Nacra Sailing

Nacra Sailing is a Dutch company that manufactures a line of small catamaran sailboats, or beachcats.[1] NACRA was founded in 1975 to tap into the market created by Hobie Alter the founder of Hobie Cat, and several other companies offering small fiberglass catamarans designed to be sailed off the beach by a crew of one or two.

Nacra Sailing
TypePrivately held company
IndustryBoat building
Founded1975
FounderTom Roland
Headquarters
Scheveningen
,
Netherlands
ProductsCatamarans
Websitewww.nacrasailing.com

NACRA is an acronym that stands for North American Catamaran Racing Association, and as the name implies, the company has remained primarily focused on racing catamarans from inception.[2]

History
Nacra 17
Nacra 17

Nacra Sailing was founded by sailboat designer Tom Roland who had previously designed the Alpha Cat, an 18-foot beach cat, in 1970. In 1975 he launched the new company with the Nacra 5.2, a 17-foot beach cat, which was an unusual design that featured plumb bows, daggerboards, and a highly tunable sail plan with a fully battened loose-footed main sail.[3] Many of the design elements of this first boat were carried over to the later designs as well as becoming common on other performance oriented catamarans.[4]

The company has gone through several ownership and name changes over the years, and acquired the competing Prindle brand in 1988. At that time the company operated under the name "Performance Catamarans" and relocated from Santa Barbara to Santa Ana, California. In 2007 the company was acquired by a group in the Netherlands and today operates as Nacra Sailing. An Australian-based licensee of Nacra Sailing has operated as NACRA Australasia since 1985 and also builds NACRA branded boats.[5][6]

Nacra Sailing's 20 foot boats dominated the Worrell 1000, a race the New York Times described as "A Tour d'France on the Water", throughout the 1990s, and were selected as only the second one-design for the race in 2001.[7]

In 2012 Nacra Sailing won the design competition held by World Sailing, the world governing body for the sport of sailing recognized by the International Olympic Committee and the International Paralympic Committee, for a new Olympic racing catamaran, the Nacra 17, which was used in the new for 2016 Olympic Mixed Multihull class, which requires one male and one female sailor per boat.[8][9][10] In 2017 it was announced that a modified version of the boat with foiling capability will be used in the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.[11][12]

In 2015 the Nacra 15 was adopted by World Sailing as a Youth World Championships class, as well as a new class for the Youth Olympic Games.[13][14] In 2016 British RYA selected the Nacra 15 as their new Youth Multihull boat, as well.[15]

Recent catamarans built by Nacra Sailing have included rudders and daggerboards shaped to facilitate hydofoiling at higher speeds, among the first commercial sail boats to offer this feature.[16][17][18]

Current and notable past models
ModelLengthBeamWeightIntro yearCurrent productionRace crewDescriptionDesigner
NACRA 5.217'8.2'350 lbs1975no2distinctive plumb bowTom Roland
NACRA Blast16'8'350 lbs2001no2designed at ISAF Youth CatamaranTom Roland
NACRA 3636.75'16'1975no3+only 10 builtTom Roland
NACRA 18 Square18'11'1979no1distinctive 11 foot beam, uni rigTom Roland
NACRA 5.5 Sloop18'8.5'1984no2same hulls as 18 SquareTom Roland
NACRA 5.5 Uni18'8.5'1984no1same hulls as 18 SquareTom Roland
NACRA 5.016.48.'1985no2boardless, boomless main
NACRA 5.718.58.5'375 lbs1984no2boardless, boomless main
NACRA 5.819'8'390 lbs1982yes (Australia)2large 1 design fleetRoy Seaman
NACRA 6.020'8.5'1988no2designed for Worrell 1000Roy Seaman
NACRA Inter F1717'8'no1 or 2Unirig with spinnaker or double handed sloop with spinnaker
NACRA Inter 1818'8.5'1995no2Nacra's 1st Formula 18Morrelli & Melvin
NACRA Inter 2020'8.5'410 lbsno2Worrell 1000 one-design, 2001[19]
NACRA F-1818'8.5'2001no2Nacra's 2nd Formula 18[20]
NACRA F-18 Infusion18'8.5'2005yes2Nacra's 3rd Formula 18,[21][22] three different generations were produced, including a convertible full foiling versionMorrelli & Melvin
NACRA F-18 Evolution18'8.5'2020yes2Nacra's 4th Formula 18
NACRA 1616'8.5'2011yes1 or 2Formula 16Morrelli & Melvin
NACRA 17 MKI17'8.2'2012no2Olympic Mixed Multihull for 2016, curved boards, non-foilingMorrelli & Melvin
NACRA 17 MkII17'8.2'2018yes2Olympic Mixed Multihull from 2020, full foilingMorrelli & Melvin
NACRA 1515'7.7'2015yes2ISAF Youth Multihull from 2016Morrelli & Melvin
NACRA F20 Carbon20.3'10.5'401 lbs2010yes2C-board, Skimming design with kick up rudders, Not Formula 20 compliantMorrelli & Melvin
NACRA F20 Carbon FCS20.3'10.5'445 lbs2014yes2Full foiling design with J-boards and T-foil ruddersMorrelli & Melvin
NACRA 46014.8'7.7'2004yesnarecreational, no boards, three sail plans
NACRA 50016.4'8'1998yesnarecreational, no boards, three sail plans
NACRA 57018.5'8'1998yesnarecreational, no boards, three sail plans

