formula 18 catamaran world championship

F18 World Championship 2025 At Noordwijk aan Zee

From July 5th to 11th, 2025, Zeesport Vereniging Noordwijk (Sea Sports Club) will proudly host the prestigious F18 World Championship in the beautiful Noordwijk aan Zee. We are delighted to announce that this event is sponsored by Hotel Huis ter Duin, ensuring a luxurious and comfortable experience for all participants and visitors.

This championship brings together the world’s best sailors in the F18 catamaran class for a week of thrilling and challenging races. The waters of Noordwijk aan Zee provide the perfect sailing conditions for this spectacular event.

We invite everyone to join this unique sailing experience. Whether you are a participant, supporter, or spectator, the F18 World Championship 2025 promises to be an unforgettable week full of sporting highlights.

Spend the night

Visit Noordwijk and spend an unforgettable time at the coast. Discover the variety of accommodation options that Noordwijk has to offer. You have the choice between the best hotels, B&Bs, guesthouses, campsites and bungalow parks. Below you find an overview of the accommodations.

Book your hotel now

Zeesport Vereniging Noordwijk · Kon. Wilhelminaboulevard 101 (beach exit 10) · 2202 GW Noordwijk · The Netherlands · +31 71-361 72 87 · [email protected]

Published on September 23rd, 2019 | by Editor

Formula 18 Class: Evolve or Die

Published on September 23rd, 2019 by Editor -->

The success of one design racing rests largely on critical mass. There may be a lot of boats of a type, but if they are not in close proximity, convenient one design racing can’t occur. And if it isn’t convenient, it won’t thrive.

But what if different boat types, with similar characteristics, could come together and race on equal terms? The Formula 18 Class had that objective when the parameters were developed in 1993 to offer popular, exciting, safe, and fair racing in 18-foot catamarans.

The class’ further objective was to keep development under control, keeping it a non-foiler, and maintaining a good balance between cost and performance. By being open to any manufacturer, the competition keeps costs to sailors to a minimum… right?

While right in general, any class organization that has some degree of “openness” becomes open to efforts that try to build a better mousetrap, err, 18-foot catamaran. And once that happens, the effort to offer a level playing field tilts toward those spending money for the better boat.

This all came to mind with the pending launch of the newly developed Nacra F18 Evolution, which according to Nacra Sailing, hopes to improve on their previous boat – the Nacra F18 Infusion – to be the best all-around performing F18, over the full range of sailing conditions for every sailor.

Why do it otherwise, right? When there were no Nacras in the top 20 at the 2019 F18 Worlds , and the Exploder Scorpion dominated with 8 boats in the top 12, it’s time to evolve or die.

Here’s the background on this new boat:

The design program of the Nacra F18 Evolution started at the 2018 F18 World Championship in Sarasota, USA. Morrelli & Melvin Naval Architects Ferdinand van West (2 time F18 World Champion) and Pete Melvin (Olympic sailor) teamed up to sail the Nacra F18 Infusion.

With Nacra Sailing owner and technical director Peter Vink’s coaching, the duo finished their first event in 6th place. Inspired by this experience, they brought back a wealth of data from the event which they applied directly to the drawing board. This is how Nacra Sailing teamed up again with their long-time development partner Morrelli & Melvin to set its goals in this ambitious project. These parties have a long history together, having done many successful projects such as the Nacra F18 Infusion which was launched in 2006.

This relationship also includes the development of the Olympic Nacra 17 which has changed the face of sailing by becoming the first Olympic sailing class to introduce hydrofoiling.

The hydrodynamic characteristics of the Nacra F18 Evolution’s hull shape are completely revised and benefit from the latest design tools used by America’s Cup teams, analyzing the performance of dozens of hull shape iterations in Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulations.

Since their involvement in the last three America’s Cups, Morrelli & Melvin have invested in using NUMECA’s FINE/Marine CFD software for design optimization. Utilizing high performance computing resources and advanced performance prediction simulators to add fidelity to race model analysis.

Most notable, the Nacra F18 Evolution’s hull shape design, has an aggressively styled raked wave-piercing bow with a horizontal hull chine running back into the transom.

