in December 2024 in Mar del Plata/Argentina. His World Cup teammates are Jonny Seekamp (2nd), Nicolas Troeger (3rd), Paul Fiete Hickstein (4th) and Jasper Porthun (5th).
Coach Jan Mueller and team leader Silja Wolff. See overall results here.
© Copyright photos: Birgitt Müller-Genrich, presse@opticlass.de
Coach Norberto (ARG) and his team were sailing at the 42nd Lake Garda Meeting in Italy in March 2024 at the Fraglia Vela Riva club.
A conciliatory end with three races from a difficult 2023 Optimist World Championship in ESP due to weather conditions over the last few days??. There were three notable scores:
© Source: OptiClass_GER Birgitt Müller Genrich. Fotos: Andreas Knapp
See all news reported here. See the results list here. See the photo series on fb.
Final 24.06.2023: 69th Lukas Wagner; 82th Cosima Feussner; 89th David Plettner; 92th Jonny Seekamp; 118th Jasper Porthun.
Jonny Seekamp celebrated his 12th birthday on Sunday, the day of the return journey.
See all reports here.
© Source: OptiClass_GER Birgitt Müller-Genrich. Fotos: Andreas Knapp
See all reports from the World Cup here!
"Tactical Sailing" was very happy about his success - after all, Jonny has been part of the Tactical Sailing team since 2021. With two daily victories in the elimination races in Travemünde, he sovereignly sailed to the top of the best German opti-sailors! Now it's even more fun for us to report on the events surrounding the World Championship - especially because Jonny is part of it. The preparations start on 1 - 4 June at the "Spring Cup" at Costa Brava - Catalanien with nearly 200 participants. The World Cup will start on 15 - 25 June 2023 with a festive opening ceremony.
© Fotos Coach Bastian Henning, © Club de Vela la Ballena Alegre.
Jonny achieved a remarkable 92nd place among the total of 256 participants. In the 9 races he even achieves an 11th and 14th place at the top of the world's best Opti sailors:
92 GER 1902 Jonny SEEKAMP: 22 18 (53) 41 24 11 14 36 36.
Congratulations on his result, Jonny is one of the youngest competitors at the 2023 World Championship!
Jonny celebrated his 12th birthday on Sunday, the day of his return.
Jonny shows a video clip on Instagram of the best experiences at his first World Cup, click here.
"We have a motivated and good-humoured group. The first days of preparation have already been a lot of fun and we believe we will bring a strong team to the start," write coaches Birte Berger and Bastian Henning from Spain/Costa Brava. Since last Saturday, the GER World Cup Team 2023 (from left: Coach Birte Berger, Jonny Seekamp, Jasper Porthun, Lukas Wagner, David Plettner, Cosima Feussner, Coach Bastian Henning) off L'Escala. On their water program: district knowledge (How does the Sea-Breeze work ...What happens in fog?). On their land program: team building (in the pool, during early morning sports, building sandcastles, cooking together). And the best is at the end of the day: Analysis of their own sailing videocasts. © Photos Coach Bastian Henning, Report: © Birgitt Müller-Genrich OptiClass.de
Pablo Villar (ARG) from Buenos Aires supports Tactical Sailing (TS Supporter) for many years. Pablo translated a TS dictionary with more than 400 vocabulary words about regatta sailing into Spanish / Argentinian. There are a total of 11 languages available in the dictionary, which will help sailors travelling to Argentinia.
Order a Coach's Toolbox here in the online shop. "Participants in the 2021 championship in Argentina - as now also for the 2023 championships in Spain and Greece - will be offered a Coach’s Toolbox." The idea for the Spanish language version came from Pablo Villar (ARG), who has been working intensively for years in Buenos Aires to promote young sailors. Pablo Villar:
Order a "Tool Bag" in the Online Shop.
Strategic and tactical decisions in regatta sailing are made in a similar way to classic "risk management". Already at the starting line, the sailor has to decide on the right or left side of the Regatta area. Jochen Schumann, Germany's most successful sailor, agrees: "The physics of sailing constantly forces us to make a clear decision. " In the Tactical Sailing program there is the "Coach’s Toolbox" with over 100 exercises. From this toolbox collection we have put together a special "Tool Bag" for regatta sailors. With these exercises, the ability to make decisions is trained, such as risk assessment and gain-loss analysis. They serve the regatta sailor to prepare for cups and championships, such as:
With one "click", the coach can repeatedly call up the simulation of a regatta scene as video clips (YouTube) and discuss it with the sailors, e.g. tactical behaviour on the way to the finish line. We are happy to provide the new "Tool Bag" for all sailors.
Click here to visit the shop. Payments can be made by credit card, PayPal, bank transfer, etc. at the market places listed.
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