March 26, 2025
Optimist Class Qualification Overview
Optimist
Racing and regattas
The Optimist class is ruled globally by the International Optimist Dinghy Association (IODA), the largest single-handed sailboat class in the world with over 500K registered boats and over 110K registered sailors in 110 countries. Each country has a governing body for the class. In the United States that is the United States Optimist Dinghy Association (USODA), in Canada the Canadian Optimist Dinghy Association (CODA), and in Mexico the Asociacion Mexicana de Vela Clase Optimist (AMVCO).
Around the world, Optimist sailors are broken down into the following age groups. It’s important to understand that while awards are given by age group and female group, qualification is not divided by age group or gender all sailors compete against each other for qualification. This is also unique to the Optimist class.
Each country organization sets its own qualification rules for IODA events. USODA in the United States holds two international event qualifiers. There are only two regattas that count for qualification to IODA events.
These are the national events organized by USODA and considered the US National Circuit. You can always find the list and location of events on this USODA page. The events listed will always mention whether the event counts for TT qualification. Generally speaking, all regional championships count but not all local events do. The main national regattas to remember are the following.
Team Trials are announced every year a day or two after that year’s event. It’s a 5-day regatta for, US sailors only, that includes one day of Team Racing, two days of match races, and two days of fleet races. There are usually over 250 boats at TTs, therefore the fleet is split into different flights the first two days that compete against each other to sort the sailors into 3+ flights of 50-90 sailors of similar level (usually gold, silver, and bronze). For the last two days, sailors race against other sailors of similar level. Most gold fleet sailors and the top 15% of silver fleet sailors usually earn an invitation to an IODA event.
To qualify for National Team Trials, sailors must place in the top 20% of a regional championship (e.g. USODA Northwest Optimist Championship) or the top 50% of the national championship (e.g. USODA National Championship). Both the regional and championships are open, anyone can participate. Sailors can also sail more than one open championship and they will take a qualifying spot if they place in the top 20%. This causes some sailors to qualify multiple times and take those spots from other sailors who would have otherwise qualified. This is unique to the Opti class, in the ILCA class sailors can only earn one ‘berth’. So, it’s important to choose carefully which events to attend.
STQs is an open 4-day regatta. Like all other major USODA events, the format is the same 2-days of match racing and 2-days of fleet racing. One key difference is that STQs is open to International sailors. Depending on who is showing up, it can turn into the most competitive US regatta each year. However, international sailors can not earn a qualifying spot. They are simply skipped as the top 20% of finishers are counted.
It’s a 4-day open regatta held yearly in the summer that tends to move around between West, East and Mid-West. Unlike regional championships, the top 50% of sailors qualify for National Team Trials. In addition, the event starts with the Girls National Championship a one-day, single fleet regatta reserved for our female sailors where the top 25% of sailors qualify for TT. So girls have two chances to qualify for TT at the National Championships.
Like STQs and TTs the regatta format is the same after the Girls National Championship, 2-days of match racing followed by 2-days of fleet racing. There are usually between 150 and 200 sailors at the National Championship.
Regional USODA events go through a bidding process with USODA. Therefore, they are not always consistent. Some of them have a long tradition and you can count on them but others are less certain. This is why USODA always runs Nationals, so sailors who do not have a regional championship available can participate in the National Championship.
IODA events are a very unique and very different experience for sailors. All teams are required to stay in a single location (defined by IODA) and parents are not allowed. They are strictly forbidden from being at the hotel or the launch area. Sailors travel as a team with one or two chaperones and one or two coaches depending on the size of the team.
Sailors are expected to be responsible for all of their gear, rigging, eating, drinking, etc. This is why we must teach our sailors to be 100% independent. Their performance at international events starts with their ability not to forget things, stay hydrated, eat well. and get a good night's sleep. Sailors who manage their independence well are already 50% more likely to do well at the event.
IODA publishes the minimum number of each gender of sailors for international events each year. It has been very consistent since 2019 and it's defined as follows.
The following table lists the IODA yearly events and the number of seats that are offered to the US National Team. The number of sailors can change provided USODA, CODA, or AMVCO petition additional seats to IODA and space is available. However, the table below provides a good general rule. The cost includes lodging, opti charter with spars and blades, coaching, chaperoning, and food.
In addition to the regional championships, there are other international events that USODA sends the US national team. These events are usually reserved for the US National Development team. Please note that USODA has not sent a girl team Cap d’Agde since 2022.
