Congratulations to Royal Geelong Yacht Club (RGYC) Member Jorja Mahoney, who has recently returned from representing Australia at the 2023 Optimist World Championships in Spain. Jorja’s achievement is the culmination of a great deal of hard work and support. As a club we are incredibly proud of her determination and achievements in representing not only RGYC but Australia on an International stage. Jorja continues to be an inspiration for other sailors as they work towards their goals. Continue reading for Jorja’s recap of the event and her experience in Spain.
“I was extremely proud to have represented Australia at the 2023 Optimist World Championships, held in Costa Brava, Spain. It was an amazing experience with 253 competitors from 57 different countries, each one having to qualify in top 5 of their country to be there. It was a mixed gender fleet yet only 50 of the sailors were girls and I was definitely proud to be one of them. Having such high quality sailors in the fleet meant that the racing was incredibly tough, especially when it came to getting off the start line and around the top mark. After 4 days of training with the team, learning and improving my skills the opening ceremony announced the beggining of the reggatta. Unfortunately only 4 of the 8 days were actually spent on the water racing, as waves made it nearly impossible to launch. This meant we sadly had to miss out on both the teams racing and two days of the finals individual racing, even though the wind was providing perfect sailing conditions. After the 3 days of qualifying I unfortunately was stuck in emerald fleet (the last quarter of the fleet) after many tough starts leaving me to try and fight my way back up. Then with only 1 day of finals and three races to complete, I was able to finally get a good start for my last race of the regatta. In that race I placed 3rd which is the top 5 score I’d been aiming for all day. With the help of my 3rd and the two other races completed that day, I finished the regatta in 199th overall. Although I felt I could’ve done better, I definitely learnt a lot and hope to grow from any mistakes that I made. Other than the racing, the environment on shore was just incredible to say I was a part of. Meeting so many sailors from all around the world with different stories, and even getting to stay with a couple of them was definitely a once in a lifetime opportunity that I won’t forget. I’d like to finally thank the club for all their support, and I am excited to see where my new class, the 29er will take me in the future.”
