The pram-style Optimist is a great starter boat for learning to sail and later learning to race, and youth sailors can literally take their Optimist Dinghy to whatever level they want. Any motivated young Optimist sailor will develop both confidence and dinghy sailing skills, from boathandling techniques to big-fleet strategy and tactics; some will go on to race at the highest levels.
The sailors who do best in the class are those who spend the most time sailing their boats, usually with a good coach, strong sailing program, and ample resources. The International Optimist Dinghy Association is the biggest one-design class in the world. Sailors should be fit and agile, able to move gracefully and hike out for extended periods.
Those who do best are usually 12 to 14 years old and weigh up to pounds. Regionally, top sailors can still compete at or even pounds. Competitive sailors will normally move up to new boats as they reach higher levels. Older boats can remain competitive, but heavy travel and racing schedules put a fair amount of wear and tear on the boats. As a result, used boats may need gelcoat dings and scratches repaired. Keep in mind that you can purchase different sizes of boom section with different stiffness, although most sailors stick with a mid-range version.
As a sailor grows, a stiffer boom may be preferred. If your mast is extremely bendy, it may also help to replace it with a stiffer one as experience and size merit. An Optimist weighs only 35 kilograms 77 pounds , which makes it easy to put on top of a car.
There are also many trailering options; some teams own trailers that carry up to 18 boats, plus a coach boat! Top sailors will take two sails to a regatta, but just one sail is allowed for the duration of the event; the other is a backup in case of a breakdown.
Read more about what North offers , from a crossover sail for beginners, to two crosscut and four radial-cut racing sails. Tuning the rig on a boat with an unstayed mast is different than on other boats.
It starts before you attach the sail on the mast; first measure your mast rake�from the top of the mast to the edge of the coaming on the transom�and then move the adjustable mast step until you get the right rake measurement for your weight.
The process is detailed in the North Tuning Guide. The Tuning Guide also covers the critical process of tying the sail to the boom, mast, and sprit, and connecting the sprit correctly to the mast.
Having a sprit pole, and a line to change the tension on it, is not the norm on most one-design racing boats. Sprit tension controls leech tension, but if you have too much, a wrinkle will appear between the tack and the peak of the sail. Preventers are another unusual concept on the Optimist. They are needed because of the way the sail, boom, and sprit are connected with the mast.
The top preventer keeps the sail from popping off the top of the mast, and in heavy air, it can be tightened to force the sail to set lower on the mast. The lower preventer, called the boom preventer, maintains boom position on the mast and helps you set the right luff tension for the conditions.
There are strict rules about how high or low the sail can be on the mast�a mark on the sail must fall between two marks on the mast to be legal. These controls are described in the Tuning Guide as well. We recommend the Guide to every new sailor and Opti parent. Set your mast rake a bit aft of your base setting, since your mast is probably not going to bend under this wind condition see Tuning Guide.
Ease the outhaul until any horizontal crease in the foot disappears and some vertical creases show up above each sail tie; the creases should not pass above the first seam in the sail. Luff tension should be eased enough that as you sail into a puff, horizontal wrinkles appear at the sail ties along the mast. Focus on where to trim the boom relative to the corner of the transom�a good general rule is no farther inboard than the corner, or leave it just outside.
Move the mast rake back to your base setting when you move to the rail, and in choppy conditions, pull the outhaul tight enough so the vertical creases at the boom sail ties extend only up to the first seam. Smooth out the wrinkles in the luff by removing one twist in your boom preventer, so you achieve a round, deep nice shape for the entry. Trim the sprit so the sail is very smooth, and trim the mainsheet so the boom is right over the corner or just inside the corner of the transom.
When hiking, rake the mast a bit forward from your base setting to compensate for how the mast will bend. Have your outhaul tight enough that a crease shows in the foot, until you fill the sail with wind. Take another twist off the boom preventer to get good tension on the luff. Sprit pole tension should still be tight and the sail, smooth. When trimming, ease the boom to the corner of the boat and sometimes just outside the corner. You should also have more tension on the outhaul�on shore you may have a crease in the sail, but when the sail fills it should be deeper than that from the foot to the first seam.
