C-Class: Rafale Project by École de Technologie Supérieure, Montreal

'Fast Sailing': SIG 45 Charter in Greece

Peter Burling will helm For Team New Zealand

MOD70: Phaedo 3 wins RORC in Record time

Sent by  Richard & Rachel / www.teamphaedo.com - Lloyd Thornburg's Phaedo^3 has finished the RORC Caribbean 600. The finishing time was 20:35:30 AST. The boat finished the race in 1 day 9 hours 35 minutes and 30 seconds, beating the previous record by 6 hours, 35 minutes and 35 seconds.

A-Class: 2015 Measurement Guidelines by Graeme Harbour

Graeme is current IACA Technical Committee Chair. Based on the Class Rules, Rules Guidelines and his experience as measurer at 2014 Worlds @Takapuna and recent Australian Nats. Doubts on new developments and how they measure? Check Graeme's guide.
Excerpt below, please read full text at IACA Website: http://www.a-cat.org/?q=node/527
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Letter to NAs & Local Measurers by Graeme Harbour:
The purpose of this email is to try and bring everyone up to date on any measurement issues and to make sure we all adopt a common approach to undertaking boat measurement on new equipment and equipment inspection at championships.
....
*Boat length & width, this is hull and rudder gudgeons only, other fittings attached to hulls such as foot straps, inspection ports, external transom reinforcement etc. must fit within measurements. ISAF has confirmed this.
...
*Dagger boards after exiting bottom of hull must not go outside 2.3m rule or inside .75m from centerline rule in all positions until fully down.
I found a number of new boats at our Australian Championships that had the tips of “J” & “Z” boards outside 2.3 m just after exiting the bottom of hull. There is a diagram covering this aspect in Measurers’ Guidelines.
...
* Rudder winglets, again must fit the 2.3 & .75m rules. We found a number of boats in New Zealand outside 2.3 m and skippers were busy cutting wing tips off...
...
* Cassette type dagger board cases. Unlikely to be seen but keep in mind that cassette does not need to be fully engaged in hull for 2.3m & .75m measurements to be taken...
...
Read Full guidelines text at http://www.a-cat.org/?q=node/527

A-Class:All New Paradox 2015

Nacra 20 FCS Clinic at BA: Ferdinand van West Interview

Image: MV / Catsailingnews - Racer & Designer makes the perfect combo. Like his mentor Pete Melvin Fer is an active sailor at the highest level of performance. With Gunnar Larsen they were crowned 2014 F18 World Champs plus a Course racing title  at Carnac Eurocat.
Fer was here in BA for 4 days for sailing , coaching and an open Clinic he gave for he local sailing community. Above his view on event plus the work & plans at Morrelli Melvin & Nacra.
For more technical insights check his past Q&A on the Nacra 20 FCS project at catsailingnews.com/2014/04/nacra-f20c-fcs-interview-with-ferdinand.html

Great having him, excellent attitude towards the rookies & experts alike.  He enjoys sailing as much as we do, and it shows... above Fer foiling in 5-6knots after a good day of  double handed Nacra 20 FCS.

Olympics: Foiling the Nacra 17 at Rio by Mathias Buhler & Nico Aragones

Mathias Buhler sailing with Nathalie Brugger have achieved a 3rd place in 2013 Nacra 17 Worlds and they have established themselves as a strong contender. Nathalie has suffered an injury and Buhler (Arg-Swiss sailor racing for SUI) called our best crew, Nico Aragones (F18, 49er & AC45 experience) to help him with training and settings on the N17.

It seems the work & training is going rather well judging from this sequence... don't you think?
Images sent by Nico. Click to enlarge.

High Tide @St Malo by Easy Ride

Sent by Manu Duclos / Easyridevdeos.com -  "Hi Martin
In this moment at Saint-Malo we have the biggest tide of the century, so we took the opportunity to shoot some images in slow-motion!  Enjoy"
Manu

Nacra 20 Clinic by Fer van West at BA, Day 2 - 30knots (3 crews)

Nacra 20FCS: Stable Flight at BA , Feb 20, 2015.

Talking of subjectivity and opinions, on Friday I changed my mind over the Nacra 20 stable flight capabilities. Dead flat a la FP as I saw live at Carnac.
Perfect conditions of course here too, as the training days I filmed at the Eurocat, but an eye opener on how Nacra has not released yet a video showing what I filmed on these clips.

Today Fer van West  gave a Clinic with full house at our Club, and later many went out to sail on the 3 local 20s. 30knots GPS registered today with 3 persons onboard!

