"Opti-mized.
The new McConaghy Optimist, the M1 splashed at Woollahra sailing
club in Sydney over the weekend, with two of the M1's competing
in the East Coast Championships. Forty boats entered, and for
some of the kids it was hard not to wander up to the new M1
Optimists and just stare. Any new boat in a class looks good,
but there were plenty of comments from sailors and parents about
the entire M1 package, ranging from "It’s incredible!" (From a
young sailor), to " good solid tread on those launch-trolley
tyres..." (From a Dad of course...) to probably the most common
phrase of the day, "Cooool..." (From just about everyone.)
Both M1 Optimists landed in Sydney on Thursday from McConaghy
boats in China, so this was the first opportunity to see how
they handled in the shifty SSW 18- 20 knots winter breeze on day
one. The young test pilots were Brodie Crossman and Jim Colley,
a couple of great young sailors who had a blast and didn’t stop
grinning - leading the fleet in one of the opening rounds,
before match racing each other out of podium places in that
race!
Klaus Lorenz (Qld) won
the regatta, from Kyle O'Connell (Qld) and Brodie Crossman (NSW)
in third. With Jim Colley securing fourth spot this was a good
launch for the M1. There is massive enthusiasm in this class,
and it was great to see all the kids sitting down for a chat on
the grass before the official briefing, offering advice and tips
for improving boat-speed, handling and mark rounding - closing
with, "take plenty of food and water, enjoy the weekend, make
new friends and have fun!"
Thanks to everyone who
helped, the NSW IODA, Jim, Brodie and Brodie's dad Warwick, all
the parents and the great team at Woollahra sailing Club."
