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Optimist Dinghy Sailors Excel at Miami's Coral Reef Yacht Club
by Ginny Craven

The Optimist Dinghy is the largest class of youth sailing boat in the world. Originally created in the late 1940s by Clark Mills in Clearwater, Florida, the Optimist design is basically a soapbox derby racecar for the water. It was perfect for Clearwater where the lack of hills made it tough for racing land vehicles. Today, Optis are sailed in 110 countries and are the only International Sailing Federation approved sailboat for children under 16. South Florida is one of the premier Opti communities in the United States. With year-round sailing weather, South Florida’s Optimist sailors have a great opportunity to excel--more time on the water makes for better sailors.

Miami’s Coral Reef Yacht Club in Coconut Grove has the largest Optimist racing program in South Florida and the largest sustained program in the state. The coaching staff reads like a Who’s Who of Sailing led by Head Coach Marek Valasek. Marek originally hails from Slovakia. He holds seven national titles from his country and sailed for Slovakia in the 1996 Olympics. Pat Downey, second-in-command for Optis, is a three-time All American sailor and a member of the Hall of Fame at Old Dominion University, one of the nation’s premier sailing colleges. Gaston Verdani, who coaches 420s, represented his home country of Ecuador in the 1996 Olympics. Beginners include John Menesez, Adam Kujaczneski and Dana Kamilar.

Currently, there are 50 kids in Coral Reef’s Youth Sailing Program, with 22 on the racing team ranging from 10-15 years old. The club boasts an impressive record in the Opti class. In 2004, Coral Reef had seven sailors on the United States National Team. For the past three years, the club has turned out a star-studded cast of Opti sailors with a sailor representing the U.S. at the World Optimist Championships each year: Nick Voss in 2004, Sean Moynihan in 2005 and Antoine Screve in 2006. These sailors as well as Tommy Fink, Alex Sachs and Andrew Sommer also had numerous invitations to other prestigious events such as the North American and South American Championships.

Coral Reef is perpetuating this history of champions again, with seven sailors on the US National Team for 2006-2007. Antoine Screve will be going to the World Championships in Uruguay in December and Christopher Craven, Blake Cabassa and Marissa Lihan are representing the Club and the United States at the North American Championships in Puerto Rico in July. Most important, Coral Reef has hosted the Orange Bowl Regatta for more than two decades. The Orange Bowl is a premier international event and is the largest youth sailing regatta in the United States. Participation has topped 600 sailors for the last two years and includes Laser and 420 classes as well as Optimists. Coral Reef will host U.S. Team Trials in 2007 as well as a US National Team Practice prior to the Team Trials, the second since 2004.

One of the most important facets of Coral Reef‘s Youth Sailing Program is its legacy of great sailors. The "older generation" of talented young sailors (those over 15) have moved on to compete in other classes like Lasers and 420s, but they still have a huge presence at Coral Reef, offering support, insight and a great sense of progression to the younger Opti sailors. Sailing doesn’t stop after Optimists.

Optimist sailing marks the beginning of a lifelong love and commitment to sailing and Coral Reef Yacht Club offers an inspirational launch for this wonderful sport.

Editor's Note: Gary Jobson's Winner's Guide to Optimist Sailing is a great book, written for younger folks and targeted towards fine-tuning their sailing skills.