We posted this video about two optimist sailors in a tacking duel about 6 months ago on our YouTube channel. Because the footage is so special and we got a lot of reactions on this video we felt we needed to write about it.
The optimist is a great boat for youth sailors to learn the basic skills. The boat is very stable and can be sailed in almost all weather conditions. At this moment there are over 500.000 registered optimist in more than 90 countries! And almost all the Olympic champions and world class sailors in the Volvo Ocean Race and America's Cup started out in the optimist class.
This video is a short clip out of a teamrace situation. Normally you don't make so many tacks in a row. Thats why there is a difference between one single tack and multiple tacks (double tacks) like in the video. In every tack your goal is to change tacks without loosing any speed. In light winds it is even possible to gain some speed with the tack. In heavy winds it is really hard not to loose any speed. In this case your goal is to minimize the loss.
If you want to make one single tack you have all the time to go through the needed steps. If you want to make multiple tacks you try to connect the end of one tack to the beginning of the next one. To make this easier you should stay on your feet (do not sit down) by the end of the first tack. Wait till you want to pull the boat on top off you for the next tack, before you sit down on the new tack. Have another look at the video to see how these world class optimist sailors execute multiple tacks with great technique.
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How to tack an Optimist
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