Optimist Worlds: Team USA (Baker, Callahan, Callahan, Leigh and O'Keefe) repeat as World Champs

PATTAYA, THAILAND – Team USA beat Team China in a dramatic, hard-won series in the team racing portion of the Optimist World Championship 2017, retaining its hold on the IODA Challenge Cup team racing trophy for the second year in a row. The winning team included Stephan Baker, Justin Callahan, Mitchell Callahan, Charlotte Leigh, and Liam O’Keefe. In high winds of 13-18 knots, huge swell, and choppy seas, the Americans set off in the morning alongside 15 other teams, each determined to do their best on the final day of the team racing championship. “It was going to be challenging. All the teams are excellent. We knew that going into the day,” said Justin Callahan, Team USA’s sailor spokesman and the only remaining member of last year’s winning team. Full story

From left to right: Stephan Baker, Justin Callahan, Charlotte Leigh, Mitchell Callahan, and Liam O'Keefe.