To prepare to host the 50th International Optimist Dinghy Association (IODA) World Sailing Championship (15-26 July 2012), the Santo Domingo Yacht Club will host a Pre-World Championship for the North American continent. The event is booked for 11-17 July in Boca Chica and around 100 young competitors from the Americas are expected. The Optimist is the first sailboat for sailors wanting to learn to sail at an early age.
Both the pre-world and the world events are organized by the Santo Domingo Yacht Club and the Dominican Optimist Association (ADO) with the support of the Dominican Sailing Federation. Andrea Garrochategui de Pacheco is the president of the tournament organizing committee.
The Dominican Republic successfully hosted the IODA North American Optimist Championship from 30 June to 8 August last year, attended by competitors between the ages of 6 to 15 from 23 countries around the world.
The DR won the right to host the World Optimist Championship in July 2012 at the same Santo Domingo Yacht Club. For that event, around 300 child and youth sailors from 70 countries are expected. This would be the most important sailing event to take place in the Dominican Republic.
The Santo Domingo Yacht Club boasts brand new facilities. The area provides lodging for those coming for the event, and is 15 minutes from Las Americas International Airport. Even better, the site is half an hour from the capital city of Santo Domingo and its Colonial City and a world of restaurants, plus just half an hour from the Juan Dolio beaches and the world of golf and beach of La Romana and Bayahibe. The event is especially attractive to families that may come for sailing and stay on for an additional family vacation week at one of the country’s many all-inclusive resorts.
The DR won the site for the championship competing against finalists from Malaysia, Denmark and Qatar on the promise of the good weather in Santo Domingo, and the strengths of the venue and the location.
www.optiworld.org/11norPreWorlds.pdf