It is becoming clearer that purchase decision should be made on many factors including your crew weight in mind, plus the comments I've been making since day one on these production foiling boats on the critical customer service and delivery aspects.

Matchup still pending and I still think on crew weight & handling the FP might provide better control in higher winds and waves from what I've seen to date, but the Nacra 20 has shown, as you can clearly see in video above, how stable she can sail. Middle clip is from two first timer helms on the 20...
More info on Monday.

Nacra F20FCS Clinic at BA by Ferdinand van West

2015 Australian Multihull Championships

Australian Multihull Championships won by 'Mad Max' a Grainger design.
report & video sent  Ben Nicholas: "I thought you might be interested in having a look at a video I made of Mad Max on our way to winning the Australian Multihull National Championships.

The first part was filmed during race one where the wind was gusting to 30 knots.
The second part was filmed over a couple of lighter days.
Not as fast but shows some of the systems we use on the boat."

Full Results: www.topyacht.net.au/results/2015/fos/multi-nats/series.htm

Buenos Aires, Feb 17 2015: "Good Winds" , A-Cats & Nacra F20FCS

We live in Buenos Aires, literally 'Good Winds' for Navigation. Video above is interesting to see the Nacra F20 FCS power upwind in floating mode, an Exploder 2014 with J & T Rudders vs a DNA with Dna J 2013 version plus 70cm T Rudders. Same Saarberg Mast & Landy 3DL. The Exploder guy manage some skimming + airborne time to pass it from behind. The DNA is faster upwind with that conf. Guys are training for Punta Ala.

Lots of A-Cat and F20 training here in BA. RAW footage of the 20 in good winds also to see actual non edited sailing.
But on flat days the guys are managing stable flights on the 20. Fer van West will give a Clinic in our club next weekend. Speeds recorded till now for the Nacra 20 are 26knots foiling and 19knots upwind floating vmg mode.

F18 Season start Feb 28th. Already managing details with CFD/ 3D specialists Gonzalo Redondo and Marc Menec to give final details to the F18 OP CAD, a final refined version by Pros for Jakub's routing in some weeks. More on this later.

Great week of sailing here in BA. I mainly did windsurf with the family, wife & kids. Marcos (9yrs) grabbed the sil for the first time and in 5mins he was sailing already. Really proud on him and Tommy WSurfing with Mom.

Windsurf gets me on shape, as trapeze downwind in the As is quite demanding in high winds.

AC35: Oracle Flying the modified AC45

Photos by Balazs Gardi @balazsgardi - Oracle launched the 'new' 45, and they sail with Artemis own in SF Bay. Source Team Oracle. If the AC45 Series was the best racing I've seen and proved how good this design was, I can wait to see the new foiling fleet in Action. 'T' Rudders are still there as the  C+L foil. Which team will arise with a new foil setup for the AC62s??  

Some in the A-Class are still playing with L Rudders, but beyond less drag I have feedback on extra workmanship / layups and not such good stability.  In any case no one has more resources than the AC boys, although we know they are not always on top of things, as shown by Oracle & Artemis early attempts.
Still nothing beats R&D/CFD plus real scaled testing as done by TNZ in past Cup.

AC35: Artemis Racing Launches Internship Program

Nice project for young sailor by Artemis Racing. More info at artemis-racing.americascup.com/en/news/157_Artemis-Racing-launch-Swedish-Internship-Program.html

FP vs Nacra 20FCS, BA Matchup: The waiting

The FP has arrived, well part of, but we are close to get the local 1 on 1 I've been talking about. Meanwhile the F20 crews are training hard and we will have Gunnar Larsen and Fer van West coming next weekend for a Clinic.
Will post later some videos from yesterday of the 20.

A-Class: Helly Hansen St. Petersburg NOOD Regatta 2015

Martinique Cata Raid 2015: Video by Vincent Guého

For Martinique 2015 results & pics by Contin check Martinique Cata Raid label.
-- Video and report sent by Vincent Guého:
"Hi Martin, I was in the Caribbean past weeks, sailing on the new F16 made by the Italian company Bimare, the "Bimare X16F", at the Martinique Cata Raid. I just finished a movie about our regatta and holidays we spent there with my friend Capucine.

I went to Martinique 10 years ago for this competition, in 2005. At that time, it was open to all kind of catamaran and I raced in Hobie 16. Before 2012, the competition was a local regatta.
Now you have teams coming from Belgium, Great Britain, Switzerland and other islands in the Caribbean.

If you're writing something about this competition in the near future, I just want to share that it's a regatta which needs to be done one time in your cat sailor life! People over there are very kind and the landscape is amazing (and it's always windy and sunny). We were 36 teams, with 32 F18 but only 4 F16. We had a blast and I hope I can come back there next year!"

