"It's not about the boat"

Only new to Australia the International Optimist Dinghy is currently raced by more than 150,000 sailors in over 110 countries worldwide.  Over 85% of the medal winning skippers at the Beijing Olympics were former Optimist sailors? (That basically means all the non-Australian winners.)

The Optimist is an old fashioned gaff rigged scow intended to be sailed single handed but suitable for smaller kids to share while learning.

  It has the all the good looks and performance of a bathtub.

Parents like Opti's because they are very easy to maintain.   They are well put together, all parts are standard and very easily replaced.  

This boat is particularly kind to timid learners because it is very stable.    This makes the Opti an ideal training boat for the, variable, land affected sailing conditions in Middle Harbour around NSC.  

  More advanced sailors enjoy very competitive sailing at both club and interclub level.   There is an excellent class association and associated training programs.

The class is limited to children up to the age of 15 years.

Introduced to Northbridge in January 2009 we have a racing fleet of about 25 boats as at August 2010.

For all Opti & Junior sailing correspondence please use our new email address which goes to our Junior Captains David Ross & Brendan Moore.  


Email : juniorsailing@nsc.asn.au 



A Great Gift - Only a few left & after that ?

"I woke up one Christmas morning to find an Optimist dinghy beside my bed. I guess I have been sailing mad ever since"
......Ben Ainslie (English Olympic Gold Medallist)


         Calender of Opti Events of interest to NSW sailors.
        
           http://www.optinsw.yachting.org.au/calendar/

August 15 sees the last of the RPAYC Ice Breakers series which is available to all. Following the next week, August 22nd, is a Team's Racing Training  Clinic by NSWIODA and its coach Tom Brewer at Northbridge. This will be a good intro for all our Opti sailors especially as we hope to host a Junior Teams Racing event next year.

Here are a couple of Teams Racing links to have a look at.

http://www.teamracing.org/ 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Team_racing

Racing in conjunction with MHYC Opti sailors is anticipated this season with details to follow soon. This will allow for us to enjoy bigger fleets with our new afternoon racing format.
 

 2011 Australian Championships                            
  • 9th to 16th January 2011 - RPAYC

  • Opti & Junior Bulletin on its way soon!
Seabreeze Winds & Tides NSW