MatthewMason, a professional boat builder from New Zealand and caring father of two, has developed a fastening bow and new sail armament for the dinghy «Optimist», transforming a traditional single-seater into a two-seater junior racing boat.
«Dad, why doesn't my Optimist have a tapered hull like other boats? » , - with this question from the 8-year-old son Matthew Mason, the story of a new invention began.
Thanks to a clip-on bow called the O-Pro, the single-seater dinghy can now be operated by two children at the same time. In addition, this upgrade is a solution for young sailors who have «grown» out of the allowable 45 kilogram weight, but want to continue to train on «Optimist» alone.
After conducting several tests of the sharp-nosed «Optimist», Mason realized that he needed to balance the added centimeters to the length of the hull. To do this, he created a carbon tip for the mast so that a larger sail could be used. This increased the sail area from 4 to 5.2 square meters.
Together with his eldest daughter, who has been heavily involved in the design, Mason presented the new project at the World Sailing Conference in Mexico.
To date, five «O-Pro» hulls have already been added to the fleet of the sailing club where Mason's son trains. The inventor intends to start supplying the design to the market, estimating it at $1,100 to $1,200.
The developer of the know-how believes his invention «could potentially fill some of the gaps in children's sailing».
«Optimist» is an international class racing single-seater dinghy used to teach children the basics of sailing. There is also a smaller copy of this boat - «Malysh», which has recently been used by St. Petersburg Yacht Club for training and development of kids from 4-5 years old.
