Arthur Fry recently won the prestigious Trofeo Cuitat de Vigo in his Optimist. This is one of 4 high ranking events held in Spain each winter, for Optimists, Lasers and 420s. These events are attended by the top sailors from across Europe, as they offer more or less guaranteed wind and warmer temperatures and give sailors who are aiming for their countries’ Euros and Worlds teams a chance to benchmark themselves against each other as the Winter progresses.
Before the regatta started we trained a few days at Vigo to get used to local conditions and to be ready to go for racing from day 1. Together with Julia Mellers, Oliver Hill & Harley Stone we have been training hard during half term to improve our level. As a result of this training all sailors did will in the regatta. Overall Arthur won, Oliver was 11 and Julia 28 due to a black flag, otherwise she would have been in the top 5 as well, but that’s sailing! Learned a lot and ready for the next one!
Here you can find some translation from the club website, and their experience during the event.
Day 1
The journey begun early. At 9.00am the race office was opening for the sailors to complete inscriptions and right after, around 200 sailors gathered in the Vigo Real Club Nautico contest, begun to get into the water.
It was not easy for the Committee to start the first journey of the competition and in the first confrontation had to rise up the black flag as both, the nerves and the air stream, were making many racing yachts crossing the line. Fortunately, once the starting gunshot marked the first event, the rest of the events were performed one after the other until the completion of four events with winds from the South- Southeast with approximately 11 knots of intensity and gusts of about 15 knots that put many of the sailors into the limit.
The British Arthur does not disappoint and positions himself as the leader
The predictions seem to meet and the British Arthur Fry positions himself as a leader of “the Meeting Internacional de Optimist” after the first journey of the competition. Fry signed today a partial victory, a second, a third and a fourth position; more than enough to advance to the first position into the box of honour with 10 points.
The Gran canarian Yoel Hernandez is stepping right behind the British, and positions himself at only 3 points from the British and getting the second place. The third place of the box is for Jacobo Garcia, del RCN Sanxenxo, tied with the Balear Andreu Jaume, who placed himself fourth.
The first female in the general is the British Julia Meller, accompanied in the podium by the Cantabrian Sofia Izquierdo and the Vigan Africa Beatriz Alonso.
Day 2
The second journey of the “Meeting Internacional de Optimist” contest turned the general of Optimist A-B to red hot. Arthur Fry does not fail in the Vigo Real Nautical Club date and one more day keeps leader on the Optmist A-B, but Arthur is not entirely confident as the Gran Canarian Yoel Hernandez is right behind him, positioning himself at only two points from the gold. The R.C.N Sanxenxo Jacobo Garcia sailor rounded up the podium with the expectation of advancing positions. In Optimist C the Balear Miguel Cairo takes the lead after coming up with the victory of all the events disputed today.
The forecast do not fail and today the Vigo Real Nautican Club could confirm it. Early in the morning the Committee was raising up the flag of postponement and departed to the water seeking a little bit of wind to allow setting the regatta course.
At 13.38pm, after a long wait, the fleets departed, although they still had to wait for the starting shot of the first race of the day. In the meantime the Optimist A-B fleet completed a single race with a light wind of over five knots of intensity from the west, the Optimist C fleets and Cadete disputed 3 events.
The British Arthur Fry holds leader with the Gran Canarian Yoel Hernandez stepping right behind him.
The Optimist A-B fleet was today disputing a unique event that was about to end in Yoel Hernandez hands. With this partial victory on his pocket, the Gran Canarian sailor is closer to the leadership, separated only by two points. The British Arthur Fry, who was signing into a second place in the arrival, holds leader and he is aware that tomorrow the Gran Canarian will fight for the victory.
Day 3
The British Arthur Fry proclaimed winner of the “Meeting Internacional de Optimist. The Real Club Nautico de Vigo’s match, the one that closes the Atlantic Week City of Vigo- XXXIX Martin Barreiro Trophy, has been dominated right from the beginning by the British Arthur Fry. The Canarian Yoel has won the silver whereas Jacobo Garcia, of R.C.N. Sanxenxo, completes de podium. The Catalan Miguel Cairo is proclaimed winner at Optimist C.
The journey in the “Real Club Nautico de VIgo” has not been easy. At approximately 10.30 am the contesting fleets began to get into water. The constant wind shifts imposed that the Committee who wished to be in the race course, but the heavy rain came into the scene and had no other choice but to send the sailors ashore. In the water the visibility was diminishing, and the sailors safety was the priority.
Once ashore, the fleet patiently waited for any update and shortly before 14.00pm the Committee was making a decision: the last journey of the “Meeting Internacional de Optimist” was cancelled y gave the classifications of the day before as finals.
The British Arthur Fry, winner of the Meeting Internacional de Optimist
The British Arthur Fry did not disappoint at “the Real Club Nautico de Vigo” and he is the winner after scoring a partial victory, two seconds places, a third and a fourth in the disputed races. With 12 points on his pocket Fry obtains the gold ahead of the Canarian Yoel Hernandez, who just stroke the victory in waters of Vigo.
Arthur Fry at the start of race 1
Results: https://app.box.com/embed_widget/s/p5zd9eryoxwoa4xv5zx1/1/1259304320/22509319357/1