205 NM in 24hs on a Formula 18

Many F18 sailors are used to cruising raid and crossings, doing 205Nautical Miles on a Capricorn is an additional challenge. The Capricorn is one of the fastest boats but somehow tricky downwind, not the best feature to stand storms for ie. But with some experience it is possible to handle the 'Good Old Cap', as these German sailors refer to their F18. Report sent by Martin Raben. More pics at goodoldcapricorn.blogspot.de :

"Despite all the big transatlantic adventures, we tried to have our own Weekend-Adventure suitable for a ‘normal’ life schedule.

Last Year we sailed on our class legal F18 catamaran 26h including 2 nights non-stop in the South Funen Archipelago, just to try the touring capability of our boat. Maybe some other hobby-sailors want to set up a 24 hour distance record themselves and are interested in our story (205 nautical miles).

Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sz6hhIVZcdc
Text+photos: http://goodoldcapricorn.blogspot.de/ (german)


Best regards,
Martin Raben & Sebastian Zabel

Hobie MultiWorlds & H16 Europeans 2015: July 23-August 1st @Garda

Image: Pieriick Contin / H16 Europeans 2013. ||  Sent by David Brookes / Hobie Class: "The Hobie MultiWorlds website for Hobie14, Dragoon, Wild Cat and Tiger at Lake Garda,23rd July to 1st August 2015 is located at hobie16europeans.com .The entry list is live showing those that have paid and entered. The Hobie MultiWorlds is a bring-your-own-boat world championships.Hobie Cat Europe have made some charter boats available. For more information please contact Hobie Cat Europe for more details. With entries already been made for all the classes please don’t delay in entering.

The European Hobie 16 Women, Masters, Grand Masters,Great Grand Masters and Open Spinnaker will be held at the same location 25-26 July. Hobie 16 Open Europeans 27th July to 1st August.There is also a Pre-European Hobie 16 clinic being held. Please see the story below for all the information.

Please don’t forget to show your intention of attending the hobie MultiWorlds and Hobie 16 Europeans by signing up on the IHCA Facebook Page"...
--
Full Februay Newsletter available at hobieclass.com

Carbon 'Tek Kat' for sale.

Today I published a link to the free CSN Classifieds and I received another good opportunity for a foiling carbon base platform as the Marstrom 20 offered and sold some weeks ago.

The Tek Kat is a One-off 23foot carbon fibre cat.
Designed to carry crew wait of 190kg
Specs:
-Length 7m
-Beam 3.2m
-Mast 11m
-Weight 185kg
- Sails: Pentex‎, three spinnaker, heavy, light, code zero.
- Build: Carbon fibre skin, nomex core‎, build professionally by RFC Hamble 2007
- Mast: Heol section 200mm
- Rudders Marstrom
Sails GP Sails
Harken fittings
- Location Southampton UK
- Price £10500

Includes launching trolley and road trailer.
Contact Jim Mundy at:  jimmundytk gmail.com

CSN Classifieds

Check this Nacra 17 and more boats offers at CSN free Classifieds Section.
----------------
- Brand: Nacra
- Model:  17 N# 149
- Location: In Europe / Spain
- Full cover
- Catrax
- Only used in 4 Events
- Contact: migest2@hotmail.com
- Price: 17.000Euros

'Bucket List' : Q&A with Rob Denney

Last year we published a render video of 'Bucket List' a Racing  Proa by Rob Denney. Below a Q&A with Rob Denney on pros & cons and status of the project. For additinal info check his web at Harryproa.com
-------------
CSN- Which is the advantage of the Proa against a standard Multi? I see all the efficient oriented features, less material, better costs etc but it is hard to get why someone would go for this alternative, even more on a cruiser size type. Rod Denney: Proas are the most boat for the least money. Therefore, they are potentially the fastest for a given cost. They are easy to sail, and using flat panel infusion build methods, easy/cheap to build.

The cruisers are more comfortable than cats as the crew sits in the middle of the boat, can see the sails, is not exposed to the weather, does not need to move to tack or gybe and has far less work to do. Because they are lighter than a same length cat, the rigs and motors are smaller and easier to handle. 
 
The 15m cruiser at youtube.com/watch?v=8chR6DAFjGA weighs 3 and a bit tonnes and sails effortlessly at wind speed under plain sail. Not many big cats can do this, and those that can have huge rigs which are nowhere near as stress free as the proas.

