I'm new to the F20 scene but just wanted to let you guys know that the first N20 One Design has just landed in Singapore and well, is getting a lot of attention for its impressive size but also the speed it can generate.

We sail out of Changi Sailing Club, Singapore which has long been the home of cat sailing in the area first in Hobies, then Nacras and in the last 8 years we've built up a large fleet of F16's so its extremely satisfying to see the N20 here now.

We were also real lucky to have Andrew Macpherson here at the time the N20 arrived and so he was able to lead us through the set up and tune the mast.

We're really impressed by the way she handles - so much so that about 4 of our F16 owners are very interested in the boat. I'd say that the 20 will change the scene here for us. With our racing season just about to start, its certainly going to be interesting around here!

We're still 'tuning up' but I'd say we have a good chance of building up the fleet here through the season and into next year.

I read an earlier post about "how the Class was doing" so just thought I'd say, its probably going to grow out here now. It's taken a long time to reach us but its here now and we're excited by it.

Also, there was a post about mast Alu v's Carbon. Ours has a shiny new alu wing mast! Nice and from the first sail, it works great with the sail. While I can say we love light stuff, the price to produce a good carbon section is becoming increasingly prohibitive.

Will let you know how it develops out here. I've made a couple of general posts on my blog at https://boatsbikesboards.wordpress.com in case you want to follow along.

If any of you happen to be passing this way, please get in touch and come for a sail... there'll be plenty going on!

cheers
Scott

Scott,
I read your Blog and I'm assuming this is a "new" boat from the factory. I'm interested to know if the aluminum wing mast has double diamond wires or a single pair. Some mast pictures and mast rotation pictures would be nice to see.
Congratulations on an excellent ride.

There have been many rumors floating around about the aluminum mast. Does this seal the deal? Is the aluminum mast a reality now? Is the carbon stick a thing of the past?

I guess we'll wait and see. I would speculate that the alum. stick would be met with great resistance here in the US.

Dear Philip
Its a single spreader, wing mast setup... will send you some pictures tomorrow.

We had another go on it earlier today and so have written up a post on my blog about that... another awesome ride. Pity the breeze was only light but the boat speeds were encouraging to say the least. We've got about a month before our wind reaches us so this is a good opportunity to settle into it.

Yeah, I see in the picture the new mast rotation arm. They were a popular item at NAF18 nationals and were sold out at the event. The racers who had them loved them. A couple of the local N20 sailors put them on their boats while also ordering the new mast base to compliment it. Did yours come with this arm from the factory or did Macca add it on?
picture of rotation arm

Alum mast... wonderful.

Did you order your boat through Nacra US or EU?

If it was EU, I wouldn't be suprised that they gave you an alum mast.

What are typical wind and sea conditions where you sail? The N20 should kill in light-medium winds, but maybe if the winds were on the heavy side, the F16 might sneak away because they won't have to depower as much...

Wonder how much that wing mast weighs? Wonder if it's as strong and "dope resistant" as the carbon mast...

If it is a wing mast, did they reduce the size of the mainsail to ensure the total sail area for the main is the same as the Carbon mast version?

I'm willing to bet that no, they didn't - just taking into account previous history of the 20 and its mainsail/mast measuring.

Single spreader, but also single diamond wire? Some background - the 6.0 had a single spreader double diamond wire setup. The double diamond wire was a PITA to adjust. I'm really hoping the new 20 mast has the same single set of diamond wires you can adjust with the single turnbuckle.

Well that brings back memories of my Hobie-20. Lose the cleat on top, put a small block on the end, put a continuous adjuster line with cleats aft on each hull...

Will try and answer all the questions in one go and sorry for not getting back sooner but was just having to much fun sailing the 20!

We ordered the boat through Nacra Europe. 10 years ago we were supplied Nacras from Australia but have to say these ones from USA are streets ahead in fit and finish!

Mast rotation arm was standard kit when we ordered the boat.

Single spreader mast setup also has the single set of diamond wires terminating in a single large turnbuckle - way nice and easy to adjust. We have 1 lonely old N6.0 here and I could never understand the double diamond set up on that.

Our conditions are pretty mild for most of the year. Off-season our winds average 12-15 knots and 'on'-season 18-24. Water is flat as Singapore is surrounded by other land masses, but at 24 degrees C - it's warm. Ambient air temperature is 28-32 C year round. But the beer is cold!

It will be an interesting season here (December - May) with the F16 Vipers having to share the water with the 20!

On Sunday we added a little more rake to the rig and that gave us an extra knot of boat speed both downwind and up. But we still haven't pitted her against the better Vipers yet and that will be interesting as we spent a lot of time getting the Viper to point super high upwind.

As for sail and mast measurement stuff. Am not really sure but what I can tell is that a lot of effort has gone into getting the main to work with the new rig. It responds to everything you do i.e rotation, down-haul and sheet tensions. It's what really impressed me. We've been sailing the Goodall setups for about 9 years now and I know he's spent the better part of 20 years dialing it in. Pre-receiving the 20, I was afraid we'd lose some of this finesse but after the first sail, my 'fears' were no more - this is sweet!

We won't get our 'real' wind until the end of December so this is really a good shake down period to get it all dialed in and will soon pit her against one of our better Vipers just to compare upwind angles.

Interesting times coming right up...

So, this is an Inter 20, with a black anodized, aluminum mast?