Despite some uncharacteristic rains and light winds the Napier Optiworlds has drawn to a close with the approval of the international Optimist committee and Mayor Barbara Arnott.
Most of the 48 teams arrived on the official arrival day of December 30, although some, such as Mexican Hector Guzman who spent several months in training, began their acclimatisation well in advance. The opening ceremony, which included a haka and powhiri took place in heavy rain on New Year's Eve, and officially opened the competition before racing began on New Year's Day.
"We've never had a worlds in New Zealand, and an event this big at a junior level in New Zealand," Mayor Arnott said. "There's huge benefits in showcasing something that New Zealand can do and other countries can't do."
She said the accessibility of accommodation, restaurants and club facilities were "unique to provincial New Zealand".
"I think everything that the organisers have done they've done professionally and they've done with warmth."
One of the few aspects of the tournament that could not be controlled by the organisers was the weather. Unpredictable weather patterns threw some teams off, including our own Kiwi contingent.
New Zealand coach Chris Steele said all their buildup had been in great sailing conditions, only for the preparation to be lost when racing began.
"It was basically starting over the same as everybody else," he said.
"We've had some ups and downs, we had some good results and some frustrating ones. Probably as a team, as a whole, the kids should be doing better, but ... it's not a disaster."
Event director Nigel Rippey said he was pleased with how the competition had gone.
"Pretty happy with how it's gone, and really happy with how many countries and competitors we got," he said, citing the costs of travelling to New Zealand.
"I think all the teams put up with it [the weather] pretty well and just wanted to get out sailing. It's kind of not what we were expecting, or the locals were expecting, but we've still managed to get a good number of races through."
The weather conditions meant only 11 of the 15 scheduled fleet races were sailed, with two days of team racing providing a break in the middle of last week. Many visitors headed to Perfume Point to view it from the shore.
A day off saw many competitors travelling to Waimarama Beach and making trips to Havelock North before the final three days of sailing.
International Optimist Dinghy Association Peter Barclay's verdict was positive, adding that many teams told him they had wanted to stay in the city longer.
2At the prizegiving ceremony last night Singapore dominated the awards, winning the team racing, the prize for best overall team aggregate, and Singaporean Kimberly Lim was crowned the 2011 Optiworlds champion.