Learning to sail and to race in Optimist dinghies

The Optimist Class has voted to offer one years free membership in 2006 to first timers as part of its brief to encourage and facilitate training of young people to sail and to race.

At the time of writing, the Optimist Class in the UK is celebrating a record entry of 335 sailors aged between 8-15 racing at the Volvo Musto National Championships held in Pwllheli this August.

But the Optimist single hander class has an objective that goes beyond getting sailors to the start line at its Championships, the rules specifically require the Class to “encourage and facilitate training of young people to sail and to race”. With the close co operation of the RYA and the help of our sponsors Volvo and Musto, the Optimist class aims to work with and provide any Club with the tools and support to train its youngest sailors to from their first seconds of association with a sailing boat.

As part of this “encouragement” the Optimist Class is offering Free Membership in 2006 to all first time members (one per family) to join the Class and find out what is going on.

Starting with a Training Logbook and a series of Award Levels that can be coached by Club sailors (often parents), the Class then provides an integrated programme for all its sailors that can take them all the way through from learning to enjoy sailboats, to some Club racing, local regattas, open meetings, Squads, Team Racing, championships, overseas events, GBR Teams at Worlds and European level, and transition with the RYA to Olympic classes. For instance, the Optimist is the only class that organises a formal week of coaching for developing sailors at the same venue during its National Championships.

• With Over 150,000 kids in over 100 countries the Optimist is not only the biggest dinghy class in the world, it is the fastest growing. An RYA recognised class, the Optimist is the only dinghy recognised by the ISAF* exclusively for under 16s.
• At the Athens Olympics, over 60% of sailors and 70% of the Medal winners were ex Optimist Class sailors.
• So why is this "a flat-bottomed, hard-chine, pram-bow dinghy with a una spritsail" (Observer) so popular.
• In part it’s the utility and accessibility. Easily transported on top of any car,
• Safe and simple enough for an 8-year old .
• Exciting and technical enough for a 15-year old”.

But still a significant part of the appeal to beginners at Club level is the Club based training and coaching structured by the Class Association and the RYA, tailored for first day start to sail beginners, club sailors, world champions and transition to the Olympic classes.

Of course the Optimist is not unique and sailors reach the water through many other routes and RYA recognised classes, but nevertheless the Optimist takes its “start sailing” responsibilities very seriously.

Club Based

The Optimist Class Association in the UK is called IOCA (UK). IOCA functions through Flotillas, groups of a few Ordinary Members at a Club that have applied for recognition as a Flotilla. Each Club based Flotilla has a Flotilla Leader whose job it is to find out about the Training LogBook and Awards, ( on the Website) administer and arrange Club based training and coaching in line with the Logbook and Awards and communicates between members and with IOCA. The Flotilla Leader lets sailors know about subsidised Open Area training organised by IOCA for sailors from groups of clubs in one region, lets them know about the RYA Zone Squad training and Squads, organises local regattas. A benefit of this Club structured approach is that IOCA is acutely aware of its responsibility not to strip members entirely away from Clubs for the excitement of the Open circuit.

Why join the Class Association?

Whats the point of start sailors joining the Class Association when it may be years before they can benefit? IOCA is focussed on delivering added value from the very first sailing experience. Very many sailing clubs in the UK introduce the youngest sailors to the water through voluntary parent based groups of enthusiasts. Many clubs have something plastic that looks a bit like an Optimist to teach kids to sail in. But the look on an experienced club racing sailors face when confronting the ties, pegs, sprit etc of an Oppy rig if he is not an ex Oppy sailor himself is usually a picture. In some clubs these organisers would like more guidance about good coaching practice for these very young start to sailors. Even RYA Dinghy Instructors can find that there are different techniques and exercises needed when working with a hoard of Sunday Morning youngsters in single handers in the boatpark, and then getting to grips with the specifics of the boat itself and its set up. So the answer is that there is usually a lot of value to be had by a club when it starts up an Optimist Flotilla and its members join IOCA. Of course this will be particularly good value in 2006 when the first year will be free for new members.

IOCA LogBook Training Programme and Awards

The IOCA LogBook Training Programme and Awards was introduced by IOCA introduced in consultation with the RYA to provide the many Clubs with these junior groups with the tools to deliver on the job. Much of it has great similarity with the RYA schemes. New joiners each get a free Optimist LobBook that includes the training programme for each of the IOCA Award Levels. We are working on training programmes for the Club sailors who also find themselves “helping out” with coaching too. The RYA Club Racing Coach is the best proximity that we have for non Dinghy Instructors, and many don’t sign up for that as they are sometimes intimidated by the qualification required to get bon the course. Something more is needed for those working with our most vulnerable and impressionable sailors.

