Patton Starts Strong At European Optimist Champs
After the completion of the second day of racing at the 2012 IODA European Championships, 11 year old Campbell Patton sits in 72nd position out of 158 boys at the 2012 IODA European Championships.
The 11 year old Warwick Academy student is the lone Bermuda representative at the regatta which is taking place in Lignano Sabbiadoro, Italy.
In the first 4 races Patton scored a 43rd, 5th, 18th and 33rd. Boys and girls sail in separate divisions at this event. The youth sailors are experiencing light winds and warm temperatures which has been hampering the progress of the racing schedule.
L-R Campbell Patton with his RBYC coaches Sean Evans and Tom Herbert Evans:
Forecasts show that these conditions should continue all week. Lignano Sabbiadoro is a village in the Fruili-Venizia Giulia region in north-eastern Italy and is one of the main summer resorts on the Adriatic Sea coast.
Patton was able to join forces with the British Optimist Team for coaching and on the water support and has “settled in magnificently”, according to his father, Bermuda Sailing Association President Tim Patton. The European Championship was officially inaugurated on Sunday at the Opening Ceremony.
Sailors paraded along the streets of Lignano and were welcomed by local dignitaries. More info and results at the Euro Opti website.
