I had some moree time thinking about this entry to the trails and it seems to me that the new nacra 17 is the M20 of yesteryear in many respects.

It may well be all that a modern cat may be but it doesn't really seem to check the boxes that seems equally important for selection next to performance. Afterall, it is a completely new design, without a class or much development (ironing out teething problems) and it asks alot of investment for some performance and styling points. I was taken a little a back about the quotes for the very high aspect curved foils. That is definately not something the selection committee will view kindly as it goes directly against the wishes to grow participation in developping nations (= south america, asia and SOME african nations like Nigeria).

This new design is largely surrounded by unknowns, such as class and the probability that it ever will be accepted by mainstraim sailing. The word is that the market for the Nacra 20 carbon is done, all who want one have bought one and the "class" has stopped growing. Arguably it is a rare sight even in the big sailing nations. Or at least much more so then the other candidates with the exception of the Torrnado and Spitfire. I doubt the selection committee is going to look favourably upon a candidate of the same pedigree.

With respect to its design. The nacra 17 also doesn't appears to cater much for the mixed crews and light t medium weights of non-western sailors. The rumour has it that it is adorned with a 16 sq. mtr. Sail on what I expect is a slighly taller mast then the F16's. But even if it has a 8,5 mtr mast like the 16's then it still favours crews that are roughly 10 kg's more then a 135 kg on the Viper. The F16' s have the smallest sails of all the entries whereas the nacra 17 comes 3rd smallest after the Tornado and Tiger.

Now this is not in any way an argument for the 16's (eitherh Hobie 16 or F16) but it does show that the nacra 17 is not checking several important boxes in favour for some aspects that could well be pretty meaningless in these trails. So what if it is 5% faster then a Tiger (Which I think is doubtful). This is all but negligiable in a SMOD Olympic race. What does it really mean to the viewers that it has curved foils ? It is not that sailors of O-quality are going to let the boat point its bows to the sky while racing as that is slow and risks venting the foils. I also wonder if the crews will do much lifting and dropping of foils in a short tight fleet race as a few seconds lost will costs large stretches on the water if the other crew who keeps both foils down has the spi drawing sooners.

So I 've come to the conclusion that the curved foils are pretty meaningless for the big O cat. Hell, the Tornado still has low aspect centre boards and no-one complaints about those !

No i think the biggest selling point of the nacra 17 is that it will not interfere with any of the existing classes. Which is a mixed bag in my view as this also means that currently it has no support network or beginnings of an international class from which to start. Apart from that , why should ISAF, IOC or indeed the Olympics care about interference with other classes ?

Non-interference is reasoning that holds water from our perspective as recreational cat sailors but it doesn't from the perspective of the parties at the trails or involved in the big O circus. As such I don't think it will play any significant role in the selection.

At this time I truly believe the race is between the Hobie 16's and the F16's (nacra and AHPC).

The Tornado is out because of its history/reputation and other factors like cost, class size and the fact it simply doesn't suit the targeted crews as well as the alternatives.

The Spitfire is out not in any way because of its design or performance but because Sirena is too small a builder (network) and the class has not sufficient penetration international,y compaired to the alternatives.

Hobie Tiger is likely out because it doesn't suit the targeted crews well enough although I do see it as an entry that may throw a curveball. It does check many of the other boxes. However it is also between everything. It is not as as modern as the F16's neither as common as the H16's. It is more expensive then both others and significantly heavier and less optimal for the target sailors. Basically I see it as a less the optimal compromise under the specs of this Olympic selection criteria but one does well to never underestimate Hobie corp.

Rumour has it that the 16's are the likely favourites and I'm beginning to understand why.

Some think it is a shoe in for the Hobie 16 because of low costs but interestingly enough a bare Hobie 16 race EXCLUDING spi is 12.500 euro's in Europe and a spi kit for it does do 2000 Euro's. F16's are race ready fully equipped at 16.000 euro's and put Hobie 16 build quality to shame.

Basically one can get 9 F16's for the cost of 10 Hobie 16's. Doesn' appear to be much of a discriminator between these two boats. Certainly not for Europeans and all builders are doing production in thailand or whatever already. Besides, doing a batch of 50-80 F16's as a single production run to kick start all olympic hopefuls will drop costs as well.

So in my opinion it comes down how heavy the availabilith of the Hobie 16 is weighted in. It is as common as mud out there and the F16's aren't. On the other hand the performance, build quality and style of the F16's are well beyond the Hobie 16 with spi. I feel it will come down as a toss-upp between these factors with the nacra 17 a bit too far out on both key aspects and the Tiger as the potential curveball.


If I were Hobie then I would start drawing up plans for a Hobie F16 and not let nacra and AHPC corner the market if an F16 were to be chosen.

Just my thoughts