Formula 18

F18

Three catamarans with red sails.

Three F18s starting a downwind leg at the 2006 North-American Championship
Development
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]

References

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.