Skip to main content

From The Center Console: 10 Essential Items For Opti Coaches

Hanging out with another opti coach the other day the conversation inevitably turned into comparing opti sails, how this one kid did this or that, and comparing videos we took of our kids. However, he brought up a good story where one of his kids was having his best regatta ever, 4 points shy of first after one day of racing, and in the middle of the first race of the second day, his mast cup wears out

Kid freaked out.

Luckily, my friend had a spare mast cup - and long story short instead of missing out on a whole day of racing, he managed to swap the cup out and the kid went on to take 2nd at the event. 

Which got me to thinking, Opti coaches have to carry around a lot of things - their foul weather gear, communication items, tools and spare parts - as any sailing coach has to. But the Opti has some particular requirements that if a coach is not prepared for, can make or break a training block or a sailing day. 

What's In Your Bag?

Here are our 10 recommendations for Opti Coaches to have in their bag:


Sun Mask - sunscreen comes off with water and sweat. We love what our friends at Waterlust are doing with their sun masks, due to their eco-conscious design choices. If those patterns aren't your thing, Buff is the original! 

A good merino wool base layer - eventually you go to colder climates or you have a fluke day. Take a look at the Patagonia Capilene Thermal line for some options

Wet Notes - sometimes it's hard to keep track of notes of sailors performance, especially if your group is large. Let's face it, it's hard to tell your Opti sailors apart at big regattas! Rite-in-

Waterproof cards - give the kids something to do rainy day/postponement. Keeps them out of trouble. Kids love UNO! (We recommend the UNO Splash set)

A positive attitude - coming into a training day or regatta day with a negative vibe is infectious. Keep it away from the kids! (Sorry, you can't buy that one!)

Quality Multi-tool with pliers - stuff breaks all the time, you'll need to fix it. We like the knife-less Leatherman Rebar for it's price point, construction (it's the classic leatherman design so less is exposed to water) and included features. Check it out here 

Battery bank - using your phone constantly for communication/video drains batteries. Having extra battery power for your phone, camera, etc is crucial to running your mobile office. Anything with 10-20k mAh is plenty to charge your phone twice over and have enough left for a gopro, gimbal, etc. We've had the EasyAcc 24000 mAh for a couple of years and have used it countless times to charge up our phones, tablets and friends in need. A flashlight function isn't necessary but we've found it comes quite in handy. Don't count on the solar panel charging it well.

Spare Mast Cup and Nut - Like my friend's story above shows, this is one of those things that you don't normally need, but when you need it, you really need it. So do yourself a favor, if you work with Opti Racing kids, pack yourself one in your toolbox or bag just in case. You'll thank us later.

Spare bowline - Speaking of things that break spectacularly, nothing ruins a sailing day faster than someone breaking their towline and having to re-do the entire gosh-darn-it daisy chain. Tying the ends is a quick fix and will get you out there but sometimes it's not possible. Plus, if you get a standard bowline you can quickly cut it and make it into a halyard, outhaul, or vang for an opti kid in trouble. Class- Legal Bowline

A Safety Knife - and no, the knife on your leatherman doesn't count. As long as there have been sailboats, there have been sailor with knives onboard. There is no way you can get out there without a dedicated knife on board. For coaching work, a foldable knife with a pocket clip is desirable. Not to mention using a low carbon steel for corrosion resistance. Our pick is the Spyderco Salt Atlantic - it's a sheep-foot, serrated knife with tough, corrosion-resistant steel - and its got a shackle key!



See you out on the water!

(Disclaimer: We are a participant in the Amazon Affiliate Program, whereby we earn a small commission of sales generated through our Amazon links, at no extra cost to you.)

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Is This A Chance To Start Fresh? Parents Take Note

The Opti Class is a large enterprise spanning some 150,000 sailors (probably more) worldwide. They all love to sail, and some love to race. Under COVID-19 racing as we know it will not be possible in the near term. That does not mean we can’t race, it means we need to do things differently. There are many really smart people who race sailboats and organize racing and regattas. Plenty of them are in the medical field. There is tremendous brain power at work right now sorting through the issues of how we can continue to facilitate the development of young sailors in a safe way.  The first recommendation is for us to let kids get back to sailing for the fun of it, simply to enjoy sailing for what it is. Just get them out and let them explore their watery world. Sailboat racing, like many other things in life, has been heading in the direction of more and more perfection and complication. We are going to be dialing it back. As we ease into racing it will be with fewer people out

The Post-Opti Life: 29er Sailing And Skiff Culture

 A New Series To Connect Sailors To What's Out There We tried something different with this one as we constantly get questions about what comes after the Opti. Part of what we want to do at Opti TV is to connect the class with the next steps, so naturally we went to take a look at the 29er class from the viewpoint of what kind of sailor wants to compete in 29ers. The 29er is a deceptively simple boat that requires agility and strength, and a mindset of sharing and growth. As a pre-olympic boat it's not for the faint of heart. We went over to the US Sailing Center in Miami to meet up with 2Niner Head Coach Phil Muller for day 1 of racing in the 2nd event of the Skiff Generation Grand Prix, a really great event that he has put together with US Sailing and the 49er class. It was a great day of racing, albeit light and notably it had several of the US Sailing Team members racing on 49ers and the 49erFX. We'll let you read the recap here: SGGP Event 2 Recap because we were more

What Should Be In Your Dock Box/Ditty Bag

 Although the Optimist class is comprised of children, the fact of the matter is that serious racing happens in the Optimist class and that carries with it needs for equipment and replacement parts. Any sailor or coach worth their salt will tell you that you need a ditty bag or tackle box to carry spare parts and tools in order to keep your Opti up or in case of technicals - breakage - out on the race course.  The historical example of a ditty bag, complete with marlinspike So what should you keep in your ditty bag? At the bare minimum, your ditty bag needs to have tools to repair or adjust parts of your boat. A good set of screwdrivers, of medium length, pliers, and a crescent wrench are absolute musts Example contents of a ditty bag. Note the ample variety of tape, tools and spare line Next, you'd want to add a roll of sail tape, the thick kind, to patch up tears or holes that might happen. I cannot stress the importance of dealing with that sooner rather than later, because a sm