MONACO, Jan. 16, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Nice winds and bright sunshine accompanied the Monaco Optimist Team Race. On the first day of competition at the Yacht Club de Monaco, the 15 teams of young sailors from 12 nations battled it out on the water to get through the round robins.

“Sailing is a fantastic sport. It gives kids the opportunity to fly halfway around the world and compete internationally at such a young age, against people from different continents and cultures. In sailing, you put that child out there and they are the captain of their ship on the water; they’re in control. They have to make all the decisions in this international, multilingual environment and perform well as a team,” explained Chris Atkins, Monaco Optimist Team Race Judge.

With 45 years of team racing experience under his belt, this three-time British National Team Racing Championship winner also coached Team Great Britain to a gold medal at the first ISAF Team Racing World Championship. Former president of the selectors for the British Olympic sailing team for Beijing and London, he is also a World Sailing umpire and judge.

“It’s great that Yacht Club de Monaco puts this event on every year, pouring all their skills into giving these kids an experience they’ll remember forever,” added Atkins, who also supervised the annual International Clinic. Over three days, seven teams had to fine-tune tactics, hone skills and fully understand the nuances of this demanding format. “They put in a big investment of their time. Hopefully, they’ve now acquired a few more skills to put into practice. Besides the technical aspect, the most important thing for me is that every kid goes back home a better person and sailor.”

The same goes for YCM Secretary General Bernard d'Alessandri, who stresses the importance of the competition not only for the kids but for sailing as a whole, given that Optimist sailors are the sailors of tomorrow.

“It is very relevant for us because young people learn that they need to look beyond individual results and aim for the team result. In fact, the team result is much more important. If you think about it, in yachting you often have a team on board, so it is very useful for kids to learn how to coordinate and how to relate with people of the same age but coming from other parts of the world,” said d'Alessandri.

Twelve nations are taking part in the competition, from Uruguay to the US, via Ireland and Italy. Since 2010, the list of winners alone shows how international and ultra-competitive this event has become. While Switzerland tended to dominate with entries from the Société Nautique de Genève and Gstaad Yacht Club, Germany, Finland, Turkey and Monaco have also added their names to the list, before the rise of the Americans, victorious in 2020 and 2022. In 2023, Croatia then caused a major upset with JKU Deep Blue. Every year brings a new revelation, confirming the strength of the next generation.

For more information:
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A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/54540216-f563-416b-b208-ea6962c1896a