Optimist, Open Skiff, Youth & Olympic Sailing Blog

Optimist sailing is great, but all good things come to an end. Now what to sail after the Optimist? This is the question that will be addressed by Jean-Pierre Kiekens, a recently graduated optimist father, after over 10 years of service in that capacity. He is also very familiar with the Club 420 and Laser Radial as used in youth sailing. Jean-Pierre is not only a sailor (Laser, Snipe, etc.) but he is also running a specialized blog on youth sailing and has written many articles on the challenges associated with youth sailing development, particularly in the North American context. The webinar will discuss what's best to do after the Optimist: - Youth sailing development: what are the goals? - Single-handed or double-handed sailing? Or both? - Laser and C420s: are they still suitable for youth sailors? - Two missing links in youth sailing in North America: the Laser 4.7 and the RS Feva - 29er, i420, Nacra 15, etc.: multiple choices, but few real options - What about windsur...

RS Feva: Endorsed by the Fédération française de voile, the Royal Yachting Association, among other sailing federations We all know about conventional youth sailing, with the Optimist, the 420, the Laser, sometimes the 29er. But we all know too that youth sailing is in trouble in many many clubs around the world. Solutions exist, and they are being tried in various locations. A key is to diversify the equipments, particularly for sailors below age 15.  It's critical to provide more opportunities, to accomodate a wide range of physiques and weights, to address the desire of some sailors to do double-handed rather than single-handed sailing, and to provide more opportunities for learning core sailing skills through the diversity of platforms. Some countries are making substantial efforts in that direction. For example, the first video features the 2018 French national championships for sailors under 15 - and the variety of equipments is significant. It includes several...

2018 Nacra 15 World Champions from Belgium Henri Demesmaeker and Frederique van Eupen with their coach Sebbe Godefroid With the controversy surrounding the process for revising equipments and events for future Summer Olympics, it’s interesting to analyze what has been decided, by World Sailing and IOC, in 2016, for the 2018 Youth Olympics, to be held in Buenos Aires, Argentina, in October. There will be 5 competitions in the sailing category: 2 for Windsurfing, 2 for Kite boarding and 1 for Catamarans. The two windsurfing competitions, one for men, one for women, will be raced on Techno 293+. The two kiteboarding competitions, one for men, one for women, will be IKA twin tip racing.  The catamaran competition will be mixed and sailed on the Nacra 15. In total, there will be 100 competitors: 48 in windsurfing, 24 in kiteboarding and 28 in catamaran. In terms of equipment, there will be a total of 48 windsurfs, 24 kite boards and 14 catamarans. (86 « boats » -...