IODA strives to provide an excellent experience for a very economical price to allow all young sailors an opportunity to participate; however, significant donations or grants are required to bridge the gap between sailor fees and event costs.
In the following 6 weeks, grant applications were submitted, fund raising continued, and tentative holds turned into quotes. At the end of January, continued fundraising efforts had shown little success. With grants not decided until after registration would begin, an uncertain political environment, and a $75K funding shortfall a week before the Notice of Race was due to go out, CORK felt that it had to make the unfortunate decision to withdraw our bid.
We most sincerely hope that a new location can be found, as CORK understands the importance of the Optimist class and events … more than 90% of Olympian sailors start in those little boats!