Optimist dinghy

Infobox Sailboat Specifications

---

class_symbol =
numberofcrew = One
loa = 7 ft 9 in (2.36 m)
lwl = 7 ft (2.13 m)
beam = 3 ft 8 in (1.12 m)
draft = 5 in (0.13 m) /
2 ft 9 in (0.84 m)
hull = 77 lb (35 kg)
mainsailandjib=
mastheight = 7 ft 5 in (2.26 m)
mainsail = 35 ftsu|p=2 (3.3 msu|p=2)
dpn =
phrf =
portsmouth =
updated = The Optimist is a small, single-crew sailing dinghy for children up to the age of about 15. Nowadays boats are usually made of fiber reinforced plastic, although wooden boats are still built.

It is one of the most popular sailing dinghies in the world, with over 132,000 boats officially registered with the class and many more built but never registered [International Optimist Class Website. [http://www.optiworld.org/ioda-faq.html#sstatistics] ] .

The Optimist is also recognized as an International Class by the International Sailing Federation.

Origin

History

The Optimist was designed in 1947 by Clark Mills. The design was slightly modified and introduced to Europe by the Dane, Axel Damsgaard, and spread outwards across Europe from Scandinavia. The design was standardized in 1960 and became a strict one-design in 1995.

The Optimist is a pram, meaning a boat with a flat bow. It is essentially designed to be a contoured box made of plywood or glass-reinforced plastic. It has good handling characteristics despite its squared-off appearance. Mills built the first boat on a commission from the local Optimist Club as a boat which a youngster could build themselves. Mills claimed that it was the largest possible usable sailboat that could be built from two 4ftx8ft sheets of plywood.

Description

ail

The single sail of the Optimist is sprit-rigged. Two battens stiffen the leech. It is secured evenly with ties along the luff to the mast and along the foot to the boom, pulled down tightly by a vang. The light, slim third spar, the sprit, extends through a loop at the peak of the sail; the bottom rests in the eye of a short cable (sometimes referred to as the snotter) which hangs along the front edge of the mast. Raising and lowering the sprit and adjusting the boom vang allow for adaptation of sail trim to a range of wind conditions.

A monograph-style "IO" insignia (after IODA - the International Optimist Dinghy Association) on the sail is a registered trade-mark and may only be used under licence from the International Optimist Association. Optimists also have a national sail number using the Olympic abbreviation of their country and a sequential number.

Hull

Just in front of a bulkhead, which partitions the boat nearly in half, is the daggerboard case. Right behind it on the centerline of the hull floor are attached a pulley and ratchet block. These anchor the sheet and its pulley on the boom directly above. At the bow resides a thwart to support the mast which passes through a hole in its center.

Buoyancy bags are installed inboard along each side in the front half of the boat and at the stern to add buoyancy in the event of capsizing. Two straps run lengthwise along the floor from bulkhead to stern. These and a tiller extension allow a sailor to hang off the side for weight distribution--commonly called "hiking out". This can be crucial to maintaining the boat in near horizontal disposition during heavy air.

The vast majority of hulls today are made of glass-reinforced plastic, although it is still possible to make and buy wooden hulls.

Introductory sailboat

Optimists are among the only boats well-suited for complete beginners to intermediate sailors between the ages of 7 and 15. Very small children are sometimes "doubled up" in Optimists but in general the boats should be regarded as single-handers - it is in this mode that children gain the most in terms of confidence and improved skills. Most sailing schools have a number of them and they are the first boat most beginners will sail.

First-timer classes offered teach the rudiments of sailing technique in a variety of conditions depending on regional weather patterns but many also offer immediate immersion into competition within the topography of a standard race course.

Optimists are also the main training ground for future Olympic sailors. Over 60% start in the boat and over 40% of them are already international competitors by the age of 13-15. By December of the year in which they turn 15, Optimist racers are said to "age out"; that is, they become too old to continue racing.

The Optimist is the biggest and most competitive youth racing class in the world. As well as the annual world championship the class also has six continental championships, attended by a total of over 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", 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 first World Championships were held in Great Britain in 1962, and they have since been arranged annually. For the first 20 years, the class was dominated by sailors from the Scandinavian countries, with 13 world champions. In the 1990s Argentina was by far the dominant country, and Argentina and Peru have ever since been the best team-racing countries in the world (the two together having won 12 team racing championships (IODA Challenge Cup) since 1990). Since the turn of the millennium there has been no single dominant country, with medallists from countries such as Trinidad, Bermuda and Malaysia.

Optimist Specifications & Construction:
* Rig: Cat
* Hull: FRP, wood or wood/epoxy, hard chine, flat bottom.
* Keel: Daggerboard
* Spars: Wood, aluminum or carbon fiber.

Manufacture

Over 4,000 boats a year are produced by nearly 40 builders worldwide. A list of them is available at [http://www.optiworld.org/ioda-builders.html www.optiworld.org/ioda-builders.html]

Pictures

Optimist Racing Teams

Team Chil of Chilmark, Massachusetts

External links

* [http://www.optiworld.org/ Optimist Class Association]
* [http://www.aioda.com/ Optimist Dinghy Association, Australia]
* [http://www.boda.bm/ Bermuda Optimist Dinghy Association]
* [http://www.aoe.ec/ Ecuador Optimist Association]
* [http://www.iodai.com/ International Optimist Dinghy Association in Ireland]
* [http://www.optimistjolle.no/ Optimist Class Norway]
* [http://www.optimist.co.za/ Optimist Class Association, South Africa]
* [http://www.sail123.com/coda Canadian Optimist Dinghy Association (CODA)]

Footnotes