Having been considered lost after decades of disappearance, OPTIMISTA (ex-OPTIMIST), the original 37’ steel OPTIMIST, winner of both the 1967 and the 1968 One Ton Cups is back in the water after having been restored and refitted ( 2019-2022 ).

OPTIMIST, designed by Dick Carter, made history by winning the 1967 and the 1968 One Ton Cups, and coming second in 1969, under the skipper sailmaker Hans Beilken. OPTIMIST was sold to a Portuguese businessman in 1970 with whom she won numerous other trophies on multiple regattas organized by Lisbon’s Naval Association during the following two decades. With her armoury of sails, innovative trim tab and her elegant lines, OPTIMIST stood out both for her incomparable performance when racing and her beauty.

 

After two decades of glory, the then OPTIMISTA was left waiting to be restored for almost two decades. In 2019 James Bates and Luísa Alpalhão, the current owners, bought OPTIMISTA with the intention of taking on board a thorough restoration that faithfully followed the drawings supplied by Abeking & Rasmussen introducing a conscious modern twist with a new open-plan interior and an electric engine. 

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When they started the project, the concept became clear. It was their intention to restore the exterior as faithfully to the original as possible, but to redesign the interior using as much of the original materials that could be saved following the philosophy behind the Japanese art of Kintsugi 金継ぎ 侘寂. Fundamentally, they wanted to restore, reuse and recycle. Only parts completely unserviceable, or rotten, were discarded preferring to highlight instead of hiding damaged or repaired wood. As more and more of her traditional interior was removed, the beauty and craftsmanship of her lines became visible inside the hull.

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Inspired by what they found, they wanted to expose the interior of the hull creating sight lines along its edges and cabin sole instead of concealing them under heavy fitted joinery. This transparency was not only integral to the design but, from a practical point of view, they wanted to have good access to all parts of the hull’s interior. Once you can see where the hull meets the floor you see how the beautiful lines work from the interior, giving her a much lighter, more modern touch.

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In keeping with this idea of showing rather than concealing the functional elements of the yacht, they also made the conscious decision of having electrical wire runs’ and fittings exposed. It is good to see all the essential parts as, when done properly, each element becomes a work of art. 

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Above

They kept the deck plan as faithful to the original as possible replacing all of the superstructure with exact materials as original, apart from the coach roof. The only differences being: the deck is now screw-less, portholes and hatch are now glass instead of plexiglass, the original window external frames were absent so they are now flush and frameless, and they decided not to replace the trim between coach roof and coamings and fair the two to a finish. These small but considerate changes give an enhanced streamlined clean look to the original finish.

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Some elements above deck have been changed from the original but most were changed before they purchased the boat. The cockpit lazarette lockers had been removed; the original push pit was absent; originally, there was no chain locker forward or any kind of bow roller but a watertight locker had been fitted by a previous owner and a windlass fitted to the deck. They decided to keep the chain locker but not to install a windlass. Instead, they retrofitted a chain roller to the original stem and changed the original forward centre cleat to two side cleats. There was also a deck hole they presume was used as a spinnaker sail hawse, just forward of the baby stay, which they did not reinstate.

 

Below

Down below there is now an aft double berth where the diesel engine and cockpit lazarette lockers used to be with new electric engine and storage below. 

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The galley now has a more common layout with sink protruding in board against the bulkhead and induction cooker behind to allow good standing head room and to nicely secure position between companionway steps and aft corner of the coach roof. This allows access to the aft double berth starboard side. With no over-counter cabinets, the galley is kept light and spacious.

The navigation station now mirrors the galley with the same secure standing room and access to the port side aft berth. Underneath it contains the battery bank and above all electrical controls.

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The saloon berths were on two different levels instead, the settees have been moved outboard to give maximum space in the saloon. With shelf storage above, the settee’s back folds down onto the hull’s sides providing very comfortable berths with a cradle effect. Underneath are custom aluminium storage trays.

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Forward of the saloon is an open bow with good standing room under the forward hatch, a simple teak grate allows this space to be used as a shower. It has a simple toilet setup with hanging rails. Originally it had a pipe cot forward but this has been removed.

The modern refurbishment not only gives a massive transformation of light and space to what was probably a very functional interior layout. However, we wanted the space below deck to match and reflect the beauty of the above.