Formula 20 Discussion.
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<br>First, just so everyone knows what my particular biases are, I sail a Nacra 6.0NA in the New England fleet. In fact I just bought a new 6.0. New England has a strong (~24 boats and growing) 1 design 6.0 fleet. We have decided to keep to just the main and jib for buoy’s racing and not split the fleet. We have agreed on a standard spinnaker for distance racing and non-points regatta racing. This chute is approximately 348 ft^2. 5 of us bought these chutes this year, there are another 4-5 that will purchase them for next season.
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<br>Off and on there have been discussions about a formula 20 fleet for 3-4 years in the US. In the past they have gone nowhere. The major problem is that the configurations of the current 20 footers were too different. There are too many different ideas about what is the ideal configuration, minimum weight, sail area etc.
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<br>Here are my thoughts.
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<br>Objective. The Objective of the US F-20 class is to develop a class of 20-foot long 8.5ft wide, spinnaker equipped catamarans that have the same basic performance characteristics. The boats will be similar enough that the sole determinant of who wins a race is skill and luck. There will be a strict set of measurements for the boats. Any Manufacturer or individual can build a boat as long as it measures in. Sails, hulls, spars, etc can be purchased from anyone you want. At major events, boats must be measured for conformity. There should be a minimum boat weight that is achievable with the designs at hand. The class should be affordable to purchase.
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<br>How to reach the objective
<br> First, aim the formula 20 at new style boats specifically built for the F-20. Don’t bother trying to recruit Tornado’s, Nacra 6.0’s Hobie 20’s and P 19’s, Etc. By the time you reconfigure those boats to be competitive in F 20, you might as well just get an I20 or a Fox. As an example, a Nacra 6.0 would need a new Mainsail, Jib, Spinnaker, rigging and possibly a mast to be truly competitive.
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<br>Right now you have 2 boats that are designed to the same basic formula in the US. The Inter 20 and the Hobie Fox. Someone who purchased one of these boats is likely to want to sail at their Nationals as well as in a Formula Class. Requiring modifications to either boat that would make 2 complete sail plans necessary will probably not be acceptable to most people. Neither would having greatly different minimum crew weights for class and Formula racing. Racers need the same basic configuration for class and formula racing.
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<br>Ultimately formula racing will only work if there are 3-5 manufacturers of F-20 boats in competition. I would suggest the class lobby hard Mystere, Supercat, Dart, etc to build boats to the formula.
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<br>So what is this magical formula? I would go for:
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<br>Boat Weight min 410 lbs
<br>Min Crew Weight 330 lbs. Crews less then 330 carry ½ the difference in lead. No team can carry more then 25 lbs corrector weight
<br>Length 20.0 feet max
<br>Width 8.5 feet max
<br>Mast Height 32ft max
<br>Strict sail area measurements that correspond to the present I-20 sail plan. (Max) sails can be smaller.
<br>Some materials control for sailcloth (no carbon sailcloth).
<br>Limit class members to a maximum of 3 new sails per year. Restrict the use of carbon to spars, foils and local reinforcing.
<br>All trapeze and standing rigging will 1/19 or dyform steel rigging.
<br>Inexpensive measurement certificate for sails and hulls/etc.
<br>For exact verbiage I would use the European f-20 rules as a guide.
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<br>As far as grand fathering boats, I would allow the Nacra 6.0NA, Hobie 20, P19mx and Mystere 6.0 (not XL) with the addition of a 270 ft^2 chute to race for 3 years. Waive the min boat weights for those boats, but use the same min crew weight formula. If they use non-class legal sails they need to measure in under the formula 20 rules. After 4 years they need to measure in or they can’t race in F20 anymore.
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<br>Will this work? Who Knows. Would I sail under this formula? If I percieved it to be fair I might. Good Luck
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<br>Sail Fast, Take Chances
<br>Eric<br><br>
