The Nacra 17 is a performance catamaran used for sailing. It was designed in 2011, went into production in 2012 and has been the focus of multihull sailing at the Olympic Games since its conception.

Nacra 17
Development
DesignerMorrelli & Melvin,
Nacra Sailing
Year2011
NameNacra 17
Boat
Crew2
Displacement141 kg (311 lb)
Hull
TypeCat
LOH5.25 m (17.2 ft)
Beam2.59 m (8 ft 6 in)
Hull appendages
Sails
Mainsail area14.65 m2 (157.7 sq ft)
Jib/genoa area4.0 m2 (43 sq ft)
Gennaker area19.5 m2 (210 sq ft)
Current Olympic equipment
← Tornado

The Nacra has been converted to a sailing hydrofoil for the 2020 Tokyo and 2024 Paris (Marseille) Olympics.[1]

History

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The Nacra 17 was specifically created to meet the criteria laid down for the new olympic discipline, a first for Olympic sailing a mixed crewed boat. In May 2012 International Sailing Federation chose the Nacra 17 as the equipment for the mixed multi hull at the 2016 Olympic Sailing Regatta[2] and 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo.[3]

Morrelli & Melvin, the boat's designers, summed up the design philosophy with the following quote:[4]

The Formula 16 is on the small end of the scale for the crew weight range specified by ISAF (120 kg to 140 kg) and, in our opinion, would be more exciting and challenging to sail for Olympic-caliber sailors if it had a more powerful sail plan. The F18 typical crew weights exceed the range specified by ISAF. The F18 is also quite a heavy boat for its length and could be made lighter, but the hull volume and surface area would be needlessly large for a lighter Olympic spec F18 platform.

Since no existing design or class fit the ISAF specs, we decided to create an all-new design that is about 17 feet long, called the NACRA 17. Compared to an F16 class catamaran, it is 250mm longer, 100mm wider, has a taller mast and more sail area, and curved dagger boards.

The curve boards also give an added dimension to the sailing.

The ISAF Equipment Evaluation Panel wrote:[5]

The clear preference of the MNA Sailors and the Evaluation Panel was the innovative new NACRA 17. Designed specifically for the Mixed Multihull criteria the Evaluation Panel concluded the NACRA 17 is seen as the best option. Featuring curved dagger boards providing vertical lift, the NACRA 17 will carry a wider –range of crew weight better than the 16 footers and is considerably lighter than a Formula 18. The modern NACRA 17 also offers the sailors in the Mixed Multihull Event the exciting challenge of mastering the potential lift of the curved daggerboards.

Events

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Olympics

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Gold Silver Bronze
2016 Rio de Janeiro
details
  Argentina (ARG)
Santiago Lange
Cecilia Carranza Saroli
  Australia (AUS)
Jason Waterhouse
Lisa Darmanin
  Austria (AUT)
Thomas Zajac
Tanja Frank
2020 Tokyo
details
  Italy (ITA)
Ruggero Tita
Caterina Banti
  Great Britain (GBR)
John Gimson
Anna Burnet
  Germany (GER)
Paul Kohlhoff
Alica Stuhlemmer
2024 Paris
details
  Italy (ITA)
Ruggero Tita
Caterina Banti
  Argentina (ARG)
Mateo Majdalani
Eugenia Bosco
  New Zealand (NZL)
Micah Wilkinson
Erica Dawson

World Championship

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Gold Silver Bronze
2013 The Hague
details
  France
Billy Besson
Marie Riou
  Great Britain
Ben Saxton
Hannah Diamond
  Switzerland
Matías Bühler
Nathalie Brugger
2014 Santander
details
  France
Billy Besson
Marie Riou
  Argentina
Santiago Lange
Cecilia Carranza
  Australia
Jason Waterhouse
Lisa Darmanin
2015 Aarhus
details
  France
Billy Besson
Marie Riou
  Australia
Jason Waterhouse
Lisa Darmanin
  Netherlands
Mandy Mulder
Coen de Koning
2016 Clearwater
details
  France
Billy Besson
Marie Riou
  Denmark
Allan Nørregaard
Anette Viborg Andreasen
  Italy
Vittorio Bissaro
Silvia Sicouri
2017 La Grande-Motte[6]
details
  Great Britain
Ben Saxton
Katie Dabson
  Spain
Fernando Echávarri
Tara Pacheco
  Italy
Ruggero Tita
Caterina Banti
2018 Aarhus
details[7]
  Italy
Ruggero Tita
Caterina Banti
  Australia
Nathan Outteridge
Haylee Outteridge
  Argentina
Santiago Lange
Cecilia Carranza
2019 Auckland[8]
details
  Italy
Vittorio Bissaro
Maelle Frascari
  Denmark
Lin Cenholt
CP Lübeck
  Australia
Jason Waterhouse
Lisa Darmanin
2020 Geelong[9]
details
  Great Britain
John Gimson
Anna Burnet
  Australia
Nathan Outteridge
Haylee Outteridge
  Australia
Jason Waterhouse
Lisa Darmanin
2021 Wudam Al Sahil[10]
details
  Great Britain
John Gimson
Anna Burnet
  Italy
Gianluigi Ugolini
Maria Giubilei
  Germany
Paul Kohlhoff
Alica Stuhlemmer
2022 St. Margarets Bay[11]
details
  Italy
Ruggero Tita
Caterina Banti
  Italy
Gianluigi Ugolini
Maria Giubilei
  Finland
Sinem Kurtbay
Akseli Keskinen
2023 The Hague[12]
details
  Italy
Ruggero Tita
Caterina Banti
  Great Britain
John Gimson
Anna Burnet
  Sweden
Emil Järudd
Hanna Jonsson
2024 La Grande-Motte
details
  Italy
Ruggero Tita
Caterina Banti
  Great Britain
John Gimson
Anna Burnet
  Italy
Gianluigi Ugolini
Maria Giubilei

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "WHO CAN TAME THE FOILING CAT?". Yachting New Zealand. 19 December 2017. Retrieved 5 January 2018.
  2. ^ http://www.sailing.org/38281.php ISAF News Story
  3. ^ "16 November 2013, 2013 ISAF Annual Conference Draws To A Close in Muscat, Sultanate of Oman". Archived from the original on 25 December 2013. Retrieved 22 December 2013.
  4. ^ http://sailinganarchy.com/2012/05/04/the-choice/ Interview with the Designer
  5. ^ http://www.sailing.org/38217.php ISAF Mixed Multihull Evaluation Report
  6. ^ "2017 World Championship". nacra17.org.
  7. ^ "2018 Nacra 17 World Championship". manage2sail.com.
  8. ^ "2019 World Championship". nacra17.org.
  9. ^ "2020 World Championship". nacra17.org.
  10. ^ "2021 World Championship". nacra17.org.
  11. ^ "2022 World Championship". nacra17.org.
  12. ^ "2023 World Championship". nacra17.org.
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