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Optimist (Opti) The Optimist is a small, single-handed sailing dinghy used mainly for teaching children up to age 15 how to sail. Most boats are made of fiberglass, although wooden boats are still built. Optis are one of the most popular sailing dinghies in the world, with more than 140,000 boats officially registered with the class and many more built and never registered. The Opti is a pram, meaning a boat with a flat bow. It is essentially designed to be a contoured box that has good handling characteristics despite its squared-off appearance. The boats are regarded as single-hand vessels offering children the most to gain in terms of confidence and improved skills. Optimists are also the main training ground for future Olympic sailors. More than 60% start in this boat and over 40% of them are international competitors by the age of 13-15. The Optimist is the biggest and most competitive youth racing class in the world. The annual world championship has six continental championships attended by more than 700 sailors a year. Many thousands more take part in international and national regattas. Many of the top world Optimist sailors immediately become world-class Laser Radial or 4.7 sailors after they "age-out" around 13-15 years old, and even average Optimist racers later do well in the "more advanced" classes including double-handers such as the 420 and 29er. Optimists provide real international competition because they are manufactured to the same specification by dozens of builders. The Opti is also recognized as an International Class by the International Sailing Federation. |
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420s Built in buoyancy tanks make the boat very safe even when inverted. When a trapeze and spinnaker are added, 420s provide the capability for advanced sailing techniques for international standard sailors, while still remaining affordable and accessible to beginners. The 420 is the youth development boat in 43 countries and is the ISAF Youth World Championship boat. Despite the emergence of newer, commercial driven classes and asymmetrics, the 420 is still the world's top youth training boat. Worldwide, there are more than 56,000 registered 420s. Source: Wikipedia – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/420_(dinghy) and International 420 Class – http://www.420sailing.org/base.php?CPageID=1&SessionCRC=-1131927932 |
Adult Sailing Program:
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Flying Scot A great learn-to-sail boat, the Scot's performance offers thrills to even experienced sailors and provides for tight, competitive racing. There are more than 100 fleets racing Flying Scots in the USA and Canada. The Scot is normally raced with a crew of two or three. Weighing 850 pounds, a Flying Scot carries a mainsail, jib and spinnaker. Simple rigging and uniform construction fosters tactical racing. The Flying Scot Sailing Association sponsors many national, district and regional events each year. The Scot helped premier sailing to the Special Olympics World Games in 1995 as the official two athlete boat. In 1998, the Flying Scot was awarded the high honor of being included in the American Sailing Hall of Fame. Racing fleets, however, only account for about one-half of the Flying Scots sailing becaues the boat is an excellent gunk hole cruiser and family day sailer. There are frequent non-race events in popular cruising areas. Sailing a Flying Scot can be like joining a large family – the class is well known for welcoming new sailors and helping them improve, strong friendships and great social events. Source: Flying Scot Sailing Association – http://www.fssa.com/ht/int/int-fsintro.htm and About.com – http://sailing.about.com/od/buyingasailboat/p/flyscot.htm |