Juniors successfully completed the Winter Tour

The HSS-HSK ILCA team were present in 5 events this winter, first sailing camp with 12 sailors and participation of other strong teams from around Europe. The sailors managed to take a big step in the highest level of racing. Camp number 2 and 3, with 6 sailors each, they improved their speed with big wave sailing.  At Europa cup in Polença and Youth European in Izola our group got more experience in higher level competitions and managed to squeeze 2 boats in gold fleet!

The Opti team began the Winter Tour in October 2023 with a regatta in Vigo, Spain. The New Year’s event in Cadiz/Pt Sherry saw the biggest number of participants ever with 22 sailors, many of whom first time joiners. In 2024 the team sailed races in Torrevieja, Palamos and Valencia, ending with Garda, sailors reaching Gold Fleet in each. All Opti events were successfully completed with learnings from both mild and heavy conditions, and dealing with currents and waves which we don’t experience in Finland.

The Junior Winter Tour builds a stronger HSS team but also contributes to Finnish junior sailing more widely, as each year we  welcome participants from other clubs on our tour. Each tour is a big team effort. We want to thank our sponsor Finnlines, coach Lili Kotilainen who also joined the opti Winter Tour this time, and all the parents whose efforts make the tour possible.

Junior Head Coach Lucas Swan, Opti Lead Coach Pablo Avila and Junior chief Heli Rantavuo