New F18 Jib Class Rules effective Jan 1st, 2024. Square Top desgin by Max Puttman / Nxt Gen Sails

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Sailing Photo: Ironbark Photos / Lindsay Preece, more at their Fb page here . Video here

— While we want to IF18CA Exec Committee to stop playing around with F18 Class rules, the new jib changes voted in 2022 and implemented as legal January 1st 2024 are rather welcome, as instead of imposing more restrictions or nonsense regulations it opens the jib design more to the orig Box Rule concept: “Inside this defined area & material, design and build whatever you want”.

And thus we have now in the F18 a new Jib shape which will be the standard in the future after some regatta validations. Being summer at our South end, Australian Sail builder, Max Puttman got ahead of the incoming Jan 1st window to play around previous months with his new square top jib version.

From the distance looks excellent, so we asked Max to tell us about this new project being tested along Brett Burvill’s Windrush Edge platform. If those two were already fast, we can assume they will only increase their speed with new devels.

To contact Max for more info go to www.nextgensails.com

Max Puttman / Nxt Gen new F18 Jib Design

“Its been a busy tail end of 2023 for Next Gen Sailmakers, as we focus on developing new designs for the coming 2024 calendar.

There is a myriad of different conditions that our sails will be raced in next year, so trying to design a quiver of sails to cover all wind and wave conditions has been an exciting challenge. Adding to the excitement has been the new rule changes from the International Formula 18 class for the Jib which will come into effect on the 1st of January.

A simplification of the rules for the Jib has removed many restrictions that were placed on sailmakers resulting in a homogenous jib design. The opportunity for development has been very limited until now. With the removal of the minimum head width, concave roach, number of battens and mounting position for the tack, we have been able to get the creative juices flowing and come up with some new designs for the F18 class.

Next Gen Sailmakers has gone through quite a few different designs, testing the benefits and draw backs of different aspect ratios, and finding a good middle ground that caters to almost all conditions.

We have discovered a balance of head width and roach that gives us the optimal twist profile to suit the entry angles for the mast/luff section of the main.
By moving the leech closer to the mast we have also been able to modify the exit angle of the Jib for further optimisation. Sail testing against teams using new sails from other top manufacturers have shown us the results that this is A defining step in the right direction, not just a fashion statement.

The feeling while sailing with the lower aspect square head jib is a little different to previous jibs, as the centre of pressure has been lowered, the sail package can feel a slightly  underpowered, however the boat is still moving through the water faster than before, thanks to several factors: the reduction in parasitic drag from the narrow section of sail at the top of the jib, and the reduction of vortexes from the same piece of cloth that then flow over the main resulting in a loss of efficiency.

Both mainsail and Jib become more efficient with these latest designs. The new Next Gen Sailmakers square head jib fits on all types of F18 and is a great compliment to the new line of Mainsails we are about to release for the 2024 calendar.”

Max Puttman / Nxt Gen Sails