American Hackel leads Optimist Worlds

Riva del Garda, Italy (July 7, 2021) – After two days of Optimist Team Race World Championship, which ended yesterday with the success of the Italian team in final against Thailand, the individual Optimist World Championship resumed today for the 259 competitors.

The wind was blowing steadily from the South at around 10 knots, progressively decreasing in intensity during the afternoon but allowing for two races to be completed. With the qualifying stage advancing the top 65 sailors into the Gold fleet, American Gil Hackel seized the day by posting a 1-2 to now sit atop the leaderboard.

Weka Bhanubandh (THA), who led entering today, slipped to second place with a 17-11 and now trails Hackel by eight points. Completing the podium is Brazilian Alex Di Francesco Kuhl who trails the lead by 13 points after a 12-12 today.

The women’s ranking continues to be led by Ewa Lewandowska (POL), sitting 14th overall, but the Italian Lisa Vucetti shortens the gap at only three points behind the leader.

Event details – Results – Facebook

Current Results (Top 10 of 259; 7 races, 1 discard)

With a maximum of five athletes per nation, three consecutive days of qualifying on July 2-4 divided the fleet into Gold, Silver, Bronze, and Emerald groups for the final stages, scheduled for July 7-9. On July 5-6, the participants competed within their nation for the Team World Championship.