Jorja Mahoney was one of four Optimist sailors who qualified to represent Australia at the Optimist European Championships held in Sonderborg, Denmark from 30th July to 6th August. Jorja placed 1st Girl at the Australian National Championships earlier this year to gain this opportunity.
There were 142 boys and 111 girls from 41 Nations competing. This is the only optimist regatta where girls race separately to the boys. The girls’ fleet was divided into two flights and after 3 qualifying days Jorja raced well making in into gold fleet. After 2 days in finals she finished 52nd place out of 111 girls.
“Being part of the European Optimist Championships and to represent Australia was a once-in-a-lifetime experience. I met so many people from all around the world, made lots of friends and traded our Australian gear with them. It was a lot of fun. Sonderborg was a great venue for the regatta and all the competitors were at such a high level that often all the boats were within only 30m of each other.”
Jorja Mahoney