Boats We Sail
All racing is conducted in Optimists, Lasers and 420s. These three classes represent the standard for Junior/Youth racing in the United States. In addition, we use Picos for our learn to sail program.
Grapevine Community Sailing Education Fund (GCSEF) can make it easy and affordable to participate. Through GCSEF, we are able to offer boats to charter in order to keep the cost of sailing down. Our charter fleet includes the Optimist ages 7 through 15 and the Laser and Club 420 for ages 13 and older. Chartering a boat is an affordable way to get started on the team or to move up into a new boat or fleet.
Optimist
The Optimist is the largest junior racing fleet in the world and the international standard in junior instruction. The boat’s simplicity and stability make it ideal for teaching young beginners while the popularity of the Optimist class makes the boat extremely challenging for pre-teen racers. GCSEF owns a fleet of 12 Optimists to use for the summer program. Most racers who travel bring privately owned boats for practice and racing.
A skipper can race Optimists until December 31st in the year they turn 15. To promote participation across a wide range of skill levels and ages, Optimist racing events are typically divided into fleets.
Green fleet is a special fleet for beginners. Green fleet sailors can be any age up to 15. A green fleet might have skippers who are as young as 6 and as old as 15, but sooner or later they'll' move into either the red, white, or blue fleet depending on their age. Green fleet typically sails relatively close to shore and on short courses. Sailors may be coached at any time including during a race.
Laser
The Laser is the single-handed option for sailors who are too big or too old to sail the Optimist. The Laser is an Olympic Class boat which keeps sailors sailing from beginner through the highest levels of sailing. The Laser can be rigged with three different sail plans, providing great versatility across a wide range of sizes. Lasers are best suited to sailors 13 years of age or older, over 125 pounds, and focused on racing.
Lasers are one of the fastest growing one-design classes in North America and the primary single-handed boat used in youth sailing events. In 2008, the Laser Radial will debut as the Women’s single-handed event at the Olympics. Because of this, a number of young women are now sailing in the Radial. It is not atypical to see a significant number of female sailors at Laser Radial events, something that was not as prevalent even a couple of years ago.
420
The club 420 is the most popular and versatile double-handed junior boat in North America. The 420 is sturdy and safe while providing the challenge of team racing. It can be sailed in Club Form (Spinaker and Trapeze) or Collegiate Form (Main and Jib)
The boat is best suited for sailors 12-18 years of age and over 100 pounds. GCSEF a competitive Club 420s for use in the summer program.
Additional information about the 420 Class Association is at:
