Hi maybe it's just me but I can't stand optimist sailboats. Maybe it's the sawn-off boxy look. I don't know. Ever since I was aware of cats and tri's I've wondered if there was a viable multihull alternative.
I would love for my son (now 3) to learn to sail on a real boat. I mean a multihull of course.

Do any of you have an idea what boat would be the perfect Opti-killer?

Dennis

Check out the F12 forum.

Optis fill an important roll in youth Sailing, Introduction to the basics. After that,go forth and mutiply!

People are probably sick of me promoting Optis, but I still think it is the best possible boat for young kids to learn in. There are many reasons why it is the best choice.

1. They are everywhere. Most yacht clubs use them for their junior sailing programs.
2. The kids can learn best in an environment with a bunch of other kids instead of having adults involved.
3. MOST IMPORTANT is that an 8-year-old can sail an Optimist Dinghy by himself or herself, which gives them a feeling of power and control.
4. It is much easier to learn on a monohull than on a multihull, because a monohull gives you instant feedback (like heeling in a little puff of wind).
5. A monohull usually gives you better feel of the helm.
6. Optimist regattas are the largest in the world in the terms of boats that attend.
7. Because of the type of sail plan, Optis can go out in bigger winds and seas than most of us would venture out in on our "adult" boats, and this adds to the kids' confidence (while it scares the parents).
8. Many of the best sailors in the world, both monohull and multihull, started out in Optimists or Sabots or similar. This includes Randy Smyth and Hobie Alter Jr.
9. If your child starts out on an Optimist Dinghy, after they learn how to sail and how to control a boat in a variety of conditions, that child will be much more likely to be impressed by a multihull that goes faster. It will give them something to aspire to when they get a little older and start getting bored with the Opti.
10. It's too bad Optis are too small for most adults to learn to sail in them. <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif" alt="" />

Reason for NOT getting your child into Optis: If your child likes racing, you are going to have to give up your own racing for maybe years to take your child to Opti regattas. Most catamaran sailors are not willing to make that sacrifice. <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" />

Personally, I cannot think of any reason to NOT start a child in an Optimist -- well, unless the parent is so prejudiced against monohulls that he/she cannot be properly supportive to, primarily, get the kid interested in sailing with a group of their peers, and secondarily and later, to get the kid (and maybe his peers, as well) interested in switching to a catamaran.

Well, anyway, that's what I would do for my grandchildren, if they lived near a yacht club with a junior sailing program.

hmmmmm.

Yeah, Warbird. That's what I'm talking about. These kids really learn how to sail in big conditions. It's great!

I'd say the Sunfish is a good alternative. You can flip it and right it easily.

Especially the "flip it" part! <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

Look at the mainsail and wind direction in that photo! The Opti was surfing downhill so fast the main was actually a speed brake! Yee Ha! <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

mmmhmmm

I used to flip it for fun and step on the daggerboard. Then right it and step back inside. Didn't even get wet.

OK. I'd be a bit nervous in this scenario:


That wave looks like its going to break all over that kid.

If those pics are real, and the kids are from the US, we need them on Hobie 16s, so we can start winning the Worlds again!!! Talk about balls of bleeping steel...

Mike

That kid's from Argentina I think...

Is there a difference between an opti and a sabot? Lots of sabots around here for the kids.

Pretty similar, different rigs -

Sabot

Optimist

I dont like the term "opti killer", it is a negative term which reflects badly back on ourself (catsailors).


For the kids I like the F12 designs coming up now. Gato is building one of Scarecrows F12 designs, while Phil Brander have a different 12 footer in the works: http://www.catsailor.com/forums/showflat.php?Cat=0&Board=Test&Number=126046

Visit the F12 forum or the Builders forum on this site to see what Gato is doing.

The difference is that the sprit sail rig on the Opti allows it to adapt/adjust to a wide variety of wind conditions, sort of like you can do with the gaff rig on the Sunfish.

That's another neat thing about learning in the Opti: The kids learn to bail while they sail. <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

And both are valuable skills if they get a big boat someday. I'm not kidding. <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif" alt="" />

If I'm not mistaken, a Sabot has a lee board and an Opti has a huge dagger. In Northern California, they sail a boat called an El Toro, very similar to an Opti. Lot's of variants, but the Opti reigns king!

You're right, the Sabot has a leeboard that you switch from side to side.