Home - Rule 69 Blog - Oppy or Topper?

Oppy or Topper?

Posted 9 months, 29 days ago

Oppy or Topper?
When I were a lad...I learned to sail in a Topper on the Lymington River and I have a huge affection for the class and the boat itself. Whenever I go to a Boat Show (usually in a disguise) it's the first stand that I go and have a look at because it's interesting to see the development of the class and I especially like the centre mainsheet arrangement that was adopted a couple of moons back to promote the boat as a youth squad feeder class. There are also major advances in the rig controls and all in all it's a competitive and fun boat with a brilliant class association. But would I put my own son in one? The answer is yes but I'd also let him sail an Oppy as well to get into the highly competitive fleet and allow him a shot at winning the Worlds and becoming the first Brit to do so! Also my reasoning follows that you should sail as many boats as possible when you're young and learning...the more the better and do it because you love it, not because your Dad wants you to! So, I'm much indebted to a new friend to Rule69 who emailed me this brilliant note and added a scientific slant to the Topper vs Oppy debate: I want to react to the recent post: "I notice young Hurricane is already lined up to be Oppy world champ. Why, when there are so many "modern" kids’ boats around? Same reason my kids choose to sail Toppers which has interesting parallel to the Finnasaurus vs FoilerWorld debate. .  Which boat to choose, on what basis? Which, tends to be answered politically, emotionally and with as few facts as possible!  Maybe you would be interested in some of the analysis I conducted to decide that the Oppie was the right boat for my kids. .  Obviously, there are many criteria to decide: your budget, which clubs you race at, what social side, which programme etc...plus the technical angle. This is where I have the fun!  With an Aeronautical engineering background (I tested laminar flow keels for America's Cup XXVIII), I like to look at the physics. . So why a Topper, or why an Optimist? .  The short answer is that the Optimist is the right size of boats for kids aged 8 to 15 to have fun, and learn to sail & race fast .  1.  In Oppies, the weight of the kid is quickly 50% of the total up weight: the higher this ratio, the more fun.  In a Topper, you need to grow much bigger before you can have a real impact.  In fact, with a hull 23% heavier, you will need to wait 3 years or more!  And the problem with kids going into bigger boats is that they become passenger and never learn to dynamically use their weight. .  2.  In an Oppie, the weight of the kid is sufficient to keep the rig up: you have a same righting moment / sail area ratio when you weigh 40kg in an Oppie, 57kg in a Topper, or 72kg in the Laser. .  In other words: the Topper is too big for kids much below 50kg: they can't use their weight to learn to sail dynamically, they can't keep the sail driving. Outcome: the Topper class recently introduced a smaller rig (4.2m2) - but then.... the sail area to wetted area become too small and the boat become sticky and underpowered. .  Conclusion: whatever the marketing machine of Topper international pumps out, and the emotional reactions of interested parties: do your sums, check your facts, and pick the right boat for the job. I could go on but I won't.... .  Coming back to Olympic classes, I'll try to expand on this spreadsheet to see what happens if you put the current classes in.   Interested?  The picture is pretty clear on why the Foiler is so exceptional, even before you introduce wave drag - rig efficiency effects.  Full Story »

Comments are currently disabled