This elegant solution cleverly distributes the volume and contour curvatures desired for each dynamic condition and delivers a unique compromise for both sailing upwind and downwind at different speeds. The optimized foredeck in front of the main beam and embedded beams into the hull add extra sleekness to this design.

There was a careful focus on the platform configuration, which features an updated longitudinal beam position to optimize the hydrodynamic and aerodynamic balance between the sailplan and the appendages. This has been further enhanced by a new high aspect ratio rudder design, refining wetted area, and updates to the hydrofoil sectional shape to the latest developments.

Close collaboration with the aerodynamic sail design of Performance Sails has ensured an optimized sailplan which features the regatta proven deck sweeper mainsail and an optimized jib design tailored to the new mainsail.

The Nacra F18 Evolution will make its F18 Worlds debut at the 2020 Formula 18 World Championship in Formia, Italy, and is available for order with first deliveries starting in February 2020.

Tags: F18 , F18 Worlds , Formula 18 , Formula 18 World Championship , Nacra Sailing

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Setting records for years

The world’s leading high-performance catamaran. The most successful F18 catamaran. A true blast to sail.

The Nacra F18 range  has been dominating the racing circuit for decades. With this latest iteration of the record breaking F18 Infusion , the MKIII , we’ve turned it up a notch. The Infusion MKIII design is suitable for an incredibly wide range of weather conditions, making competitive catamaran sailing an accessible treat for both experienced as well as new sailors. And since 2021 the MKIII comes with an open multi-functional centerboard, designed to turn a best-in-class F18 into a fully foiling monster in less than 30 minutes 1 .

Usage Competitive racing Foiling Touring

Crew 2  Sailors

1 – PLEASE NOTE:  The F18 is one of our finest class legal racers. However, its foiling version is not yet approved for the official Formula 18 Class fleet. To accommodate sailors, the Foiling Package  comes with a conversion kit for easy conversion back to class legal.

THE BENCHMARK OF BOX RULES RACING

The Nacra F18 Infusion is a real racer, the hull volume is larger than other F18’s, which means higher speeds and rapid and precise boat handling. The wave piercing technology reduces drag and improves speed in all conditions. Whether you’re driving in big seas and big winds or gliding on a flat lake, the Infusion is a winner. In contrast to other designs, the Nacra Infusion MKIII stabilizes herself at high speed due to dynamic lift, hence reducing pitching to low levels yielding a far more consistent airflow over the sails, leading to those higher speeds.  When you

are an   MKIII  owner, you  don’t need to add anything, it’s all there. The fully battened jib, the self-tacking jib rail, the large spinnaker chute and the Harken™ Cunningham downhaul system which enables total mainsail control. Get high upwind with the high aspect daggerboards, responsive and positive rudders, a tightened trampoline from all four sides giving a firmer, drier, cleaner spacious platform. The sophistication of Performance Sails and the wind mast shape complement each other perfectly to allow you to improve your results.

This boat is a real winner, it became World Champion in 2008, 2009, 2013, 2014 and 2015 in the F18 class. In 2019, Nacra Sailing released the Infusion’s successor – the Nacra F18 Evolution .

The fully battened jib, the self tacking jib rail, the large spinnaker chute, the Harken ®   Cunningham downhaul system enables total mainsail control, ask your dealer for the options. The high aspect daggerboards get you high upwind, the rudders are responsive and positive, trampoline is tightened from all four sides giving a firmer, drier, cleaner spacious platform. The sophistication of  Performance Sails  and the wing mast shape complement each other perfectly to allow you to improve your results.

• Nacra users & Owners Manual
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Customize away

You can customize your Nacra F18 Infusion with multiple upgrades and additions to make your catamaran truly yours.

Ready to start flying?

ON SELECTED MODELS

All models outfitted with an Foiling Package ( FCS or   Flight Control System for short ) are ready for full foiling – during your sail, specialized hydrodynamic daggerboards combined with upwards pressure make you get a controlled ‘flight’, meaning your whole boat will be above the water, rather than in it. Make alterations on the water during your flight to find the groove you are looking for and fly over water to leave others behind.

These so-called  Foil sets are designed to fly in a wide range of weather conditions, to make competitive catamaran sailing accessible to even more sailors, and are built to meet the highest safety standards. A real treat for the more, or a little less, experienced sailors.

