Mark
The inter20 was designed and built BEFORE the inter 18

I don't think so. My understanding was that Nacra built the M and M designed inter 18 for the EU for the F18 class that was just starting to grow in popularity (Dart Hawks and Hobie Tigers). They then decided to sell the boat in the USA but the small sailplan was just boring ... So.. just like they souped up the Nacra 6.o to the 6.0 NA to trump the 5.8... they added the Omohundro carbon stick and tried to spice the boat up to convince the Nacra 5.8 NA sailors to flip. This did not work. (Why go smaller) As the story goes... Larry Hartack took a sawsall to the inter 18 bows... added two feet and bingo... the MandM design was now the Nacra Inter20 and the first production cat with a carbon mast. The US market went for the Nacra Inter20 and passed on the F18. Eventually Hobie figured out a way to sell boats without comptips in NA and started selling the Tiger... Nacra followed with the F18 and they grandfathered the small number of inter 18's with carbon sticks into the dealer created NAF18 class. Eventually that organization reformed to be fully compliant with the internationl F18 class.

The first F20na event is scheduled to take place at Juana's Good Time Regatta September 10-11, 2011.

More regattas are in the work for this fall. Stay tuned and dust off your 20's and come out to support something at its grass roots.

Many people look at a new initiative and start shooting holes in it. Look years down the road and realize it for what an amazing class it can be.

What's it rate?

Just curious but what the difference among ideal crew weights for the F18, N20, and F20-Carbon?

rhetorical question huh? i'll bite. We need to start racing before we can get a rating. The F20na is late to the party but i think there is plenty of food and we'll bring a fresh keg to keep everyone happy.

It was not rhetorical. If you want to be scored and you want to run a different configuration than what the N20 OD is rated you'll need to get a provisional number from the DPN committee or apply all the applicable mods, if there isn't a mod for what you want to do then you aint legal. Now if the F20na isn't going to be scored with the other party goers and all the N20's in attendance are cool with it then go nuts...

As far as data points go only bouy races are used by DPN.

Your class rules as published will make it difficult to get a PN rating as a group of boats... eg the F20NA class. You will be forced to calculate each boat individually because your class rule says min boat weight 320... which would lower your rating in PN, Texel or SCHRS and the owners would think this unfair since their boat actually weighs 420.

So that would force you to use the tables individually which is a PIA for all concerned.

You can create any class you want for the PN tables Historically boats like the CFR 20 and Poison Oak were one offs that had a rating in the table and so you can create a class for min boat weight of 390 and sail area equal to the existing N20 and create a descriptive name and go for it.. That would swallow all of the N20s and any of the customized N20's in the race. The provisional number would be phrfd to be a bit faster then the current N20. All you should need is the basic measurement limits and a letter requesting a provisional rating. Should take a week or so. sailors register and say they comply with the PN rating rule.

Alternatively, race under SHCRS or TEXEL and use the calculators to get your individual rating. Until the boat changes weight... all the N20 look a likes would rate the same.

Very interesting and largely productive comments and suggestions. "Provisionally", until we get a rating, I think that Portsmouth adjustments can deal with most of the issues for the Juannas Regatta or other mixed regattas. While not ideal, the goal is to give the power back to the sailors rather than SMOD especially given the great varieties even within what is considered a one design class. The idea in using an overall sail area will hopefully permit the sailors and builders to experiment with different configurations and designs to improve the 20' platform whether it is an N20, N6.0 or other grandfathered platforms. I have no doubt that it will be easy to shoot holes into this initial plan. Understandd however that we are aiming for an Open Class that can harbour innovation. While every boat may not be equal (some being more equal than others), each boat has the opportunity to be equal.

Keep you constructive suggestions coming.

Thanks,

Ken Altman
Commodore Ocean Springs Yacht Club
"Kani Basami" N20
"Baby B" Hobie Wave

This statement of your intention makes the most sense after looking at your rules.

I suggest you change the name from Formula 20,, to Open 20 or Development 20, or Level rated 20.

In the cat world... Formula has been defined by the Formula 18 class. The term Formula references a fairly tight set of rules (if not an actual formula) and does not quite match your intention (Open Class?) in my opinion. Just one of those suggestions....

(I also think you should try an interim entry in the PN tables... It makes life A Lot easier for scorekeepers using wind speed ratings.)