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2020 Fall Specials!

Free Stuff! Purchase any Optimist boat package between September 1st and December 31st, 2020, and receive a free dolly and blade bag with your purchase. New boat packages will receive a new dolly and blade bag. Charter packages will receive a charter dolly and blade...

The 2020 Guide to Optimist Blades

McLaughlin’s 2020 Guide to Optimist Racing Blades This article applies to the top five percent of all Opti sailors and is intended as a guide to highlight the differences in the modern Optimist blades. Today’s Opti racers have more choice than ever before...

Picking the perfect Optimist bowline

When in it come to picking an Optimist bowline, your choices for a are getting ever more numerous. While it doesn’t get a lot of attention, this line is possibly the most critical piece of safety equipment in your boat, but it also happens to be dead weight. In...

Selecting the right tiller extension

There are a variety of choices in Optimist Tiller Extensions. Which Optimist tiller extension is the best for you? It depends partly on your sailing style, but some features certainly make a significant difference in ease of use. The intent of a tiller extension is to...

Pay attention to Optimist airbag care

Many sailors don’t understand the problems inherent to an Optimist airbag and how to care for them. As a result, every summer, we go through a ton of airbags here at the shop. Why do we send out so many? Following are some helpful tips for keeping your airbags in...

Why Float When You Can Fly?

Everyone can conjure up the iconic image: A turquoise sea, light stray clouds skidding along in the heavens, and a white sail on the horizon standing out against the blue sky. Oh, to be a sailor! Onlookers often wonder about their destination. Is it somewhere...

Guide to Optimist Racing Spars

McLaughlin Boat Works is the North American importer of all major brands of Optimist racing spars. In combination with being the largest Opti charter provider worldwide, we see spar sets in action in a variety of sailing conditions. Because we know that there are a...