Using the best possible manufacturing techniques available, we’ve obtained maximum strength with minimum weight using autoclave technology, curing the pre-impregnated carbon/epoxy at 120 degrees Celsius at an atmospheric pressure of 6 bar. It will put you miles ahead of any fleet in terms of performance and joy.

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Home » Nacra Sailing F18 Evolution

Nacra Sailing F18 Evolution

Nacra Sailing has chosen to replace the renowned Nacra F18 Infusion with the newly developed Nacra F18 Evolution on Nacra’s upcoming 45th anniversary.

The racing catamaran represents a unique design combined with 45 years of experience, advanced technology and sophisticated design tools. The primary ambition of the new Formula 18 design was to build upon the Nacra F18 Infusion’s pedigree as the best all-around performing F18, over the full range of sailing conditions for every sailor.

The design program of the Nacra F18 Evolution started last year at the 2018 F18 World Championship in Sarasota, USA. Morrelli & Melvin Naval Architects Ferdinand van West (2 time F18 World Champion) and Pete Melvin (Olympic sailor) teamed up to sail the Nacra F18 Infusion. With Nacra Sailing owner and technical director Peter Vink’s coaching, the duo finished their first event in 6th place. Inspired by this experience, they brought back a wealth of data from the event which they applied directly to the drawing board.

This is how Nacra Sailing teamed up again with their long-time development partner Morrelli & Melvin to set its goals in this ambitious project. These parties have a long history together, having done many successful projects such as the Nacra F18 Infusion which was launched in 2006. This relationship also includes the development of the Olympic Nacra 17 which has changed the face of sailing by becoming the first Olympic sailing class to introduce hydrofoiling.

The design The hydrodynamic characteristics of the Nacra F18 Evolution’s hull shape are completely revised and benefit from the latest design tools used by America’s Cup teams, analysing the performance of dozens of hull shape iterations in Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulations. Since their involvement in the last three America’s Cups, Morrelli & Melvin have invested in using NUMECA’s FINE/Marine CFD software for design optimization. Utilizing high performance computing resources and advanced performance prediction simulators to add fidelity to race model analysis.

Most notable, the Nacra F18 Evolution’s hull shape design, has an aggressively styled raked wave-piercing bow with a horizontal hull chine running back into the transom. This elegant solution cleverly distributes the volume and contour curvatures desired for each dynamic condition and delivers a unique compromise for both sailing upwind and downwind at different speeds. The optimized foredeck in front of the main beam and embedded beams into the hull add extra sleekness to this design.

There was a careful focus on the platform configuration, which features an updated longitudinal beam position to optimize the hydrodynamic and aerodynamic balance between the sailplan and the appendages. This has been further enhanced by a new high aspect ratio rudder design, refining wetted area, and updates to the hydrofoil sectional shape to the latest developments.

Close collaboration with the aerodynamic sail design of Performance Sails has ensured an optimized sailplan which features the regatta proven deck sweeper mainsail and an optimized jib design tailored to the new mainsail.

Debut at 2020 World Championship The Nacra F18 Evolution will make its F18 worlds debut at the 2020 Formula 18 World Championship in Formia, Italy, and is available for order with first deliveries starting in February 2020. The Nacra F18 Infusion will stay in production, as the only foiling catamaran on the market that can be easily converted into a F18 class legal boat and back.  

About the Formula 18 class

The Formula 18 class, abbreviated F18, is a non-foiling, restricted development, formula-design sport catamaran class. It was started in the early 1990s and quickly grew getting class recognition by World Sailing, with large racing fleets all over the globe.

Posted by NACRA Sailing 9-22-19

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Ravi, Racing to The Top

• By Dave Reed
• March 20, 2023

Ravi Parent is sailing at his own pace these days, and the pace is always quick…and calculated. He is as measured as one would expect of a Boston University cum laude mechanical engineer who’s been sailing fast gear since before he had his driver’s permit. His dedication to perfection propelled him to the top of the Worlds for both the A class and Formula 18 catamaran last year. With two world championship titles in hand, he’s the first American sailor to win both in the same year, as well as the F18 Europeans. Cat sailors know that’s a big deal. The A and the 18 require serious talent, commitment and technical savvy. Parent has all three. Being shortlisted as a 2022 Rolex Yachtsman of the Year is a humbling honor, he says, when I catch him driving to the Sarasota Sailing Squadron on a late January afternoon (He would later collect his Rolex Yachtmaster.) It’s also a validation of the work he’s put in and the close-knit cat community that’s supported him along the way. On this particular windless afternoon, he’s headed to where his sailing obsession took hold, for another day of boatwork on his latest challenge—the Moth.

