From the 22nd to 29th of June I was busy competing overseas at the 2019 Optimist European Championship in Crozon-Morgat, France.  This was my first IODA event that I competed and I was extremely excited to represent Team Australia.

I made my trip to Europe rather early, arriving more than a week in advance.  This gave me plenty of time to adjust to the time, adapt to the weather and of course get used to the conditions out on the water.

When the competition came around, I was well-prepared, however, I made a few bad mistakes which cost me to qualify for silver fleet for the finals.  In the final’s series I managed to climb a few positions and get into the top half of the fleet with an overall position of 72nd out of 176 boys.

Overall, I had a great time and learnt heaps from this event and I am looking forward to representing Team Australia again next year. Oh yes, and the dinners provided at the regatta were very good. 😋😋

— Aaron Teo AUS1740 and AUS1848