Ozi-Ozi-Ozi, Opti-Opti-Opti

by Helen Hopcroft on 4 May 2007 It’s the six most feared words in the English language; ‘Daddy, can I have a pony?’ The horse itself is relatively cheap; however this is just a clever ploy to suck you in. To ‘eat like a horse’ is not just a charming figure of speech. Some unlucky parents can quote the daily price of a bale of Lucerne hay, it fluctuates more than oil. If it’s not too late, why not consider getting the kids into sailing.

Sail-World spoke to OziOpti’s Steven Bond about why the Optimist dinghy is good for junior sailing. It’s a subject that he’s passionate about. The company slogan is ‘getting kids in boats’ which pretty much sums up the philosophy of the boat’s design.

‘The Optimist is a one design boat so it provides a level playing field, they trade globally which means that they are affordable. That gives more kids on the water; it means greater participation and better retention.’

‘Kids are spending more time worrying about their own boat than trying to stay in control. They learn more technically and tactically and that leads to satisfaction, greater interest and longer sailing careers.’

Bond has impressive statistics to prove the value of the boat to developing sailing culture. The Opti is the biggest class of sailing yacht with 400,000 boats worldwide and 150,000 active competitors in 110 countries. Almost 2/3 of Olympic medalists at the last two Olympic had been Optimist sailors.

He is widely recognized as a driving force behind the growth of the Optimist fleet in the region.

‘There are huge Optimist fleets out of Asia and New Zealand and we are going that way in Australia now. In New Zealand there are 4500. Singapore has 300 in the training squad alone, around 800 boats all up. These countries have been the top nations at the past two Worlds Championships and are keen to help Australian kids lift their standards as training partners’.

‘Optimists are basically the only class in Asia. I doubt any other class in Australia has had 90 boats registered or delivered in the last 12 months.’

‘It took 25 years to register 310 International Optimist Dinghies in Australia, and since February 2006 we’ve increased that by 30% and broken through the 400 boat mark. So that is 90 Optimists in just on 14 months sourced from Australia, New Zealand and Singapore. ’

Bond reports that a number of clubs are reluctant to consider bringing in the Optimist against their traditional junior boat. But he cites the Mornington Yacht Club as an example. Apparently their junior sailing fleet was down to just one sabot in 2005/06; they now boast a learn to sail fleet of 10 OziOpti – Tackers (or poly dodgem boats) plus a fleet of 16 privately owned Opti’s.

‘There is now a complete structure in place which is consistently being improved but at least we’ve got a plan that’s affordable, structured and reduces the reliance on volunteers for instructing and maintenance, I love it when a plan comes together!’

‘We’ve now got class associations in every state. Tasmania where the first Opti’s were registered has gone from 4 to 8 IOD’95 boats since the national titles this January. WA (the most mature Opti state with about 150 boats) had 85 boats at the States. NSW had a 100% increase to 34, whilst Victoria had a 350% increase from 14 to 46. Sure, it is not from a big starting point but it is moving faster than I have thought possible’ says Bond.

The current Optimist Association committee met mid last year to set a strategy to achieve critical mass as soon as possible. A key point was establishing the Yachting Australia endorsed Australian Optimist Sailing Team (AOST) of 15 – 20 kids selected at the Nationals with wildcard places at the discretion of a team selection committee.

Sydney sailor and sailmaker Rob Brewer is the AOST Coach and the team-training program includes Adelaide International Regatta (March), New Zealand Nationals (Easter) and Singapore Nationals (June). In future years AOST will select five kids from these events to go to the Optimist World Championships.

OziOpti and TOLL Shipping are supporting the class and AOST by making charter boats available for the kids at every regatta; ‘so it’s a lot easier for kids to travel when all they need is a sail, it’s obviously cost efficient and provides international competition.’

Since Christmas OziOpti and TOLL have moved boats from the first international Optimist regatta in Australia as part of Sail Melbourne; the Pacific Rim Championships at Mornington Yacht Club (where seven countries were represented including Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong, Singapore, New Caledonia, Norway and Sweden); the Nationals in Hobart, Adelaide International Regatta and the State Championships in Victoria, NSW, Tasmania and SA.

An Optimist dinghy, or Opti as they are affectionately known, was on display at the recent Club Marine Sailboat Show in Melbourne. The Observer’s Book of Small Craft defines the boat as a ‘flat bottomed, hard-chine, pram-bow dinghy with a una spritsail.’ It has also been described in less flattering terms as a ‘bath tub’.

Bath tub is not a nice word for a boat. But the Opti does have wide, rounded white gunwales, a very smoothly molded interior, and a flat square bow.

The stall was being manned by keen local dinghy sailor Jenny Vickery. She explained that her daughter Freya became committed to sailing as a sport after racing Optimists.

‘My daughters fifteen now. But she started in Optimists after getting a scare in another sort of boat that wasn’t really appropriate for her. She jumped into an Opti with some friends and has gone from strength to strength.’

‘I find the boat offers a lot of nurturing aspects for a beginner sailor who’s a little bit shy.’

‘I think the shyer kids sort of found the other stuff a bit tough in their early 7, 8, 9 year old groups. Might have gone off and done something else. This boat allows them to go out with confidence.’

From a parent’s perspective she said that there are many positive aspects to the boats.

‘The kids can rig it themselves, it’s fairly trouble free, and the fact that you know that your child’s not scared in it. They can’t sink them. They float when they’re full of water. And when they’re first starting out that’s very reassuring.’

‘They play a little game where they stand on the gunwale and steer. And if you can stand on the gunwale of any little boat and not tip it, it just shows how sturdy it is.’

The hull weighs about 35 kilograms which is another parent friendly feature.

‘Transportation is easy. We pop them on the roof. My daughter and I could put it on the roof easily if my husband was off. And everything just sort of rolls up in a pretty compact way. If we travel overseas we would just roll the sail up and take it with us in our hand luggage.’

Jenny is keen to stress that the social side of dinghy racing is great for both parents and children.

‘You can also race really competitively. (Freya has) travelled to New Zealand a couple of times and taken part in 250 boat fleet racing. She also did the Pacific Rims in New Caledonia.’

‘And from that has a huge network of friends. She’s grown; she’s now sailing 29ers and 420s and she already has this broad group of friends who say ‘come and stay at our place’’

She has been impressed with how quickly the Optimist fleet has grown.

‘In New Zealand they’ve found that in 10 years they’ve doubled the number of children on the water. They’ve gone from three thousand to six thousand junior sailors on the water.’

‘They seem to be really taking off. What kids are finding out is that they can jump from their Minnows and their Sabots; they can jump into an Optimist and get that international exposure. Then come back with the knowledge that they’ve gained; take it back to their own fleets. And so it’s all good for junior sailing.’

Jenny and her husband are both keen sailors. They were hoping tha