Dinghy Transport – Safe travels!

When you bring your boat to a regatta, training, holiday or somewhere else, it’s important to be well prepared before leaving. If you have an Optimist, Laser or other dinghy and transport it on your roof or on a trailer; the tips and tricks below are usefull for all.

Padded roof rack cover
When you transport your boat on the roof of your car, it’s usefull to protect your roof rack against damaging your boat. Padded roof rack covers are available to protect your boat and give more grip in fastening your boat on the roof rack. The Optiparts padded roof rack protectors have a foam inner and are covered with heavy duty nylon cloth with velcro fastener. Easy to apply and to be placed in the right position. Length 50 cm. Sold per piece.

Load straps for roof rack and trailer
To secure your dinghy to your trailer or roof rack, we advise to use long and durable load straps. To protect your hull against damaging, the Optiparts load straps have protection behind the buckle and are 6 meter long; long enough to put twice over your boat.

Hull cover
During transport we advise to use a hull cover to protect your hull against chippings from the road. Nothing worse than arriving at a regatta and have damage to repair. The top quality hull covers from Optiparts and Windesign for Optimist and Laser® / ILCA® are made of Moistureguard 2000; a heavy duty 900D breathable polyester cloth with a polyurethane membrane. Moistureguard reduces the risk of blisters. The hull covers are easy to install with the supplied straps and adjustable buckles.

Foil bag
We all know that it’s easy to damage your Optimist and Laser® / ILCA® foils. To protect your foils against having chips on the edges it’s recommended to use a foil bag for your rudder and daggerboard. The Optiparts and Windesign foil bags for Optimist and Laser® / ILCA® have seperate compartments for rudder, daggerboard, tiller and accessories like sheet, battens and wind indicator. Carried out with velcro closure, carrying handle and supplied with adjustable and detachable carrying strap.

Rig Support for Laser® and ILCA®
Don’t struggle anymore with fitting your spars in your car. With the Windesign Rig Support for Laser® and ILCA® you can easily take your Laser® / ILCA® boom, top and bottom mast without damaging the deck during transport. The high grade plastic molded rig support comes in two pieces; the front piece fits in the masthole and the back piece fits between the deck. The Laser® / ILCA® spars are fixed to the support with shockcord. In addition to the transport benefit, this rig support offers another benefit when storing your Laser; when placing your top cover over the rig support, your cover will stay upwards and the water will run off.

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Season Preparations – Get yourself ready!

The new sailing season is starting soon. This is the time to prepare yourself and your Optimist. After a year of intense sailing your Optimist hull and hardware will show signs of wear and tear on several places. Before you start sailing again, it’s very important to check your Optimist carefully. Where to start? Use the Optimist season preparation tips below.

Mast sleeve
The Optimist mast sleeve is fitted around the mast at deck level and protects the mast from wearing. If the sleeve is worn out, it’s time to replace the sleeve. When mounting the sleeve, you will notice the sleeve is slightly smaller than the mast. To mount the sleeve you should gently warm the sleeve with a hairdryer or paint stripper. You can easily slide the warm sleeve over the mast into position. For the correct position, have a look in the Optimist mast sleeve manual.

Deck collar
The Optimist deck collar is made of Delrin to create minimal friction between the sleeve and the collar. The oval inner diameter allows the maximum fore/aft and minimum side play and the tapered inner diameter allows the Optimist mast to be raked.

Lacing lines
The Optimist lacing lines are being used to trim the sail. Check this lines one by one and replace if needed. Available as complete ready-to-use package and on 1.2mm and 2.2mm minireels.

Control lines
Besides the lacing lines, an Optimist has several lines which are being used intense and has to be checked carefully. Your Optimist sprit halyard and vang, both Vectran or Dyneema, are recommended to replace in time. Use our Vectran minireel or Dyneema minireel, together with our stainless steel splicing needle for easy splicing.

Rubber joint tiller extension
Don’t let it break during a training or regatta! Replace your tiller extension rubber joint in advance. We advise a rubber joint with fibre core. The fibre core will avoid complete failure when the rubber tears. Mounted with a pin which is kept in place by a piece of heat shrinkable tubing.

Buoyancy bags
Optimist buoyancy bags are important for safety reasons and for having less water in your Optimist after a capsize. Inflate your buoyancy bags before your first training and check the next day if they are still inflated. If not, then you will have to replace your buoyancy bag(s).
Please note, not to over inflate the buoyancy bags. When bags are properly filled, they will be soft to the touch. Over inflated bags may burst when heated up by the sun or rising temperatures. Make sure there are no sharp points in your boat that would snag or puncture the buoyancy bags.

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