What’s on the work list?

Not much. I’m trying to design a travel bag for the wings so I can fly with them.

How new to the International Moth are you?

I got one at the beginning of last summer (2022). Right after the A Cat Worlds, I sold that boat and got this one because I wanted to take on a new adventure. I’m not done sailing the A Cat by any means, though.

How’s the swimming been?

It’s been a vertical learning curve for the first month, but it’s starting to get a little better and a little more fun every day. The sensations between the A Cat and the Moth are similar; the foiling concept is the same, with the pitch and ride height and all that stuff. The speed and the sail trim are similar, but it’s not trapezing, so your righting moment comes from heel, and the biggest thing I’ve been learning is the effect that heel has on the boat. Jibes have been a bit of a challenge, and the boat I have is the Bieker [model], which has the smaller wings, so…I’ve broken a few tillers while learning to tack, but now I’m a little better at it and saving money.

Where are you on the ­sailing-versus-boatwork spectrum these days?

Actually, not bad. I’ve been thinking about this recently. The trade-off I’m seeing is that the A is faster to rig—I can go from the parking lot to sailing in like 30 minutes. The daily maintenance is longer, though. With the A, there’s a lot more foil sanding and staying on top of the systems, especially after a windy day. With the Moth, there’s virtually no foil sanding because you barely touch them—they go in and out. Rigging it, however, does take a bit longer. I’m still about an hour from showing up to going sailing, but to be honest, I haven’t broken much. Yesterday, I did about 40 miles in 15 to 24 knots and have no boatwork today.

How do you afford the time and upkeep with all your high-tech, high-demand craft?

I work for Morelli & Melvin as a part-time design engineer, primarily working on power-cat foils. There is some sailboat stuff, but powerboats are easier than sailboats in some regards, so that’s where I’ve started. I’m still getting three to five days of sailing a week, mainly three-hour sessions. I have to be a lot more organized with my time to make sure I’m using every second effectively. Outside of that, I’ve been doing a lot of coaching for the development teams of the Nacra 17 and 49er sailors, and also helping with the US Sailing Team’s equipment tech and testing program.

Take us back to the early days of Ravi the Little Ripper.

I started young in the F16 and the F18s, so it wasn’t quite one-design sailing like traditional junior sailing kids would do, which I now realize is a strength because I was sailing among adults most of the time. Also, the boats were different designs, which got me interested in boat design. At the time, the F18 class had like four different builders, and they were all different. It was a fun learning experience at a young age.

I did Optis and Lasers too, and that was socially driven, as it is with most kids. I wanted to hang out with my friends, but I was also competitive and wanted some independence on the water. I was also small—probably 120 pounds—and I could sail the Radial in Sarasota in light wind, but I’d get my butt kicked in anything over 12 knots, so the doublehanded catamaran was perfect for me. I could sail with one of my bigger friends and be on a more-even playing ground. We had a couple of multihull members at the Squadron who were awesome enough to let a few of us take out their boats. We had a group of six sailors back in 2011, and we all basically set a goal that we wanted to do the multihull championship that summer.

As a lifelong Floridian, how’d you end up college sailing in the cold Northeast?

I did look at a few Florida schools, but I decided to try something different to see if I would like it. Stan Schreyer (Boston University head coach) was awesome to me. He took the time to introduce me to what it would be like going to school there. The allure of college sailing in the Northeast was strong, and it also didn’t hurt that both of my parents went there for their medical school.

What potential do you think Stan saw in you?

I think he saw what other ­college coaches didn’t realize, and that was my catamaran sailing skills. While other coaches were looking for the traditional youth sailing 420 type, Stan, being a multihull sailor himself, knew that cat sailing forces you to think faster and to have long-term strategic planning. In an FJ, you can do 20 tacks and not lose anything—you might even gain. In cats and skiffs, you’re limited in your boathandling, so you have to be thinking a half a leg ahead. You have to have your plan and fast reaction time. Having those skills coming into college sailing really helped me. I felt if I was being dumb on the racecourse, I could rely on speed, and a lot of that came from cat sailing.

