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[Edward Pinniger]

Does anyone here have a  Graupner"Optimist" or has owned/sailed one in the past?  (This isn't the well-known pram dinghy class but a 1960s One-Tonner Cup racing yacht which Graupner produced as a kit (about 4' long) in the 1970s/80s. You can see a very nicely done build/restoration log for one here: http://modelshipworld.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=5054 ). I'd like to hear any opinions on the boat's sailing qualities and whether any modifications to the sails and masts are recommended. It seems to have very tall and narrow sails in relation to the hull length.

I'm currently restoring one myself (a much longer job than I expected when I bought it; the keel ballast snapped off in the post and took the bottom of the hull with it, requiring a lot of repair work as well as reinforcement of the lower hull with wood to stop the same thing happening again when sailing!) and am finally getting near the stage when I can install the radio gear and give the boat a test sail. Before I set up the rigging + sails, I'd be interested to know if anything needs changing/fixing from the default setup. Note that I'm not looking for maximum performance (I don't plan on racing the boat) just stability and controllability combined with a reasonable amount of speed.

[Edward Pinniger]

Looks like nobody else here has one (not surprising maybe as I don't think that many were sold outside Germany; most of the web pages + forum posts I've found relating to the Graupner Optimist are on German or European sites). But here's mine so far:







I've now repaired the hull, keel + rudder and re-assembled the rigging (new spreaders were needed, and some missing bottlescrews have been substituted with brass wire; I'll order some replacements soon) and I'm now working on the R/C installation, and will repaint the hull soon (white, blue below the waterline). I'm also planning to plank the deck with limewood and re-do the cabin woodwork, but this will have to wait until the model's "seaworthiness" has been tested!
I'm hoping to give it a test sail within the next couple of weeks. Hopefully the default sail setup should be OK. The sails are very narrow, though tall, so hopefully it should not be "over-canvased" for its size.

[triumphjon]

thats a nice looking vessel , i wouldnt remove the deck as the planking is correctly laid into the king plank ! i would have thought it better to remove the deck fittings and carefully rub down the deck & re varnish it ? do any of the specialist model sail makers have any old sail plans ?

[Little Rascal]

I think there's one on the 'glossy photo' thread?

Jon

[Netleyned]

thats a nice looking vessel , i wouldnt remove the deck as the planking is correctly laid into the king plank ! i would have thought it better to remove the deck fittings and carefully rub down the deck & re varnish it ? do any of the specialist model sail makers have any old sail plans ?

 

I think that is a printed deck Jon

Ned

[Boy From the Bay]

If it is a printed deck, you need to avoid rubbing down/out the deck lines.

[Edward Pinniger]

Yes, it's a printed deck, and looking very grotty with thick, yellowed varnish and accumulated grime/dust! Hence I'm going to sand it down and re-plank with limewood strip and mahogany king plank + margins. The cabin woodwork is nearly as bad (very heavy, lumpy varnish); the boat looks much better in my photos than it does in real life.

Didn't spot the Optimist in the "glossy photo" thread till now - it definitely has new sails, and the main looks a fair bit bigger, it also appears to have a new boom (and mast) as the boom goes all the way to the back of the cockpit. There's also a "Gracia" in the same thread, a rather similar looking Graupner yacht from the 1960s. There were quite a few classic yacht kits from that era, it's a shame they're no longer available!