Our Freakonomics Radio pitch for an Opti sailing episode

Hello Stephen and Team,

Greetings from Seattle, Washington. I am a devoted listener of Freakonomics radio and love your knack for uncovering the less obvious and surprising aspects of our world. I am writing to propose a super interesting topic for a future podcast episode. You can call it the ‘little league’ of sailing.

With the recent Olympic Games still fresh in public consciousness, there's a natural curiosity about the journeys of these elite athletes. I believe your audience would be fascinated to learn about the foundational role played by a seemingly unassuming little boat in shaping the careers of many Olympic sailors.

The Optimist dinghy, originally designed in the United States in 1947 with the intention of being easily built from plywood, has evolved into a global phenomenon. Today, over half a million young sailors, aged 7 to 15, in 65 countries navigate these ‘Optis.’ Remarkably, all of the sailing medalists at the 2024 Olympics began their sailing journeys in this class, and a significant 60% of them competed in international Optimist championships. It's a vibrant, competitive, and surprisingly large-scale world that often flies under the radar. You can call it the 'little league' of sailing (Ep.52 | The economics of everyday things).

However, this traditional pathway for aspiring Olympic sailors is facing significant challenges. Shifts in established structures within the sport, coupled with the impact of events like COVID, are putting pressure on youth sailing programs. Participation rates have seen notable declines, raising important questions about the future landscape of competitive sailing.

This story offers a unique blend of youth sports, economics, and human interest – the core elements that make Freakonomics so engaging. It explores the unexpected economic forces at play in youth sports, the dedication of individuals working to adapt to changing circumstances, and the intriguing statistics that connect this small boat to the highest levels of athletic achievement. It’s the hidden narrative behind the Olympic glory.

I genuinely believe that an exploration of Optimist sailing – its global reach, its role in Olympic development, the economic factors influencing its future, and the stories of the young sailors and their dedicated support systems – would captivate your listeners. It's an opportunity to shed light on an often-unseen yet crucial stepping stone in the making of Olympic champions.

Would you be open to considering a podcast episode on this topic? I would be pleased to provide you with further details (preview below) and connect you with individuals involved in this fascinating world.

Thank you for your time and consideration.

Sincerely,

Alex Samano

—----------

Have you ever wondered where Olympic sailors come from?

In this episode, we will immerse ourselves into the world of youth sailing and in particular into the world of Optimist sailing, a small boat designed in the United States back in 1947 meant to be built from plywood. Today, over 500K kids ages 7-15 in 65 countries sail the ‘Opti’ around the world. Every year, world and regional championships take place hosting 150+ sailors each. A yearly event in Lake Garda, Italy pulls over 1,500 Optis every year - the largest one-design boat regatta in the world. All 2024 Olympic Medalists started as Optimist sailors and 60% of them sailed at one or more international championships. You can call it the ‘worldwide little league of sailing’.

That sounds great, right? Well monumental changes in the traditional structure of sailing and COVID are threatening the sport and putting at risk youth sailing programs. Just this year, we have seen a drop of over <insert statistic> on the West Coast of the US alone. We will tell you about these changes and introduce you to the active parents and coaches bucking the trend and redefining the world of youth sailing.

Crazy statistics:

• All olympic medalists in the 2024 Olympics started as Optimist sailors
• 60% of them qualified to one or more International events during their Opti career
• While not all Opti sailors will be olympians, statistically, it’s pretty hard to be an olympian without having sailed an Opti as a child

A little history:

• The Optimist Dinghy was designed by Clark Mills in Clearwater, FL in 1947. It was designed to be a beginner boat that anyone could build with a few sheets of plywood
• Over the next 15 years, it was introduced to Denmark and England and slightly modified in the process.
• In 1962 the first ‘world’ event was held with England, Denmark, Great Britain, West Germany and Sweden participating
• In 1965 IODA was created and the first worlds were held in the United States. Fiberglass hulls were still not permitted, and all boats were made of wood
• In 2023 IODA celebrated its 50th Anniversary and 60th anniversary of the Optimist World Championship

Interesting Facts:

• The Opti fleet is the largest in the world with over 500K registered boats in 65 countries around the world
• The international governing body of the fleet is IODA, the International Optimist Dinghy Association (www.optiworld.org)
• Every year, the IODA holds World, European, North American, South American, Asian & Oceania, and African Championships. Each is attended by 150+ sailors.
• In the US, the governing body is USODA, the United States Optimist Dinghy Association
• A typical International regatta will have 200+ boats, in the US we have regattas with over 300 boats every year
• Fraglia de la Vela Riva in Lake Garda, Italy holds what is likely the largest regatta in the world, the Optimist Meet, with 1,500 to 2,000 boats participating each year.
• “Opti” sailors age ranges from 9-15 (red fleet 13-15, blue 11-12, white 10 and under)
• All genders and all ages sail together throughout their sailing career
• Sailors can sail the boat through the EOY of the year they turn 15 (lucky if you are born in Jan, unlucky if December)

A few economic facts:

• Teaching kids how to sail requires specialized equipment (boats), a sailing venue, coach boats (mostly Rigid Inflatable Boats - RIBs), and a heavy dose of insurance. 
• In general, a coach can safely work with a max of 9-12 sailors at a time. 
• The least experienced the sailors are, the lower the coaching ratio. Beginner programs require a lower 6:1 ratio. Assistant coaches or volunteers usually help.
• When the wind picks up, the coach-to-student ratio also changes, that number can drop down to 4:1 for beginners and 8:1 for advanced sailors
• High-performance sailing requires a lot of travel, frequently across the country. Sailors travel with their coach, typically in groups of no less than 5.
• For travel regattas, sailors charter their sailboat from Simmons Boatworks, Zim, or McLaughlin for the duration of the event (usually ~US$600). Unfortunately, none of these companies operate regularly in the West Coast. Zim has talked about it for the last 2 years, but no boats have been stationed in the West Coast
• For travel regattas, coaches charter RIBs from local clubs or companies who typically charge ~US$450 per day. The cost is distributed between the sailors attending the event with the coach.

World-wide trends. 

For decades, Youth Sailing Programs have been supported and funded by yacht clubs around the world. In most cases, the membership dues subsidized the cost of equipment and coaches for families who already paid pretty healthy membership fees. However, the sport was mostly limited to the families of yacht club members. 

Over the last 20 years, yacht clubs have been on a consistent membership decline. I don’t have the statistics, but there must be many clubs shutting down every year and many are in financial distress. As a result, many yacht clubs could not continue subsidizing their youth programs. In fact, many yacht clubs opened their youth programs to the general public to make up for their declining membership revenue. Summer camps in particular have become a big money maker for many yacht clubs and their primary source of income.

This is good and bad. Good because it opened the sport to families that don’t come from a traditional sailing background and who do not own a boat themselves. Bad because yacht clubs' view of youth programs had to change. They are no longer mission-driven programs but revenue-generating businesses with strict profit requirements. More sailors in a boat makes a more profitable program. Simply put, double-handed programs are 2x more profitable than single-handed programs. As a result, single-handed Optimist and Laser programs, the workhorse machines of high-performance sailing for decades, are being left behind.

‍