- Why 'Bucket List'?
Because there are no other options for people who want to charter a racing multihull bigger than a beach cat. Offshore/coastal/round the cans multi racing is exciting, but limited to people who can afford their own boat (usually a cruising compromise) and are only able to race in local races. Bucket List enables anyone who knows how to race the opportunity to do so in all the famous yacht races and Race Weeks around the world, at very affordable rates, with a realistic expectation of placing well.

Bucket List is specifically designed for the world wide race charter market. It is fast, safe, simple and low cost.

Fast: Speed is determined by weight, sail area, length, and drag. 700 kgs, 12m long, 60 sqm and the lowest air and water drag of any 12m multi make it theoretically quick, although this potential is partially offset by the lack of extras.

Safe: There are no headsails or extras, no standing rigging, no holes in the hulls for rudders

Moth Worlds 2015: Short by Ben Hartnett

Short Film by Ben Hartnett from past 2015 Moth Worlds won by Peter Burling held some weeks ago.-
With new foiling speeds in Moths, As and N20/FP we are reaching a point where control will become even more critical. This weekend we had a typical kite/short windsurf board wind force conditions with chop and the guys went out with the As, one of them , a experienced Wind, Kite & F18 Arg Champ, also sailing the Nacra foiling 20s now , said he'd never achieved such a speed as with the foiling A and he was literally scared as never before on how fast he was going, he said faster than anything he has sailed but Slalom WS. We will put him a gps next time.

The additional ingredient is that he was foiling of course, so it gets tricky when trying to put the pedal down, with more hours foiling in these conditions he might get more comfortable.

These local A guys are going out in almost any wind range, I'm progressively going out with more wind/chop and getting used to handle the power and flight time myself, but clearly Moths, As and double handed foilers (some tough wipeouts here already) need to improve high speed end range to provide a safer ride.

A-Class: Dna mast now built by Fiberfoam

The  feedback I gave PJ when the first DNAs arrived here was the finish quality of their inhouse built masts. Same comments I made with Olympic Nacra 17 first inhouse batch.
Mast at this level need to be made specialists, so kudos to PJ to outsource their Mast production with Scott Anderson / Fiberfoam.

Details PJ  on 2015 Dna mas below:
"The tapered DNA masts are nowadays produced exclusively for DNA by Fiberfoam. Fiberfoam continues to offer their #14 mast (untapered).

We developed the tapered DNA mast in 2012, and it is a different section than the commonly used 145x60 mm untapered section.
The base idea was to create a mast which follows the twisted sail shape in a more natural way. 
 The result is a top tapered mast, but the shape also varies over the length of the mast, I hope that below illustration shows the principle.

The section is tapered from approx 160x60 mm in the bottom to 130x45 mm in the top. The mast base shape is identical to the common 145x60 mm section for the ease of interchanging parts. The surface area is also identical, to avoid sail area problems when sails which are made for standard masts are used.

​We believe this tapered mast has a better aerodynamic shape compared to the standard section, this results in less drag, better flow attachment and better performance. It did take quite some time to develop our mast and to make it reliable and well-performing. However now that is sorted, especially when sailing at close angles, as happens with high apparent wind speeds, this mast is superior.
The angle before losing flow is definitely smaller the standard section, which is great when you need to point high, or want to have a super flat sail in flat water high wind conditions .

All bend specs are available, and the mast curve is slightly more progressive than the others which is what you may want.
Give me a call, or drop me a message at dna@hollandcomposites.nl for more info."
Cheers, PJ

Nacra 17 North Americans: Cammas 1st , Iker 2nd

Image: Iker-Marina Lopez by Movistar Team. Franck Cammas & Sophie de Turckheim won the 2015 Nacra 17 North Americans held at only 3 pts ahead of Iker Martinez & his new crew Marina Lopez, part of the Movistar Sailing Team.
Good results for both teams, that stayed in the US  to continue their training towards the internal qualys they will face to  reach Rio. Spain still has to secure a slot, but with Iker & Echevarri I'm sure they will get it next chance.
The US teams also has their Olympic slot pending.

North Americans Top10 below, full results Here

Sail	Skipper	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	Tot	Pos
FRA077	Franck Cammas	4	3	[5]	2	2	3	5	3	5	1	1	29	1
108	Iker Martinez	8	1	1	5	3	2	3	1	[11]	6	3	33	2
FRA065	moana vaireaux	[7]	2	3	1	4	7	2	5	4	5	2	35	3
GRE210	Sofia Bekatorou	5	6	2	4	5	1	7	2	1	[10]	7	40	4
CAN 100	Luke Ramsay	2	5	4	7	[10]	4	1	7	2	2	8	42	5
211	Paul Kohlhoff	3	4	7	3	[9]	6	6	6	6	3	6	50	6
USA252	John Casey	1	8	8	8	[11]	5	4	8	3	4	9	58	7
USA170	Michael Easton	11	9	10	9	1	8	[12]	12	8	7	12	87	8
USA 123	Stephanie Hudson	[17/OCS]	11	9	16	6	9	9	4	12	8	10	94	9
130	Robbie Daniel	9	12	[13]	13	8	11	8	11	10	9	4	95	10

