What Should I be looking for?
Choosing the right spars for your Optimist can be a confusing task. You should consider these major factors when choosing a spar set:
Skill and Ambition: It is pointless to spend $500 on racing spars for a child that cannot sail to windward. On the other hand, if a sailor is a beginner and shows both promise and a commitment to improving their racing skills, then it is probably a good idea to "cure the upgrade bug" and get a top notch racing spar early on, it will make a difference.
Weight: Most Optimist sailors will achieve better performance from a stiffer spar set. Strong, stiff spars allow the sailor to trim the sail without the spar distorting, giving the sailor ultimate control over the shape of their sail. The exceptions to the stiffness rules are very light sailors. (Under 70 lbs.) Although a stiff mast is still very important, a bendy boom can be helpful to lighter sailors. Lighter sailors struggle to control the boat in heavy winds. A bendy boom can help depower the sail by allowing the outboard end to bend in the puffs, opening the leach and depowering the sail.
What is the difference between a club and racing set?
Most people would say that the defining characteristic of a club set is the permanently attached sprit halyard block on the front of the mast and the permanent lacing eyes at the head of the mast. These permanently attached fixtures mean that the sail cannot be removed from the mast without untying all the sail ties along the luff of the sail. It also means the club spar set has no parts that can be misplaced or dropped in the water because it is self-contained. With the club spar set the sail is typically left on the spars during storage. Although this is a fast, easy way to store your spars and sail, it is very hard on the sail. Club sails are constructed to hold up to this kind of abuse and can still be expected to last many seasons. Racing sails, however, are very delicate and cannot be treated so carelessly. If a racing sail is stored in this manner, it will quickly be wrinkled and destroyed.
Racing spars are fitted with a hook in block and a pennant and plug masthead system. These two features allow the sprit halyard block and masthead lacing eyes to be removed, freeing the sail to slide on and off the mast. The racing sail can then be rolled and stored correctly around the boom.
What is the Difference between Racing Sets?
The difference, besides cost, resides mainly in the quality, diameter and manufacturing of the aluminum tubing, which is used in the spars. Quality is a function of the series number of the Aluminum thus, 7000 is higher in quality than 6000. As the quality goes up, so does the stiffness of the spar, so 7000 is also stiffer than 6000. Coincidentally enough, as the series number goes up, so does the cost. The diameter of the Aluminum tubing also affects both performance and cost. Larger diameter tubing is both stiffer and more expensive. All masts use the same diameter tubing, so the boom diameter is where it really counts. Most booms are 55 mm, 40 mm or 32 mm, the 32 mm being much cheaper and down right bendy. The manufacturing method also impacts cost and quality of the spar. A rolled and welded tube is much cheaper to produce than an extruded one. (Extruded just means that it is formed in one continuous piece) Theoretically, an extruded spar is both stronger and stiffer. You can be certain that an extruded Optimist spar is stronger but do not count on it being noticeably stiffer.
What Spars are right for me? |
