Maidenhead Sailing Club held its 2008 Optimist Open on Saturday 24th May. The Open attracted entries from as far afield as Norfolk. With so many competitors and their families expected, Maidenhead Sailing Club members rallied round to organise breakfast, lunch and afternoon tea for more than a hundred and fifty people.

On the day, gusty wind conditions of force four greeted the 37 Optimist sailors. They were split into two fleets, the main, more experienced sailors and the Regatta fleet, some of whom had not raced in open meetings before.

The conditions proved testing as strong gusts accompanied by 40º shifts kept the young sailors on their toes and the safety boat crews were kept busy throughout the day. The fleets sailed two races back to back in the morning followed by a further two in the afternoon. This format of racing provides for a close and exciting competition.

Spectators were able to clearly see the eight fleet starts right in front of the clubhouse. Youngsters from Burghfield, Papercourt, Norfolk and Bowmoor hotly contested the first four places with much place changing during the first races. However, during the afternoon, Robert Baddeley of Burghfield SC showed his consistency and mastery of the conditions as he scored his third and fourth wins of the day in the Main fleet, the wind increasing to a good force 4 at times. Sam Pearce of Burghfield SC found form during the afternoon, scoring two wins and with it took the Regatta Fleet event.

Certificates were presented to all the Regatta fleet who took part with a special Endeavour award to Alice Smith who kept going and finished all four races in only her second open meeting. Richard Russell did well to be the first MSC boat home in the Regatta fleet in his first open meeting and Chris Hudson was the first MSC boat home in the main fleet.

Full results [here].