Opti TV Presents: Coach Mike Dowd and CERT

Coastal Elite Racing Team (CERT)

We caught up with "Friend of Opti TV" Mike Dowd and chatted with him about how he runs a private Opti team, and some things kids should be thinking about as next steps after the Opti. Next time you see mike at the boat park, say hello!

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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

A Beginner's Guide to Layering Sailing Gear

Purchasing Sailing Gear can be confusing and brings up a lot of questions. The ones we hear the most often are ● What do I need to buy? ● Where can I buy it? Is it at west marine? ● This is very expensive, can I find it somewhere cheaper? ● My sailor lost this thing, do they really need it? Not to worry! We've put together this general guide to sailing gear to hopefully help all of you answer these very important questions. As you read this keep in mind that the most important thing is feedback from your sailor, as they are the ones who will be wearing this stuff! The first and most important thing is Sailing is a sport where you are at the mercy of the elements and the proper equipment and clothing make a world of difference in enjoying your time out on the water, or in certain cases, being able to survive it! How to choose Sailing Gear In order to choose the proper sailing gear what you need to understand are two main points – Where in the world are you, and what ki

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