Optimist Sailing

[Jim_ME]

The paint looks nice...aquamarine?

Glad that H and JP are enjoying working on the Opti, and getting out sailing. Hope that is the start of a great season. :)

[Captain Smollett]

The paint looks nice...aquamarine?

Thanks!  It's more of a minty green color.

The hull color is called "lark green."  All paint for this boat is Sherwin Williams Porch & Floor Latex.  I thought about putting a coat or two of clear over the top color coat, but have not done and probably won't.

The color scheme and logo were 'designed' on the computer, so we played with the green background until they liked the balance/look.  Then, we printed it and took to the paint store to get them blended.   ;)

Hunter got the inside (white) painted yesterday right before the thunderstorm showed up.

The paint has held up good for a couple of years, especially considering it was only a single coat put on before. She was due for some attention, but not really "bad."

eclipse is also getting new airbags this season; on order now.  Two of the old ones had split their outer cloth on the last outing, but inner bladders still held air.  New bailer and blade bags coming this season, too. 

She got a new sail a couple of years ago that has been dutifully kept in a bag when not in use, so with this year's maintenance...she's in pretty good shape!!

She's one of the very few wooden Opti's in our immediate area; most are glass.  Most folks around here want the glass boats to be 'class legal' and because they are 'racier.'  I like the wood.  She has "Character" in my opinion.  I'd like to know who built her; whoever it was, a fine job was done.

There may be some wooden ones in the fleet down around Beaufort as the older, wiser guys down there occasionally host boat building 'lessons' and I'd be surprised if Opti's were not on the menu.

[Jim_ME]

There may be some wooden ones in the fleet down around Beaufort as the older, wiser guys down there occasionally host boat building 'lessons' and I'd be surprised if Opti's were not on the menu.

Charlie showed me some photos of the plywood dinghies he and his group of students were building in his workshops. It might be possible to do a longer, more advanced course sometime and build some Optis?

[Captain Smollett]

Charlie showed me some photos of the plywood dinghies he and his group of students were building in his workshops. It might be possible to do a longer, more advanced course sometime and build some Optis?

That's a good idea, and as I said, I think some folks do that.  They do similar things in Beaufort frequently and I think I've read of some goings on in Oriental as well.

In regard to the Optimist in particular, the "problem" with this stems from a cultural attitude more than anything practical.

The Optimist has a storied history.  It was originally designed for just this purpose: to be easily and inexpensively home built for club sailing.  The boat was so successful, soon "the wrong people" were winning races.

Enter the "Blue Jacket" crowd, as some like to call certain yachties, who got a bit upset that "lower class" kids were beating THEIR children at races.  And thus was born what was to become an International Organization complete with rules, regulations, guidelines and...increased costs.

My understanding is that it is EXTREMELY difficult to build a wooden Optimist that meets class rules.  There are over 500 points of measure, and some of the tolerances are sub-millimeter over 8 ft runs.  Some of the metrics have to do with the compound curves and would be tough for a home builder to even measure properly to SEE if he got it right.

There is only a handful (three I think) of "approved" glass hull Opti manufacturers.  Race boats with racing rigs and blades can easily run over $10,000.  It's a shame that this is what it has become based on her humble and honorable beginnings...the initial concept was to 'get kids sailing...ALL kids that wanted to learn."

If a person wanted to build a boat SOLELY for 'fun sailing' with no wish to race in sanctioned races, a group building session would be a lot of fun for parents and children.  Enter that cultural aspect, though: there is a strong pressure in these parts to "race."  Resisting that pressure takes a special purity of love for sailing itself, and the parent casual about sailing (or completely ignorant of it) is, I fear, unlikely to make the commitment in time and resources.

Used glass hulls that meet the class requirements (though may not be super competitive) can be had for $500-$1000 and sometimes less.  Given a similar financial outlay and much less "work" to get the little one sailing, and ending up with a boat that (technically) meets the class requirements, it seems sad but most likely that most folks will choose this path.

I thought about building one so we could have two; as my daughter is getting close to outgrowing the Opti, I'm looking at other options.  I lean toward something small, perhaps nestable, but better suited to someone taller and heavier than the Opti is really geared toward.

[CharlieJ]

Not an Optimist, but VERY near you  ;D

http://www.bandbyachtdesigns.com/yachtt3.htm

[Captain Smollett]

The Catspaw is one on my short list.   :D

[Norman]

Some one in the Optimist community should do as the Moth class did years ago.  They split off a Classic Moth class for the traditional less costly version, with loose measurement rules so home builders could have some latitude in the features of the sailboats.  They race for fun!

