From 27-31 October, Cap d’Agde welcomed one of the largest Optimist fleets of the season when it hosted the Opti Cup 2025 that attracted over 300 youngsters from France, Europe and the Antilles. The new generation of YCM sailors from the Sports Section discovered a very different environment to the one in the bay of Monaco.
Highlights in this article:
Lined up on the start lines were Belgium, Spain, Monaco, Switzerland, Sweden and France. In the older Minimes group, it was another story with 212 on the water, 6 races, crowded mark-roundings and constant duels on every tack. In this massive fleet, Joséphine Dobbeleare came in 65th followed by Pietro Carlevaris 67th, Anastasiya Verpeka-Dolling 167th, Sacha Mousny 173rd and Mona Benchekroun 178th. The latter four sailors impressed, as they were making their debut in this category and remained motivated to the end despite seven hours a day on the water.
Racing in a fleet of over 200 Optimists demands a different approach to every race to progress: positioning on the starts, anticipating failures to give way, and rounding marks under fleet pressure. It is these types of situations that forge truly competitive sailors.
The Opti Cup is a formative experience where young sailors improve the technical skills required to race in tightly packed fleets. It is often an opportunity to gain confidence in manoeuvres, analyse races immediately after they are out of the water, to cope with pressure and work on team cohesion. These skills were developed during a four-day training camp prior to the regatta.
This experience complements the programme the Sports Section has been developing over several years to train young sailors capable of progressing in the long-term.
The Opti Cup is also a springboard, as the best performances count towards international selections, particularly for World Championships (Tangier, Morocco) and European Championships (Gdynia, Poland). For these young Monegasque sailors, they return from Cap d’Agde armed with additional skills gained during this experience that will serve them well for upcoming events on their calendar.
