Dart 18

The Dart 18 is a one-design 18-foot (5.5 m) long glassfibre sailing catamaran. It is designed to be sailed by two people and can achieve speeds of up to 20 knots. This is reflected in its Portsmouth Yardstick of 805[1] and D-PN of 76.3[2]

Dart 18
Class symbol
Boat
Crew2
Hull
Hull weight130 kg
LOA5480 mm
Beam2280 mm
Rig
Mast length8 m
Sails
Mainsail area12.92 m2
Jib/genoa area3.16 m2
Spinnaker area15.5 m2, not legal for racing
Racing
D-PN76.3
RYA PN805

History

The Dart 18 was designed in 1975 as a One Design Class by Rodney March, who was also responsible for the design of the Olympic Tornado class catamaran. The very first Dart 18, designed and built in Falmouth, Cornwall, is now owned by the National Maritime Museum Cornwall. Up to the present, a number of improvements have been made, but the original concept was preserved though strict class rules. More than 8350 boats have been built up to 2016, which are sailed in more than 16 nations on 4 continents. Since 2012, Windsport International holds the worldwide licence to build the Dart 18. The boats are manufactured since 2005 at Collins Fibreglass Plastics in South Africa and in Europe. The World Championship results can be found here.

Design

The hulls of the Dart 18 are similar to most sailing catamarans, but without centreboards. Instead, the lower part of the hulls have skegs typical for a beach catamaran. The hull material is glassfibre. Both hulls are filled with flotation inserts to preserve buoyancy in case of damage. The inside of each hull can be reached through a hatch cover located at the rear of each hull. The boat is assembled by attaching the main and rear beams to the hulls with spring-loaded retaining clips, and lacing the trampoline to the beams and hulls. The two rudders are removable without tools, retract on impact with the beach, and can be locked in the up position.

The rigging consists of a rotating mast held by a forestay and two shroud wires. The shrouds can be adjusted by simply moving the bolts in the chainplates. The Dart 18 mast does not have spreaders. There is a trapeze for the crew.

The mainsail does not have a boom, has nine full battens, and is controlled by a main sheet with a 7:1 mechanical advantage. The jib sail has two short battens, and is controlled by a jib sheet with a 2:1 mechanical advantage. The main sheet block and both jib sheet blocks have a ratchet and a cleat.

A gennaker sail can be added, but is not legal for racing. This is usually combined with a jib furling system. The boat can also be sailed by one person, without a foresail, with a D-PN of 78.7.[2]

Events

World Championships

Year
Gold Silver Bronze
1991 -  Great Britain
Abersoch
 Great Britain
Kim Furniss
Sarah Powell
 Great Britain
Gareth Owen
Steve Cottrell
 France
Daniel Peponnet
Christian Carabeau
1995 -  Germany
Travemunde
 Netherlands
Sven Karsenberg
Annemarie Kingma
 Great Britain
Gareth Owen
Will Thompson
 France
Erik Matheron
Pamela Matheron
1998 Nouméa New Caledonia  Great Britain
Gareth Owen
Christopher Delves
 New Caledonia
Thierry Lebiez
Franck Caromel
 Great Britain
David Lloyd
Katie Jennings
1999 -  South Africa

Port Elizabeth
 Great Britain
Jon Hutchings
Vicki Jennings
 France
Hervé le Maux (FRA)
Toya Al (NED)
 Great Britain
Robert Garcka
Marc Howell
2002 -  France
Marseille
 France
Christophe Gazharian
Catherine Gazharian
 France
Hervé le Maux (FRA)
Joanna Jones-Pierce (GBR)
 France
Thierry Wibaux
Christine Wibaux
2003 -  Great Britain
Stokes Bay
 France
Vincent Bouvier
Fanny Merelle
 France
Hervé le Maux (FRA)
Joanna Jones-Pierce (GBR)
 Great Britain
Matt Pullen
Deborah Rickard
2004 -  Portugal
Lagos
 France
Thierry Wibaux
Christine Wibaux
 France
Vincent Bouvier
Fanny Merelle
 Great Britain
Dave Roberts
Louise Roberts
2006 -  South Africa
East London
 Great Britain
Matt Pullen
Deborah Rickard
 Great Britain
Gareth Owen
Angus Armstrong
 Great Britain
David Lloyd
Polly Bishop
2007 -  Italy
Torbole Lake Garda
 Great Britain
Dan Norman
Melanie Rogers
 Great Britain
David Lloyd
Cathrin Farthing
 Great Britain
Paul Wakelin
Emma Curtis
2008 -  Netherlands
Workum
 France
Emmanuel Dode
Billy Besson
 Great Britain
Dan Norman
Melanie Rogers
 Great Britain
David Lloyd
Cathrin Farthing
2009 Palm Beach Aruba  France
Emmanuel Dode
Fred Moreau
 Great Britain
David Lloyd
Joanna Jones-Pierce
 Germany
Mathias Huber
Dominik Volke
2010 -  Great Britain
Weymouth
 Great Britain
Tom Phipps
Richard Glover
 France
Emmanuel Dode
Fred Moreau
 Great Britain
Dan Norman
Melanie Rogers
2011 -  Belgium
Knokke
 Great Britain
Alan Kernick
Fiona Kernick
 Great Britain
Dan Norman
Mel Rogers
 France
Thierry Wibaux
Christine Wibaux
2012 -  Italy
Punta Ala
 Great Britain
Tom Phipps
Nikki Boniface
 Great Britain
Dave Roberts
Louise Roberts
 France
Thierry Wibaux
Christine Wibaux
2013 -  France
Carnac
 Dan Norman (GBR)
 Jessica Day (GBR)
 Jonathan Pierce (GBR)
 Ginny Trafford (GBR)
 Brian Phipps (GBR)
 Katy Phipps (GBR)
2014/5 -  South Africa
Stillbaai Vaal Dam
 South Africa
Alan Kernick
Fiona Kernick
 South Africa
Ben Mienie
Lloyd Beyers
 South Africa
Chris Clarke
Morgan Rusch
2016 -  Netherlands
Medemblik
 Dan Norman (GBR)
 Alysha Monkman (GBR)
 Dave Roberts (GBR)
 Louise Roberts (GBR)
 Michiel Fehr (SUI)
 Andri Fried (SUI)
2017 -  Germany
Scharbeutz [3]
 Dave Roberts (GBR)
 Louise Roberts (GBR)
 Jorg Gosche (GER)
 Arne Gosche (GER)
 Herve LeMaux (FRA)
 Joanna Trafford (GBR)
2018 -  Italy
Dervio Lake Como
 Alessandro Siviero (ITA)
 Marco Tramutola (ITA)
 Michiel Fehr (SUI)
 Andri Fried (SUI)
 David Lloyd (GBR)
 Anne Chaumet - LaGrange (FRA)
2019 - Thailand
Pattaya
52 Boats[4]
GBR 7835
 Dave Roberts (GBR)
 Louise Roberts (GBR)
GBR 7930
 Gareth Owen (GBR)
 Hebe Hemming (GBR)
GBR 7945
 Daniel Norman (GBR)
 Alyesha Monkman (GBR)
2020 - France
La Rochelle
COVID 19

See also

References

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