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272 young sailors from 10 countries are competing fiercely to win this prestigious event. Even 20 competitors from the United States of America are there to race!

The second official racing day of the 18th International Easter Optimist Regatta had two races planned. It was a sunny day with temperatures around 14 degrees Celsius and wind from Easterly directions, about 10-12 knots with some gusts and big shifts making it a demanding day for both the competitors and the racing committee. The first race started at 10:00hrs. Some of the groups were too eager to start, which resulted in 15 BFD's but the other sailors completed a two lap race.

It was Hannah Mills (GBR) who took the bullet in Race 4 followed by Gustaf Dahlbourg (GER) in second and Sebastiaan Hanson (SWE) in third.

All sailors went ashore before the start of the second (and last) race of the day. This fifth race of the event was originally planned to start at 14:20hrs, but after some black flags, general recalls and postponements the first group finally started at 15:15hrs with no less than 41 BFD's in the first fleet. Racing was difficult with the shifting and gusting wind, but the fleet stayed close together with over 80 finishing Opti's within 7 minutes.

Oskar Taurell (SWE) finished in first place with Hannah Mills (GBR) in second and James Murdoch (GBR) in third. This leaves Mills at the top of the table going into the final day 5 points clear of Gijs Pelt (NED) who has to discard a BFD from race 5. Mills on the other hand hasn't finished below 5th throughout the event and is counting two firsts and two seconds. In third overall is Patrick Follmann (GER) who won race one but hasn't keep up his form in the later races. There is still everything to place for in the last two races!

On Monday the two final races will be sailed in the gold, silver and bronze fleet, which will bring us the overall winner of the Easter Regatta 2003.

The International Easter Optimist Regatta is organised annually by the Yacht club Braassemermeer and the OCN (Optimist Club Nederland).