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Oldest videos of sailing in Optimist dinghies

by Magnus Smith 1 Dec 2023 15:59 PST

Our video archive is fully searchable, and linked to all the clubs and classes in our database. It is updated weekly with the latest videos of sailing, but here we delve into the past, and round-up everything that shows sailing in Oppies.

The class makes an appearance at various moments in this footage from Lake Mcilwane in 1971 including a few close ups. This is the oldest we could find.

Footage of the Munich 1972 Olympics shows the Kiel ceremony and Dragon racing, but you'll spot Oppies at 1m28s.

Optimists in Germany, 1970s has video on the Südsee Braunschweig and Steinhuder Meer.

1976 Kerr Lake - Optimist

Optimist sailing on Prams Kerr Lake 1977 seems to how a model Opti too!

A newsreel from the London Boat Show 1979 (Earls Court) briefly shows an Oppi.

The open Dutch championship 1988 was held at Andijk, and you can skip the intro by going to 2m10s immediately.

We haven't found any older videos that show these boats, but do get in touch if you know of any interesting footage. You can submit video links to us for immediate review.

More links to videos:

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