F18 Class Newstletter #14: Argentina 2016 Worlds Dates confirmed

Dates for F18 Worlds 2016: October 28 - November 4, 2016, Yacht Club Argentino, Buenos Aires, Argentina. Original bid available here
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International Formula 18 Catamaran Association

Newsletter No 14.

February 2015.

Council Members,

-Electronic Voting.

This is the first time that we have tried to gain all the opinions from a wide range of the Council We hope that it works and we hear from all of you before the end of the month. I am sure that you will let me know if there are any difficulties. I will analyse the voting and publish each NCA’s opinions in early March.

Class membership.

We need a massive onslaught onto raising Class membership. Some countries are doing this and doing it well, other countries are just starting with new membership. One or two who have lost members and have started the question, Why? The Netherlands have a new management team and are asking over 300 F18 sailor members past and present what they expect, how their Association can best represent their interests. I applaud this questionnaire. So I ask all NCA Committees to see what they can do to increase membership.

Website changes.

Please note suggested changes in the website, (DRAFT Marketing document attached prepared by

ESS @Singapore 2015: Jason Waterhouse gives Red Bull 1st Win

All Images ESS - If something was missing to consolidate jason Waterhouse current performance in the Olympic Nacra
17s (3rd at Santander Worlds), F18 (First Aus Nats 2015) and A-Class (2nd Bordeaux Europeans) was to deliver as helm a first event win for Red Bull X40 team.
His carreer is pointing directly to helm an Americas Cup Cat.--

More info & full official report  at extremesailingseries.com:
“We are all thrilled, it’s great. The young guys did a great job and I think all of our experience was very helpful; together as a team we kept everything together and it was perfect for us,” commented Hagara, who together with tactician Hans Peter Steinacher selected Red Bull Youth America’s Cup sailors Jason Waterhouse, Shaun Mason and Stewart Dodson to join them this season. 

“This win showed us that we can do it. We didn’t have as much luck in the last season but here everything went well for us. I think we now are making good decisions on the racecourse.”

AC35. Artemis:'Overhaulin' the 45 & Percy on Bermuda as a 'Tricky venue"

Image Left: What it looks like a new Artemis boat is indeed a modified AC45: - - Beams shape
- Hull flares at deck level
- Transoms shape
- Pod 
- Front beam and dagger case moved forward?
Plus additional changes we are not seeing. Oracle did similar mods to their own 45s. Below standard foiling 45.

Iain Percy on Bermuda:
"Artemis Racing team manager Iain Percy says he’s very excited about the prospect of racing in Bermuda, which he is calling a tricky venue that will demand the best from the sailors.
“I’m really excited about Bermuda,” he says. “You’ve always had the old adage in the America’s Cup that the fastest boat wins, but this is a tricky venue. We’ll all have to wake up. It’s going to be shifty with a wide range of conditions and that’s going to be a new element. Strategy and tactics will be a big factor in this venue.”

Source & full report at  americascup.com/en/news/143_Percy-This-is-a-tricky-venue.html

Extreme Sailing Series @Singapore 2015: Day 1

Image: extremesailingseries.com - Live repeat below. Results Here 

Raid de Corsaires 2015: September 4-6 @Saint Malo

This 2015 edition of the Saint Malo Raid de Corsaires will be held on September 4,5 & 6. Above teaser sent by Vincent Blin.

AC35. BAR foiling the N20 @Bermuda

Now we are talking, with the AC teams training in flying cats again. Oracle & Artemis on the FP and BAR on the Nacra 20FCS,  a fast beast and a perfect training platform to develop catfoiling skills.  Ainslie also describes a "high impact when they wipeout", thus the need to use helmet and protection, a must for these boats as I've seen live here in BA. Images & video by Ben Ainslie Racing. Bermuda looks like a great venue for the Cup, Ainslie has the talent & the local knowhow advantage, lets see if this time if challenger teams are leveled in design & performance on their first AC62 version.

Best Images of 2014 Portfolio: Jasper van Staveren

All Images Copyright Jasper van Staveren / www.jaspervansaveren.com -
Click for high resolution. Full complete gallery later at CSN FB. Thanks Jasper for covering Catamaran Racing!
-- Check Christophe Launay Portfolio Here