Our sailing school has a fleet of 10 of these boats, five of which we are selling this spring.

 

These boats were put into service in 2016, and have been used for 8 - 9 weeks each summer since then.  They are still in excellent condition.

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The sails were purchased before the 2022 season, so they have only been used for two summers and still look like brand-new.   These sails have never been rolled or folded!  You can see in the pictures that the complete rigs are removed and hung up after each use.

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You are invited to look over all our boats and take your pick of which one(s) you want. We will provide a discount If you wish to buy all five of them.  Please contact us to discuss.

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THE O'PEN SKIFF

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The O'PEN Skiff was designed in 2006 specifically to teach young kids to sail.  8000 of these boats have been built and they are widely used by hundreds of sailing schools around the world.

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The boat was originally marketed by the manufacturer as the O'PEN Bic, but was renamed the O'PEN Skiff in 2019

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You can find plenty of info online about these boats.  Here is a sampling:

 

Russell Coutts, World Champion New Zealand sailor and America’s Cup Winner, said of the design, "the O’pen Skiff is a fantastic boat for young sailors to experience the joy of sailing. It is fast, exciting and fun to sail yet simple to rig and maintain. Many of the skills learnt in the O’pen Skiff will be easily transferred to other boats as sailors evolve and progress onto other forms of sailing."

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Exciting Sailing Performance:  When hiking, the large sides allow the sailor to set-up comfortably with his/her feet in the straps without placing any unnecessary stress on the body. The totally open and sloping cockpit means that there is absolutely no water in the boat either during sailing or just after a capsize. A relatively hard chine design was chosen for the bottom shape of the hull. Used by numerous modern boat architects, this design offers an excellent compromise between performance and stability.   When reaching or broad-reaching, the boat accelerates quickly to planing speed. When close-reaching, the boat sets on its chine and has excellent performance up wind.

 

O’PEN Skiff FAQs:

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Is the O’pen Skiff stable ?
Yes, the “chine bilge” of the O’pen Skiff hull design gives the boat a very stable platform for sailing. On the water, the boat heels in the wind until it balances on its bilge remaining stable and easy to sail.

Is the O’pen Skiff easy to rig ?
Yes, there are no shackles or complicated rigging systems on the O’pen Skiff. The O’pen Skiff can be rigged and on the water in less than 2 minutes! With the boom already attached to the sail, you simply slide the mast up the luff pocket of the sail, attach the rig to the hull with the two snap hooks at the main sheet and Cunningham, tension the Cunningham with the pull handle and go!

 

Is the O’pen skiff fragile ?
No, the O’pen Skiff is manufactured in thermoformed polyethylene, a material that is very resistant to impact shocks and abrasion. Tahe Sport has been building products in this material for over 30 years, and some of these products are still being used on the water! Also of note is that contrary to products built in polyester, polyethylene is a material that is 100% recyclable. The O’pen Skiff is built with the philosophy of sustainable development.

Is it easy to right the boat after capsize?
Yes, the cockpit of the O’pen Skiff is 100% self draining, meaning that there is never any water in the bottom of the boat either during sailing or after capsize. Furthermore, with its light weight and stable “chine bilge” design, even when the sailor is in the water the hull turns immediately into the wind, re-rights easily and provides a stable platform for getting back into the boat. Getting back in is easy via the stern of the boat which is completely open (hence the name O’pen Skiff).

Can an adult sail in the O’pen Skiff ?
Yes, as long as he weighs less than 200 lbs (the ideal sailor weight for the O’pen Skiff is 130 lbs).

Can two kids sail together in the O’pen Skiff?
Our testing, and the action photos and video of the O’pen Skiff on our website, show that the boat is still stable with 2 kids onboard providing that their total weight does not exceed 200 lbs.

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Please contact us with any questions you may have.

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