History of the Optimist in Ecuador and in the SYC
Contents
The beginning
The first international
experiences
The first international event
hosted by the SYC
The
beginning
The first two Optimists arrived at Ecuador in 1984. They came from Spain and
their owners were Lightning sailors willing to share their love of sailing with
their children. Another ten boats were imported from USA a short time later
and the little fleet began to sail the peaceful waters of Salinas.While commissioning
the construction of "Ecuador made" wooden boats, the Club opened its
first School of Sailing for children with an experienced foreign trainer in
charge.
The success of this first attempt spurred the Board Members
of the Club to create the Ecuadorian Optimist Association in 1987. That year,
the first National Chapionship was organized and Jorge Maspons became the first
national Optimist Champion.
The first international experiences
Looking for further horizons, the first ecuadorian delegation
was sent to the South American Championship held in San Isidro, Argentina.
In 1989 the Comitee of the Bolivarian Games decides to open
the event to the young optimist sailors and our country gets an astounding victory:
-
Gold Medal: Gastón Vedani (SYC)
-
Silver Medal: Miguel Plaza (SYC)
-
Bronze Medal: Leonardo Arosemena (SYC)
National
Team The first international event organized by the SYC for
the Optimist Class
The following year the Club successfully hosted the XVIII Southamerican Championship.
A record number of countries took part in the event: Argentina, Brazil, Chile,
Colombia, Ecuador, Estados Unidos, México, South Africa, Uruguay and
Venezuela.
Two more southamerican championships let us achieve enough experience to trust
in next year´s worlds as another success.
