The United States won the 2022 Optimist World Team Racing Championship, with 48 teams competing on July 2-3 in Bodrum, Turkey.
The weather fluctuated wildly the races on the final day. Initially, conditions were much calmer than yesterday as the first races started around 11 am. Towards the middle of the day, the wind speed increased to practically ideal team racing conditions, only to fall to challenging still winds. The weather brought an additional level of difficulty and chaos to the sailors.
Sixteen teams made it to the second round: United States of America (USA), Türkiye (TUR), Ukraine (UKR), Thailand (THA), Bermuda (BER), Sweden (SWE), Peru (PER), Slovenia (SLO), Brazil (BRA), Spain (ESP), Denmark (DEN), Japan (JPN), Italy (ITA), Greece (GRE), France (FRA), and Germany (GER).
Another round of eliminations advanced the top five teams: USA, Thailand, Ukraine, Türkiye, and Sweden. The United States, as the first seed, was given a pass directly to the finals. Thailand and Ukraine were paired together, resulting in a narrow win by the Ukrainian team. Türkiye and Sweden faced off with Sweden advancing.
The final rounds started with a Ukrainian win over Sweden, pairing the United States with Ukraine for the final match. The well-rested Americans won over the Ukrainian team to take the title, adding to their victories in 2016 and 2017. In the final standings, Ukraine placed second and Sweden third.
Source: scuttlebutt – https://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/2022/07/03/usa-wins-2022-optimist-team-race-title/