See wiki reference at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moth_%28dinghy%29.  Scroll down to REBIRTH for that part of the Moth history.  The American Moth was born in North Carolina.  The modern Australian/New Zealand Moth has foils, and reaches 30 knots!

My first boat was a derelict Moth that I "saved from the dump" for a few days, then sent it on its final trip.  It was home built of ordinary plywood and painted on the outside only.  Stored outside, simply upside down, it soon rotted everywhere.  I thought that I could re-skin with new plywood and sail her, but the frames were rotten too!  Out only the gas for the trip to get the boat at his house, the "free" boat did not cost me much.  The guy that gave it to me had 3 or 4 years of great sailing on a community lake before she started leaking beyond bailing and was abandoned.  At a total cost equal to 3 time the price of 3 sheets of 1/4 inch plywood, very inexpensive sailing, and a fine education on sail technique.  A few years later he crewed on my Lightning in the Presidents Cup Regatta.

Those inexpensive build it yourself boats introduced many youngsters to sailing and boat carpentry.  There needs to be more fleets of such boats today.

Home made Optimists need to be reborn.

[Norman]

I should have included that Hunter and Jonathan are making outstanding progress as sailors!  Small dinks and such are the absolute best place to start for young sailors, and produce what I call 3D awareness.  Learning on larger boats tends to produce a focus on a narrower field of sailing activity, as some one else is responsible for much of what is happening.

Your comment on Jonathan learning to focus outside the Opti is exactly the point of single hand boats to learn on.  The little craft do little damage if they run into something, beyond embarrassment to the skipper, but the lessons of hits or near misses develops an all around and up the mast point of view very early.  Both Hunter and Jonathan are off to an outstanding start in the Opti!

After a summer of sailing the dink, they will both have the skills to look at the sails on the big boat and know if they need trimming.     Congratulations on a fine start!

[Captain Smollett]

Those inexpensive build it yourself boats introduced many youngsters to sailing and boat carpentry.  There needs to be more fleets of such boats today.

Home made Optimists need to be reborn.

Grog for that.

I think there are SOME home made Opti's being built here and there, but as I said before...I think the problem lies in the resistance folks get in the form of "Why build one, if you DO choose to race you won't be able to."  Even that's not necessarily true, but (a) it's very difficult and (b) a wood boat will be hard-pressed to be competitive anywhere above the beginner level.

After a summer of sailing the dink, they will both have the skills to look at the sails on the big boat and know if they need trimming.     Congratulations on a fine start!

Hunter does quite well sailing the 18 ft trailer boat, though she lacks self-confidence in handling two sails at the same time.  That's on the slate for 'work' this summer if our schedule lets us ever get on the water.

She's also sailed the Alberg 30, though with 'help and guidance.'

JP sails the Opti well enough, but he is still building confidence in himself as solo sailor.  It's a time-on-the-water thing; he enjoys sailing on the bigger boats and is learning the ropes a bit at a time.

The other day he was talking about taking the Opti fishing.... 8)

[Jim_ME]

The Optimist has a storied history.  It was originally designed for just this purpose: to be easily and inexpensively home built for club sailing.  The boat was so successful, soon "the wrong people" were winning races.

Yup...nothing worse...racing riffraff who don't know their place...

Enter the "Blue Jacket" crowd, as some like to call certain yachties, who got a bit upset that "lower class" kids were beating THEIR children at races. 

And hopefully also beating them up at the after-race event...or is that too optimistic...?  ;)

[Jim_ME]

When I read about Hunter and Jonathan [getting] such an early start [at sailing], I find myself wishing that I had been so fortunate myself.

...And thus was born what was to become an International Organization complete with rules, regulations, guidelines and...increased costs.

My understanding is that it is EXTREMELY difficult to build a wooden Optimist that meets class rules.  There are over 500 points of measure, and some of the tolerances are sub-millimeter over 8 ft runs.  Some of the metrics have to do with the compound curves and would be tough for a home builder to even measure properly to SEE if he got it right.

There is only a handful (three I think) of "approved" glass hull Opti manufacturers.  Race boats with racing rigs and blades can easily run over $10,000.  It's a shame that this is what it has become based on her humble and honorable beginnings...the initial concept was to 'get kids sailing...ALL kids that wanted to learn."

It is a shame.