After graduating, you didn’t waste any time jumping into Olympic sailing, did you?

I wanted to dive into it right away. It was near the end of the last quad, so I didn’t have enough time. It was about a year-and-a-half investment. I had done well in the Nacra 17 at the Miami World Cup in my senior year. I had some funding, and all the parts came together to just get into it. That was with Caroline Atwood, and we did a compressed campaign, and like learning the Moth, the curve was vertical. My cat-sailing background helped, but I was functional—not proficient or even good by any means. If I started then with the skills and maturity I have now, I’m sure it would have gone a different way. I’d have to do it again the same way to get to where I am today, but I’m happy with the way things are going now. Learning the boat was a huge part of it. It just requires a lot of hours in the boat because to learn anything mechanical, you just have to do it, but you have to do it efficiently.

I’ve been told that finding the perfect Nacra crew is like speed dating.

Absolutely. It’s a ­personality match and also a size thing. There might be someone like me who’s more technically savvy, and someone who’s holistic savvy or the right size. There can be a lot of different combinations, but it’s really about bringing out the strengths, and each sailor to make it work. Caroline and I were too small. That was the biggest thing. The Nacra 17, especially now that it’s gone to full foiling upwind, the size had gone up. We were always in the 300 to 310 range, and now it’s more like 315 to 320 combined.

Was it straight to the nine-to-five when that campaign ended?

After we missed selection at the Trials, I got the job with Morelli & Melvin, so it was nice to be able to pay the bills. And I wanted to do something independent of Olympic sailing as well, which is something I suggest to a lot of the Olympic Development sailors I coach. You obviously need to learn your boat, do your diligence and put in the hours, but it’s good to develop something on your own too, especially for drivers who don’t get tired nearly as much as the crews. It’s important to have some sort of singlehanded extracurricular that complements what they’re trying to do. For me, that was the A class. I bought a used one and went straight into it.

Not an easy boat to just dive into.

It was a steep learning curve for sure. The things I was focusing on and learning in 2020 are so elementary to me now. It was an older boat, and I basically stripped it and started over to get it up to date.

Was it intimidating getting into a class notorious for being an arms-race kind of boat—at least at the top of the class?

A bit, but even now I’m very strict about how I do my budgets. I’m realistic about what I can afford, but I’m also strategic about the equipment I buy and how to do it. I knew, ­eventually, my strengths in sailing the boat would outweigh a lot of the equipment stuff. From sailing the Nacra 17, the downwind foiling was kind of easy. Fundamentally, I knew what was going to happen. I just need to adapt to having one sail and foils that are a lot more sensitive, and dealing with rudder differential.

To stay at the top of the class, people do end up cycling through boats, but that does not by any means diminish the boat you have. It’s about being realistic. It’s hard in our sport because everyone has different situations, so you can’t compare yourself to anyone else; you can take inspiration and ideas from others, but you really have to scale it to your own life. The biggest thing for me is being able to support myself, covering the basic expenses, and understanding how to have an income and go from there. Figuring out how to make every dollar do as much as it can do. It could be into equipment or coaching, time or convenience. For example, do I rent a slightly more expensive apartment that’s closer to the venue so I can save on time commuting and sail more often—things like that.

What were your expectations going into the A Cat Worlds in Houston?

Looking back, I think I might have been one of if not the most prepared person. I spent the most time at the venue—almost two months—which absolutely provided me an advantage. I didn’t have the latest and greatest equipment, but I had confidence in all the training I’d done in my boat. I knew my boat well and knew what I could do. The more confidence you have in your equipment, the more you can get away with not having the latest and greatest.

What was your approach to training in Houston?

I did a lot of training with Bruce Mahoney. It was about 75 percent with a training partner and 25 percent on my own. I have a list of what I’m working on in any condition, so I’m always prepared for whatever ­condition I have to make good use of it. With Bruce, we’d do tuning and finish up with some racecourse stuff. But if I was on my own, I’d work on my boathandling for hours, or acceleration, or sail around and study the wind on the bay. Being my first A Cat Worlds, I was being realistic and had no idea what was going to happen.