The IOCA Logbook Training Programme is split into manageable sections demarked by Awards. The first Start Sailing Award is focussed on winning enthusiasm from the first time afloater to come back again. One of the first actions is to encourage the nascent single handed sailor to “get a buddy” to work with in rigging and launching the single hander and to share the experience with. Later this can develop into “training partners”, but to begin with it is help to get a boat into the water and make a friend. This of course helps the cross over into a double hander as a sailor makes that transition. The programme offers advice on simple matters that can be a surprise for non sailing parents consigning their youngsters to a club programme for the first time. What clothing is necessary, wetsuits?, drysuits?, buoyancy? sunscreen, nutrituion, hydration, all covered in increasing levels of detail as the programme goes along. It also makes the point that learn to sail in sailing clubs is not a crèche situation, and parents need to be around and to help out and be responsible too.

The Logbook and Awards cover three further Grades of learn to sail that gradually introduce some racing into the picture, after that the Grade 4, the Coastal Awards, Team Racing and Assisting Instructor awards become progressively more technical and demanding. The Assisting the Coach Awards encourages the sailors who have been out on the “Circuit” to come back and spread their experiences with the start to sailors all over again, and to help the race officers and generally contribute back to good Club membership.

There is a guide for Clubs that goes alongside the Logbook, advising on the types of exercises that are appropriate for learning each section, and how to run them.

The competitive programme

Squads

As well as learning to sail, Optimist sailors also learn to race. IOCA has a progressive programme for the more competitive that is also very closely linked to the RYA through the Junior Classes system. IOCA likes to see its fledgling racers start in separate groups called “Regatta Fleets”, they then progress into the main fleets after a bit of experience, and these main fleets are split usually in to Junior (under 12) and Senior (12-15). Club sailors are encouraged to attend some Open Meetings and to attend Area Training & Open Training where the RYA start scouting for “Zone Squad” sailors to coach in the Winter for their world class sailing talent.

The RYA Zone Squad is usually a very highly prized accomplishment for a young racer. These RYA Zone Squads operate across all RYA recognised classes. Final Selection is usually through a series of races jointly organised by the Class and the RYA.

After the Zone Squads, the Optimist offers a “Development Squad”, a “National Intermediate Squad” and a “National Squad” with sailors progressing through as their talents develop. The RYA provide a lot of funding resource for all these programmes and assistance in coach selection. The National Squad are often coached by Olympic sailors. The Squads attend a series of usually 6 coaching weekends throughout the Winter, honing their skills with expert coaches and producing the formidable talent that goes on to make up a significant part of Team GBR.

Reaching these National Squads is selective based upon National Ranking Points. Each Year IOCA runs three “Major Events”. An Inland Championships, a Nationals, and an End of Seasons. Entrants earn points in relation to their results in these events, which ranks them during the year. At the end of each year the rankings are used to “select” sailors and invite them to form a part of each of the Squads.

Teams

The RYA /Team GBR and IOCA co ordinate and support representative Teams of Optimist sailors to go overseas to take part in international events. The Teams are usually selected from the results at a series of races held over a number of days called “the Selections”. These subsidised teams go to the Worlds (Uruguay next December) the Europeans (Holland next year) the third Team goes to the French Nationals ( a 650 boat entry usually) and a team made up of the top 16 junior age group sailors not in other teams goes across to the Irish Nationals with coaches and ribs in support, often for their first experience of International competition representing their country.

In addition to these representative teams, IOCA is committed to supporting other Optimist sailors who get together in groups and want to contest recognised regattas overseas.

Finally, the RYA will look amongst these sailors for those it wants to adopt into transitional squads for the Youth Olympic and ISAF classes.

However this all starts with the grass roots, and IOCA is fully satisfying its remit if a sailor who steps into an Optimist is still enjoying time on the water in ripe old age and has never had an interest even to look at the Olympics on the telly.

Contacts:

Optimist Class Co-ordinator
Mrs. Fiona Rainback
tel 01202 668158
email iocauk@btinternet.com

Training Officer
Mr. Richard Thomas
tel 01489 576934
email thomasrgt@hotmail.com