Opti Nationals were also held in Hampton, VA right after Girls Nationals. There were 170 kids and we were put into 3 fleets. The first day there was no wind (exact opposite of the day before for Girls). They ended up canceling the day after so few kids in each fleet were able to finish the course in the amount of time allowed. In addition to no wind the current was really strong and most of the sailors couldn’t round the mark and were going backwards! I did manage to round the mark but was one of the kids that didn’t finish in time. The race committee did the right thing and abandoned all the races and sent us in. So we started all over the next day and had 2 qualifying days. I had a really bad day and wasn’t even in the top half at the end of the day. I came back with a vengeance the next day and made it into gold fleet ! This alone meant I had qualified again for team trials! This was another qualifier for the top 50% and making gold fleet accomplished this. The last day was another very light/no wind day. I was hoping to move up in gold fleet some but they were only able to get 1 race off and it wasn’t a good one for me. I saw a wind shift and went right I was crossing almost everyone and then a left rolled in and everyone crossed me. I gained as much as I could but it was still not enough to move up any in the final standings. Thank you for supporting me for this regatta. I am very proud of my results.
2023 Opti Nationals – Cassady Lorentzen
