Jack’s the optimist

By David Nagel
FOURTEEN-year-old Beaconsfield sailor Jack Graves has booked himself a trip to the Dominican Republic in July for the Optimist World Championships after becoming Victoria’s first national champion at Moreton Bay in Queensland recently.
All competitors have to sail a one person Optimist boat, which are all designed the same so no competitor gains an advantage.
Graves’s achievement is substantial because he headed a 118-strong fleet with competitors coming from places such as New Zealand, Hong Kong and France.
The National Championships saw a gruelling 15-race series held over five days on the picturesque waters of the holiday destination and Graves started the regatta off in near perfect form.
He finished second and first in the initial races before sliding down the leader board in races three, four and five.
Over the next few days he dominated the event, taking out six more wins to finish the regatta on 19 points, finishing seven points clear of Kiwi Alistair Gifford.
Despite being in an unassailable position heading into the last race, Graves recalls the most memorable moment was still to come. “Crossing the line in the last race, that’s when I really knew I’d won,” Graves said.“The hardest part of the whole regatta was towards the end, I was trying to stay relaxed and focused on the races but there was just so much going on.”
Graves, along with four other sailors from around the country, will travel to the World Championships in July to compete against more than 200 of the best junior sailors from around the world.
There is no separation of boys and girls in the sport, with the current and previous world champions being female.
Despite his team mates being from other states, Graves knows them well.
He has travelled with and competed against them many times before and he relishes the chance to perform in a team environment. “It’s great to have other people around to chat with. We share stories and discuss sailing problems,” he said.
As the youngster returns to school he already has his regatta schedule mapped out for the holidays, which will see him travel to a number of major regattas as preparation for the worlds.
Beyond that the Beaconsfield lad has high ambitions and he’s in the perfect place to learn what it takes to get there.
He has a place in the Victorian Institute of Sport Sailing program where he hopes to learn enough to follow in the footsteps of his sailing hero, Tom Slingsby, a multiple world champion Laser sailor and Sailor of the Year.