Moving on from the Lymington Optimist Flotilla

The first question to ask is "when are you too big for an Optimist?" If you are a very good sailor, you can be competitive until you are 15 years old inspite of your size and your weight. Ben Ainslie weighed 63kg (10 stone) when he won a light wind National Championship in 1992. However, most people who weigh over 55kg will find the 'lightweights' hard to beat when the wind is light. Nationally, most Optimist sailors stay in the class until they are 14 or 15 years old and then move into either a 420 or a Laser Radial. In Lymington you have the added option to move into a Cadet, which you could do a year or two earlier if you want to. Some sailors have recently moved into RS Fevas. So how do you decide?

• How well are you doing in the Optimist Class. Could you do better next year?
• Do you want to sail single-handed or double-handed boats?
• Are you big, small or average size for your age?

    

Laser Radial                                         Feva RS            Cadet

Does size matter?

420s at a competition

Cadets flying their spinnakers

Some will aspire to sail 29ers!