Formula 18

F18
Development
Three F18s starting a downwind leg at the 2006 North-American Championship
Designer	Various
Boat
Crew	2 person
Boat Weight	180 kg (400 lb)
Hull
Type	Catamaran
Hull weight	130 kg (290 lb) min
LOH	5.52 m (18 ft 1 in) (maximum)
Beam	2.6 m (8 ft 6 in) (maximum)
Rig
Mast Length	9.15 m (30 ft 0 in) (maximum)
Sails
Mainsail area	17 m² (180 sq ft) (mainsail and mast combined area maximum)
Jib / Genoa area	4.15 m² (44.7 sq ft) (maximum) 3.45 m² (37.1 sq ft) (maximum for lightweight crews)
Gennaker area	21 m² (230 sq ft) (maximum) 19 m² (200 sq ft) (maximum for lightweight crews)
Class is a member of World Sailing

The Formula 18 class, abbreviated F18, is a 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.

Development

Because the F18 class is a Formula class, any boat that adheres to the limited set of general design specifications may participate in all F18 races. This has led to a score of homebuilders and professional builders to design their own F18 boats and race them in this class. However it is the mainstream production F18 designs that have dominated the top of class.

The boats are equipped with asymmetric spinnakers, and as a result they require a skilled and physically fit crew to be competitive. However, many crews also use this catamaran for purely recreational sailing. The relatively high platform weights lead to robust construction and limit the benefits from fragile advanced construction techniques, keeping costs down and increasing longevity. The level and popularity of the class draw former Olympic Tornado sailors to it.

Background class rules

The F18 class also uses an equalizing system to keep heavy crews competitive with light crews. Lightweight crews are required to sail with smaller jib and spinnaker sails, giving them less sail drive.^[1]

The F18 class has full racing circuits in many places around the globe. Several thousand boats have been sold over the years. The F18 class is a fully respected member of the main international catamaran classes, alongside the A-cat, Tornado and Hobie 16. These four classes make up the top in a sports catamaran scene that contains tens and tens of sub classes. The F18 class had earned this position within a timescale of only seven years (1993 - 2000) and continues to grow.

The success of the F18 class during the 1990s quickly led to a proliferation of other formula classes like the Formula 20 and F16 classes. In addition a number of Formula 18 have gone on to have competitive one design racing including the Hobie Tiger, Hobie Wildcat, Nacra Infusion and Nacra F18.

Events

World Championships

Year	Gold	Silver	Bronze
2000 Erquy	Netherlands Mitch Booth Herbert Dercksen	France Jean-Christophe Mourniac Philippe Mourniac	Australia Andy Landenberger Philippe Neiras
2001 Parkstone Great Britain	Netherlands Mitch Booth Herbert Dercksen	France Jean-Christophe Mourniac Philippe Mourniac	France Billy Besson Arnaud Jarlegan
2002 Trawemünde Germany	Netherlands Mitch Booth Herbert Dercksen	France Jean-Christophe Mourniac Philippe Mourniac	Australia Darren Bundock Luca Remagnino
2003 Koksijde	France Emmanuel Boulogne Vincent Boulogne	Switzerland Gavin Colby Cory Camenisch	Darren Bundock (AUS) Glen Ashby (AUS)
2004 Punta Ala Italy	Darren Bundock (AUS) Glen Ashby (AUS)	Netherlands Mitch Booth Herbert Dercksen	Switzerland Gavin Colby Cory Camenisch
2005 Hoek van Holland	Darren Bundock (AUS) Glen Ashby (AUS)	Netherlands Mitch Booth Herbert Dercksen	Germany Helge Sach Christian Sach
2006 Hyeres	Germany Helge Sach Christian Sach	Darren Bundock (AUS) Glen Ashby (AUS)	Germany Andrew Landenberger Felix Egner
2007 Yeppoon	Darren Bundock (AUS) Glen Ashby (AUS)	Netherlands Mitch Booth Pim Nieuwenhuis	France Billy Besson Arnaud Jarlegan
2008 Nigrán	Coen de Koning (NED) Jeroen van Leeuwen (NED)	France Cammas Franck Lagarrigue Jeremy	Netherlands Mischa Heemskerk Bastiaan Tentij
2009	Coen de Koning (NED) Thijis Visser (NED)
2010	Olivier Backes (FRA) Arnaud Jarlegan (FRA)
2011	Darren Bundock (AUS) Jeroen van Leeuwen (NED)
2012	Olivier Backes (FRA) Matthieu Vandame (FRA)
2013 Grosseto Italy	Billy Besson (FRA) Jeremie Lagarrigue (FRA)
2014	Gunnar Larson (NED) Fedinand van West (NED)
2015	Gunnar Larson (NED) Fedinand van West (NED)
2016 Buenos Aires Argentina	Pablo Völker (ARG) Juan Martín Benitez (ARG)	Smith Cruz Gonzalez (ARG) Mariano Heuser (ARG)	Jason Hess (GUA) Nicolás Schargorodsky (GUA)

^[2]

External links

References

Classes of World Sailing
Current Olympic classes	470 49er 49er FX Finn Laser Laser Radial RS:X Nacra 17
ISAF centreboard classes	29er 420 505 B14 Byte Cadet Contender Enterprise Europe Fireball Flying Dutchman Flying Junior GP14 Int. 14 Laser 2 Laser 4.7 Lightning Mirror Moth Musto Performance Skiff O'pen BIC OK Dinghy Optimist RS Feva RS Tera RS100 RS500 Snipe Splash Sunfish Tasar Topper Vaurien Zoom 8
ISAF keelboat classes	12 mR 2.4 mR 5.5 m 6 mR 8 mR Dragon Etchells Flying 15 Hansa 2.3 Hansa 303 Hansa Liberty H-boat J/22 J/24 J/70 J/80 Melges 20 Melges 24 Melges 32 Micro Platu 25 RC44 SB20 Shark 24 Soling Sonar Star Tempest Yngling
ISAF yacht classes	Class40 Farr 30 (Mumm 30) Farr 40 IMOCA 60 J/111 International Maxi Association Soto 40 Swan 45 Swan 60 TP 52 X-35 X-41
ISAF multihull classes	A-Class Dart 18 Formula 16 Formula 18 Hobie 14 Hobie 16 Hobie Dragoon Hobie Tiger Hobie Wildcat Nacra Infusion SL 16 Topcat K1 Tornado Viper F16
ISAF windsurfer classes	Formula Experience Formula Windsurfing Funboard Kona Mistral Raceboard RS:One Speed Windsurfing Techno 293
ISAF kiteboarding classes	International Kiteboarding Association
International Radio Sailing Association classes	10 rater A Class Marblehead One Metre
Former ISAF classes	11:Metre One Design 29erXX Aloha Buzz C-Class Division I Division II Division III Elliott 6m Farr 45 Farr Maxi One Design Hobie 17 Hobie 18 IOD ISO Laser Vago Lechner A-390 Mistral Junior Mumm 36 Nacra F18 Open 50 ORMA 60 Sydney 40 Ultimate 20 Windglider X-99

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