My focus of the regatta was to continue to have a level head—but my first race was terrible. I rounded the top mark in second and hooked a fish. That day was light-air marginal foiling, so it was really difficult to get the fish off. I rallied for the next race and ended up winning it.

That first race was unusually light air too, and I knew more breeze was coming later in the week. I had been developing a more refined starting technique, which ended up being a bit of a secret weapon. I’d practiced a lot on full-foiling starts, so I knew as soon as the breeze was coming, I’d be able to start 4 knots faster than anyone next to me. That sort of became my strength the rest of the regatta. That made my life easier on the windy days because a couple hundred yards immediate gain off the starting line is a big advantage.

What’s that move called? The Ravi Slingshot?

I learned in Nacra 17 and Olympic sailing that your biggest gains tend to happen when the fleet is all on an even ladder rung, which is certainly off the starting line and up the first upwind leg. That’s when you can pass everyone or be last immediately. So, I knew the starting line would be a critical time and knew the spacing between boats would be good. As the breeze increased, my biggest focus was the starting initiations that require the least investment. By that, I mean I’m trying to accelerate and get on the foil in a thin lane.

How do you practice for that?

Basically, I’d start my watch with a 15-second countdown, do an acceleration, and understand how much time and distance it took me to go from dead stop to full foiling and how much of a lane it used. I could go from zero to full foiling in about three boatlengths, and it was about a boat width of a lane. So, that’s about 12 seconds for acceleration, and 10 seconds on a good day.

It requires being a bit back and envisioning where that clean lane is going to be, where the [windward boat’s] wind shadow is going to be, and whether I can punch through it. The windier it is, the narrower the wind shadow, so you can kind of get through it easier.

Let’s switch over to the F18 Worlds, which you won with crew Severin Gramm, another technical class with some serious talent.

I have been sailing F18s on and off since I was 14. There’s a lot more power in the F18s than the A Cat, so that makes the racing more competitive. It was nice to divide the labor with Severin.

That journey to the F18 Worlds started in 2021. Pete Melvin (the Morelli & Melvin designer for Nacra), he let me take his new boat and rig it. Peter Vink (of Nacra) supplied a boat for the Europeans in Lake Garda, and that was a good result for us, and again that was another regatta that sailed to our strengths. We’re athletic and had the boathandling down, and that paid off because it was a flat-water event and breezy. We knew we could just put the hammer down and out-muscle a lot of people. Severin’s physical and strategic strengths filled in many of the gaps in my own game, and we figured out how to maximize our potential with the short amount of time we had sailing together. The Europeans was Severin’s first time sailing an F18.

You’re 27, a double world champ, and a Yachtsman of the Year nominee. That must make you a pro sailor in demand these days.

I’m technically a Cat 3 because I coach and do receive endorsements, but I’m not paid to go sailing. I’ve never been paid to go sailing. I’d love to be paid, but my philosophy is that I want to do the sailing that I really enjoy. I love the small boats, and I’m open to doing larger boats, but for me that’s not the J/70, which is perfect for what it is and a great class, but I’m a high-­performance junkie. I have to sail a boat that goes over 20. That’s my thing. I would love to ­someday get to SailGP.

Morelli & Melvin is ­incredibly supportive of the sailing I do, and I could not do it without the flexibility [the owners] give me. Pete has a long history with the A class as a two-time world champion, and I’m trying to beat his record. I still do have the passion for the Nacra 17. I still have the equipment, and feel like I have unfinished business in that class and would like to come back and do my best there. The journey of Olympic-class sailing is incredibly rewarding and just makes you a better sailor. The skills I’m using now, the organization, the planning and the focused training, all came from Olympic sailing.

I don’t come from a sailing family—my dad played soccer and did some local racing and cruising, and my mom was a violinist. But for the most part, I’m really the only sailor in my family, so I take a lot of pride in carving my path in the sport because it’s truly been my own path. I’ve had to figure out all this stuff and learn from people around me. That said, I’m really enjoying everything I’m doing, and I understand sailing is a lifelong career and sport. So, I know eventually my time will come, and I’ll just keep doing what I’m doing.