The key depowering technique is to loosen the sprit tension, take another twist off the preventer, and push the boom down hard to pull on the vang�then, pull only some of the sprit tension back on, which leaves the sail with a wrinkle from the top of the mast to the clew. This indicates that the top of the sail is flat and the leech is open, which will help you keep the boat upright. Check that when you flick the luff of the sail with your fingers, it is super tight. Tighten the bridle safety line to the boom so it is also super tight; now your mainsheet tension will start bending the boom a bit, further flattening the bottom part of your sail.
The other way to depower is to pull the daggerboard up a little, but use this as a last resort. None of the sail controls are adjusted.
When there are choppy conditions or a big wave, bear off and ease the sail to stay powered up. In a flat spot, trim harder to improve your pointing. Because the Optimist is a hard-chine boat, keeping the boat flat is critical�the boat makes leeway and the rudder works like a brake when you allow heel. Move your mainsheet and tiller extension to the same hand and use your free hand to toss the water in the bailer overboard.
Heading downwind, you always sit on the rail, heeling a little to windward to lift the leeward chine out of the water and to tilt the sail a little higher. In surf and big waves, move aft quite a bit to avoid submarining the bow under a wave and then move forward again. The amount of fore-and-aft body movement is greater in an Optimist than in some other singlehanders because the bow is blunt, so in waves you need to work hard to keep it above water.
Otherwise, the most important adjustment is your sprit tension. In light to medium winds, ease the sprit slightly when you round the weather mark so that the sail looks smooth. Top sailors grab the sheet at the ratchet block and pump it by extending their hand up over their heads. You are allowed one pump per wave, and at major regattas there are on-water judges keeping count.
Think about how far in or out you have the boom, and think about how much you should be moving fore and aft. This takes practice, always keeping the boat moving but at the slowest speed possible. You want just enough flow across the leech of your main to hold your spot. In light air, the key is rolling at the right time. Be patient, and wait until the boat is head to wind before you start the roll. Start from sitting inside the boat. As the boat passes head to wind, move to the old windward side to initiate the roll.
Then hop across to the new windward side, trying to land inside the boat so as not to over flatten. In all conditions, over-trim the mainsheet when you start your tack until head to wind so you maintain flow on your sail, then ease it through rest of the process and finally trim the sheet afterwards, usually after the boat has been flattened. The main trim is the same. Ease the main during the tack once you pass head to wind and then trim when fully hiked.
Over-rolling the boat and filling it with water is easily the worst mistake. In light air, be sure not to use too much rudder. We have one word to describe finding the right amount of roll for each condition�practice!
In light air, keep it smooth. Have the boat rocked to weather already, then just lean in and grab the parts of the mainsheet, lean out, and pull the sail over. Stand up and walk across the boat to avoid a big splash, then transition to heel the boat again to windward. In medium winds, your roll jibe is the same but involves a quick hop across the boat as you would in a tack.
In heavy air, the jibe is different. When you are ready to jibe, jibe with confidence by making a decisive turn at the same time that you pull the main over. As the sail comes over, cross the boat quickly to the rail and steer back to leeward on the new jibe.
Make sure they are fully inflated so less water gets in the boat. If you flip, right the boat from the windward side and spend at least one minute standing in the boat and bailing hard with both bailers, which are attached to the boat with bungee cords.
At that point you can start sailing and bail out the rest as you go. Practice making degree turns. Doing circles not only is good practice for when you may have to clear yourself from a foul in a race, but also teaches you to sail the boat well, using your body weight to trim and turn the boat.
The Optimist has a huge rudder, which also makes s fast, but good movement and trim is the key. It takes practice to learn where the edge is in heavy air. Other mistakes we see include using too much rudder instead of doing smooth roll tacks and roll jibes.
This applies to sailing in a straight line, too. For example, avoid using too much rudder downwind. If you start heeling to weather too much, the boat wants to head down. Instead of pushing the tiller to compensate, shift your body weight to leeward and trim the main. The Opti class is by far the largest and most dynamic one-design class, in part because it has the most variables on the planet.
Parents, coaches, and thousand of young sailors, growing up through a super-sensitive time of their lives. The basic strategies and tactics the class requires are a great outlet and an excellent way to learn the values of discipline and conservative decision-making. Whether you travel and learn about getting through airports and how to make friends in other countries, or you simply learn to take care of your own boat and sail on your own, Optimist sailing is a chance for you to learn a whole lot about yourself in a supportive, fun, rewarding environment.
The Optimist is sailed all over the world and has a half dozen continental championships. After sailors age out, some go on to contend for Laser Radial and 4.
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