O'Pen Bic

when the demo open bics came round to our club last summer they fell apart. broken mast on one, blocks on boom pulled out of another, you get the idea... and if a carbon mast snaps, carbon splinters and 7 year olds, doesnt sound healthy. however they were a piec of cake to rig and derig.

club now has 2 teras and they seem fine, a certain 10 year old who nicks his brothers laser 4.7 on really light days (and is still hiking) is gettting good, and he always comes in grinning.

Edited by mike ellis

You can buy them from andy at all good fun. He's been talking to bic and now his boats have kickers which make them go much better in the heavy stuff

Originally posted by Philsy Sorry to drag up this old thread. and you have to sit right on the transom when going downwind to stop them swamping - once the kids move onto another boat, they then have to learn NOT to sit behind the tiller...

Depends if they end up in a N12 or a Cherub!

For sailing confidence and basic sailing skill and racing there isn't anything to touch
an Oppy. The large size of the racing fleets and the system that has been developed for the kids to learn to sail and race is unbeatable.

Sure enough the boat is a tub ( I kind of like the classic sprit rig ) but who's ego are you looking to change the boat for?

Going to any other boat will undoubtedly slow down the learning process. Your kid will be in a minority, not be benefiting from a well sorted training system and have less opportunity to make friends which helps keep up the enthusiasum for sailing.

Obviously this all depends on what you have at your club for junior training and at what stage your child is at. But as long as you don't get sucked into the Oppy ' I must have the most modern whatever to make me go fast' culture ( that to comes from the parients ) it's a fantastic class.

We've had a lot of up's and downs with my son learning to sail ( bad experiences with other boats that knocked his confidence ) and without the confidence the Oppy provides, the Oppy system at our club and the support of the class system and other partent's I could almost guarantee he wouldn't be sailing anymore.

So for me I'd swallow the pride and let the kid decide.

What I dont understand is this desire to force kids into youth squad boats, just because the parents never became GBR representatives they want their kids to live out their dreams for them.
If your daughter doesnt like the oppie, has been sailing it for a while but would rather give up the sport than carry on in a tub, then look at the alternatives. It would be crazy to lose another keen youngster from the sport just because they dont want to sail a certain boat.
The Open BIC is a challenge for smaller kids and is only worth bothering with if you purchase the optional kicker. The RS Tera looks to be developing well and with the launch of the RS acadamies could help build the class. It may also enable your daughter to progress into the Feva. Alternatively try the Topper 4.2, a young lad at our club tried his ne 4.2 rig the other week and slaughtered the standard toppers. With this option you have the ability of fitting the full rig later as she grows.

Paul

Originally posted by craiggo just because the parents never became GBR representatives they want their kids to live out their dreams for them.

The parents at my club have agreed not to get Oppies because even the slightest risk of becoming Oppie parents worries them so much...