See also

References
  1. Nacra Sailing (2019). "Contact". nacrasailing.com. Archived from the original on 7 October 2020. Retrieved 7 October 2020.
  2. McMillan, Roger. "Nacra revolution - beach cats enjoy a return to the good old days". mysailing.com.au. Yaffa. Retrieved 21 August 2017.
  3. Fishman, Joanne A. (1 May 1978). "Multihull: Sports Car of the Sailing Set". The New York Times. The New York Times Company. Retrieved 1 November 2017.
  4. Museler, Chris (8 May 2016). "For Experience, America's Cup Teams Turn to Newcomers". The New York Times. The New York Times Company. Retrieved 1 November 2017.
  5. "Nacra Celebrates 30 Years of Excellence in Catamaran Design and Construction". thebeachcats.com. Retrieved 5 September 2016.
  6. "Nacra Sailing: Mission Statement". Nacra Sailing. Retrieved 5 September 2016.
  7. Lloyd, Barbara (4 May 1998). "A Tour de France, on Water". The New York Times. The New York Times Company. Retrieved 1 November 2017.
  8. "The Nacra 17 - A History L:esson". sailing.org. World Sailing.
  9. Melvin, Pete. "The Choice". Sailing Anarchy.com. Sailing Anarchy. Retrieved 21 August 2017.
  10. "A Wild Beast to Tame: Olympic Nacra 17 Sailing". SailMagazine.com. Sail Magazine. Retrieved 21 August 2017.
  11. Nelson, Gunnar. "World Sailing confirms Nacra 17 Foiling version for Tokyo 2020". catsailingnews.com. Catamaran Racing News and Design. Retrieved 21 August 2017.
  12. Wong, Jonathan (18 October 2015). "Perfecting their craft". The Straits Times. Singapore Press Holdings Ltd. Retrieved 1 November 2017.
  13. "Youth World Sailing Championship – Multihull selection". sailing.org.au. Australian Sailing. Retrieved 21 August 2017.
  14. Johnson, Tim. "Nacra 15 selected as the next Youth multihull". Yachts and Yachting .com. YY Online Services Ltd. Retrieved 21 August 2017.
  15. "British Youth Sailing excited by Catamaran challenge". RYA.org.uk. Retrieved 21 August 2017.
  16. Evans, Jeremy. "Nacra 20 Carbon". sailmagazine.com. Sail Magazine. Retrieved 5 September 2016.
  17. "Foiling Feeds the Mid-Life Crisis". Scuttlebutt Sailing News. Inbox Communications, Inc.
  18. Heppell, Toby. "Boat test: Nacra 15". Yachts and Yachting Magazine. The Chelsea Magazine Company. Retrieved 21 August 2017.
  19. "Model of catamaran used in Worrell 1000 under fire". Savannah Now. Savannah Morning News. Retrieved 5 September 2016.
  20. https://www.sailingworld.com/sailboats/nacra-f-18-2002-boty-high-performance-day-racer/
  21. Evans, Jeremy. "Y&Y Test: NACRA Infusion" (PDF). nacrasailing.com. Yachts and Yachting Magazine. Retrieved 21 August 2017.
  22. "F18: Nacra Infusion MKII". catsailingnews.com. Catamaran Racing News & Design.
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