Hi,

I am interested in the possibility of buying a used Inter 18.

I would be very grateful if anyone (excluding those with financial interests preferably) with experience of the Inter 18 could give me any pointers. I understand the Inter 18 was more of a US based design, whereas the F18 is aimed at the European fleet, what I know about the Inter 18 is that it performed poorly downwind, that it was a demanding boat to sail, and that the front beam was further forward than it should have been (?). Any other information or enlargement on these topics would be most appreciated.

Cheers,

Peter Offord
UK.

I have sailed both: TIGER and Inter 18.
Their preformance is only in minor things different. The more full hull around the bow areas on the INTER lets it @Slam@ a bit more than the TIGER.
Their boat speed is about the same. Maybe the SPI cut is better on the TIGER. But that is about it.

HOWEVER:
Talking about quality features, esp. the rudder design on the TIGER is a lot more durable that's why it is my favorite.
The rest is about equal.
TIGER advantage:
You may sail in a TIGER one design class as well as F18.

Any other thoughts?

Fritz

Fritz,

Thanks for the thoughts on the Inter 18.

Peter.

jesflynn@eurobell.co.uk
Hi Peter, I own both an Inter 18 and a new Nacra F18, based at Parkstone (UK). You could say I have a vested interest as I may be selling both boats soon to fund building my own.
However, impartial advice: it's not that simple! The front beam is not in "the wrong place" just different to many/most of the others. Your driving style is what will make the boat fast/slow/wrong way up etc. If there are any general comments from the year of overlap my oppo and myself have had, i would simplify them to:
(i) the Inter 18 needs more care (than further aft beam boats) in strong conditions downwind. You need to keep the nose from Kursking; keeping the boat flat and on the slightly safe side of deep helps lots. If you go for max speed (vs max vmg) when strong and the oggin gets to the beams - like any boat, you're off. The inter does it a fraction earlier. NOTE: we have always had better downwind speed than almost everyone, so i cannot agree with "performed poorly downwind".
(ii)The Inter's hulls are shallower up front; combined with the fwd front beam that means you should get more beam wash when hacking through bigger waves. However, there is also a lot more hull volume fwd, so the net effect is that the boat tends to rock across larger waves more than finer-entry, deeper hulled boats.

(iii)Our gut feeling is that the Inter is slightly less suited to bigger wave conditions than deeper front-end boats. On flatter waters it's just as fast, possibly faster.

(iv) It's in the setup and how you sail it.

Give me a call if you want to discuss
(0)1305 837028 Jes Flynn GBR 577, GBR91

Hello,
I have raced the Tiger-Inter18 and Nacra F-18. Nacra builds a much beter boat then the Tiger. Down wind the Inter18 is awesome well balanced and fogiving. If you like to pitch pole then I would suggest a Tiger. You can push a Nacra far more than you can a Hobie. Hobie still can't build a good boat yet, although the Tiger is close.

f18 is Nacra's replacement for the Inter 18, rather than any geographical bias. Prices, therefore for used Inters are substancially lower since the introduction of the F18-about £3500 for a good used boat (don't be tempted to pay more-you won't get your money back). Still a good fun boat, but you won't win any races ! However, if you are just using this boat as a fun 'muckabout' boat, be aware that all formula 18 cats are very very wet!

I have sailed both the Inter 18 and Tiger but not the Nacra F18.

I agree that the Tiger dives sooner than the Inter 18 but it dives no sooner than the New Nacra F18. The last two are pretty equal.

I found the Inter18 to be a alround decent F18 which will get you in the top end of the fleet in normal club and weekend races. It is a better boat than the pre 2000 Tiger which featured a pinhead mainsail and a shitty jib. I never liked the Hobie spinnakers, HOWEVER, the Tiger platform is sound and good. If my memory serves me right Hobie made a few changes after 2000 like adding subdescks for extra stiffness and the reintroduction of the squaretop mainsail. Post 2000 Tigers are as good as F18's generally come. Ofcourse Nacra decide not to modify their existing Inter 18 but to design a new platform. I hope this gives a feel of what to expect.

The Inter 18 was better than the older Tigers and looks to be slightly less than the newer Tiger versions (Hobie Tiger One-design racing is plain BS as the boats were modified and something noticably differ in performance)

This makes the Inter 18 a good inexpensive boat to start F18 racing on. If you loose to a tiger than it is definately sailor skill than the boats. Only in the very top will the very small difference between (newer and older version of ) boats show. The F18 concept in this respect is sound and it works.

The mainbeam on the Inter 18 is indeed farther forward than what is expected. In general I think the standard supplied Inter sails are better then a the hobie supplied sails with the Tiger. (I will probably get flamed for this but that is my experience)

I have never sailed the Dart Hawk but I think that that boat has a bad reputation. With a new set of good sails (Landeberger ?) and a few mods in the jibsetup and such, I think this boat will rock again. You must be able to pick a few up in the UK for a very decent price.

Given the price (not to high) I think an Inter, Tiger and Dart are very good secondhand boats to start F18 racing on. It depends on the way they are fitted out and the year of building to determine which is the better choice. F18 gradually imporves on the designs; theirfor any 8 year old design will be less optimal than a 2 year old design. This applies to all boats HOWEVER the differences are to small to matter to anybody but the top sailor. Don't expect disadvatages of more than 60 to 100 sec per hour between the two extremes (very old to very new) When assuming both design have new sails and properly maintained gear. Between boats of the same age the differences are much smaller.

All the rest is just caused by sailor skill.

Wouter

I owned an Inter 18 cat for 2 years. It is a very fun and performing cat to sail. Its front beam is located ahead I agree, but even if you try to sink it, it will not put you in trouble. It is more like a family style cat. Performing but with lots of space on deck.
Peter