Gizmo's thread about the ice yachts had me trolling the "web" and something worth looking at is "Ice Opti". Rather than giving a link, may I suggest doing a search. Before you knock the sail shape used, just check out the speeds!
This could be a very useful "tack" (excuse the pun) to get a whole new group on board.
Its sort of what the LLMini is doing for Landsailing....
The "Ice Opti" is a great idea.
Just a quick question. What would be a guess at the efficiency differences between a sail like the opti uses vs. a yacht with a conventional landsailing mast but that has effectively no flex? I guess Im asking why choose the opti rig?
The Optimist is a VERY popular water yacht class for kids around in Europe, all they are doing is using the same rig for winter sailing....
The optimist rig is an asymetrical gaff rig and works better on one tack than the other.
It would probably work quite well as a landyacht by replacing the skates with wheels its sort of Mini size.....
Thanks for the replies. My question was more focussed of why the opti iceboats use the rig they do (popularity, already a user community), as a simplier sail plan (to me
) would more like a DN (with less or no mast bend). Original question answered though, thanks 
I wonder how they took off, given that the drawing was approved in 2002.
I do like the idea.
does anybody have a price on an optimist sail
New radial cut racing Optimist sails are $650 here in NZ apparently
This is the entry level kids yachting class I always thought
Here is a link to a youtube clip of the OPTI iceyacht....
Looks nice, sails well but not overly fast.
Not so sure about the lack of speed Giz, did you notice how little the rig was flapping about before the sailing started? Certainly not as much as 8knots of breeze! (I reckon) and wet ice is almost the slowest kind. I thought it was pretty impressive, and remember this is a kids yacht!
Im NOT saying the speed thing as a negative, I actually think the OPTI would be a great mini landyacht. Building in timber and F/G may suit home builders as often steel and welding is daunting for many.
I haven't checked the size of the OPTI but looks as tho it may fit into the Mini3 class.
Fallshaw wheels all round or with a 16" bike wheel would look great.
The plans and info can be found on these links...http://www.iceboat.org/optis/buildopti.html
www.icesailing.org/junior/
And the Full plans...
www.icesailing.org/junior/docs/specsa.pdf
its the size of a class 5!
maybe somebody could take on the project of building a LLmini in wood. the only metal bits youd need would be the 2 rear stub axles and the front steering.
I'd happy to make those bits if the builder was sticking to LLmini dimensions.