• More: Multihull , Print March 2023 , Racing , Rolex Yachtsman of the Year
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• Sun. Sep 1st, 2024

US F18 Catamaran Class Assn., Inc.

2023 F18 North American Championships

The 2023 F18 North American Championships will be held from September 18-22 at the Burlington Beach Catamaran Club (BBCC) on Lake Ontario at Burlington, Canada.  This was the site for the very successful 2022 A-Cat North Americans.  BBCC is making preparations to have an even better event with a great social calendar to enhance the four-days of championship racing.  There is lots of space at their beach venue on the western end of Lake Ontario about a half hour drive from Toronto International Airport.  We are expecting over 50 F18s from Canada and the USA.  It is an Open regatta so other nationalities are welcome to join the fun.  It will also be the Canadian National Championships so we are expecting a strong Canadian turn-out.

For more information view the BBCC Bid proposal with great information on the regatta plans and the Notice of Race (NOR) attached to this email.

Register through YachtScoring at:   https://yachtscoring.com/emenu.cfm?eID=15700

There is an early discounted registration fee through April 30 so register now and save.  The early registration fee is C$475 Canadian Dollars which is currently about $356 US.  Payment is either using Paypal or Paypal’s credit card processing facility.  For Americans to get the best exchange rate it is recommended to pay in Canadian dollars in PayPal and let your credit card do the foreign exchange conversion for you.  You will get a better exchange rate and save money on the conversion.

If you have any questions regarding this event please contact myself or the regatta organizers listed in the NOR.

I look forward to seeing you all in Burlington, Canada!

Steve Stroebel

US Formula 18 Catamaran Association President

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F18 UK Class Association

By Olivier BOVYN, President of the International Formula 18 Class Association

For many years, and with the exception of the “A” and Tornado Classes, sport catamaran sailing has been linked to manufacturer classes. From club level to the largest events, racing on corrected time was the only way to allow different designs to compete, with sometimes endless discussions about the timetable or yardsticks used to do so.

Off this reason, we started to work, through the catamaran section created in 1985 by the French Sailing Federation, on a rating system based on a set of IOMR formulas, further to the Pacific Multihull Association system. With the support of various European National Authorities, this job lead in 1992 to the implementation of the SCHRS, Small Catamaran Handicap Rating System, which is since under the umbrella of ISAF.

A clear need for racing on elapsed time appeared with the first long distance race sailed in China Sea, organised by Gérard d’Aboville (the man who crossed over the Ocean by rowing). It was then agreed with Pierre-Charles BARRAUD, FFV Technical Officer, to fix one single rating for the whole fleet, with some success.

Following this very first event, a CataWorld Cup circuit was created, using the ICCA measurement regulations written by Yves LODAY and some other competitors, but these rules lead to a majority of expensive “One off” boats, hindering any further large development.

In order to broaden the access to elapsed time racing to a maximum of catamaran sailors, Pierre-Charles BARRAUD and myself, as the executive of the FFV Catamaran Section, decided then to create in 1994 the Formula 18 using the SCHRS formulas to compute the performance parameters. The aim was the following :

• to provide fair racing for crews of various weights, from 115 to over 150 kgs, through the use of two different sail sizes of jibs and spinnakers, linked to the use of limited corrector weights;
• to maintain competition between the manufacturers in order to keep the costs at the lowest level;
• to allow mixed or female crews to compete on an equal basis in large male fleets;
• to protect the interests of the club sailors through an actual measurement procedure.

This concept was probably a good one, as the class grew up so quickly that the ISAF Recognised Status was granted in 1996, eighteen months after the birth of the formula. Mainly European at the beginning, the Formula 18 is now spreading to Australia, New Zealand and North America, with not less than twelve different designs affordable on the market at the moment.

To conclude, Formula 18 sailing offers probably the best balance between cost and value, fairness and competition, to the wider range of crew statures.

Last but not least, the Class is extremely proud to welcome numerous Olympic sailors to the annual World Championship, as it is a clear assessment of the Formula 18 skill level.

All what you have ever expected in catamaran sailing will probably given to you by Formula 18. Numerous National Associations and sailing clubs are ready to welcome you, and I will be for sure very happy to meet you in some venue in the near future, if you decide to join our family.

Wishing you all the best, sincerely,

Olivier BOVYN