SailJuice News

Andy Rice  //  As a full-time sailing journalist, I report on most of the sailing ‘Majors’, including the America’s Cup, the Olympic Games, the Volvo, and so on.

If you’re a keen racer yourself, and want to improve your skills and get better results on the race course, please take a look at www.SailJuice.com, which is packed full of tips and advice from some of the greatest sailors alive.

Along with www.TheDailySail.com editor James Boyd, I also run a marine media & copywriting agency, which you can find at www.sailingintelligence.com

You can find my articles in many of the racing-oriented sailing mags, including: Seahorse, Yachts & Yachting, Yachting World, Australian Sailing, Boat International, Sailing World.

 
May 31 / 10:27am

Wing-masted Optimist points way to affordable America's Cup?

Optimist-wing-sail

A wing-masted Optimist was given a spin last weekend by New Zealand national champ Leonard Takahashi-Fry in a photoshoot for Japanese journalist Yoichi Yabe of Kazi Magazine. Takahashi-Fry dominated the regatta, winning six of the 12 races scored and placing 2nd another five times. His father is Robert Fry, a member of the Nippon Challenge for the America’s Cup in 1992 and 95.

The wingsail Opti was inspired by dinghy sailors from the Wakatere Boating Club. Mike Drummond and his partners on the Oracle Racing Design Team adapted the top section of an A Class rig to the Opti. “The top section of our A-class catamaran wing is removable, and about the same size as an Opti rig. It was very easy to add a standard Opti mast tube to be able to step it into a normal Opti,” says Drummond.