The 18-2 wasn't on my radar but looking at the market and reading comments it seems that I should be considering it. Would it take a spi? How does it compare to a N5.5, for instance?
(I'm trying to stay on a budget, F18 or stuff like that are a bit above it. I'm a recreational sailor too, no racing interests, but I like speed)
Thanks

The P18-2 has some descent bouyancy up front, but as you know ANY boat will pitchpole. It has diamonds on the mast. It comes with a rather large jib and a '4-way' jib system. I woned one for about 10 years, #5 it was. (fifth production boat made.)



A spin sould be done. If you don't drive it too hard, you'd be OK.

As the P18-2 is just a slightly smaller P19 .... you could look to the P19's for ideas/concepts. The P18-2 is a sweet boat w/ a min crew wieght of 275lbs(?) vs the P19 at 325lbs ...

(If you have a P19 and a P18-2 sitting on a beach, slightly apart from each other and no "references" to judge/measure size against ... you would think you are looking at the same boat ...)

... and yes, ... you can pitch-pole a P19, on it's nose/bows, mast tip laying on the water .... been there, done that, have the T-Shirt ....



Harry
H18Mag/P19MX

You should be able to get hold of a used f18 spinny kit that would fit nicely

A pair of F18 daggerboards wouldn't be too hard to fit either!

The question is will the bows hold the load? I know of one sailor that has had at least 2 hulls fold in at the front cross bar(without running a spin).

I have sold plenty of used spinnaker kits. Don't ask me for a price as I sold almost all and only have one old snuffer now. A used setup will be about $400 spinnaker, $300 for snuffer, another $100 for rigging, $150 for the pole, and $100 for bridles and mounting. I think this is a conservative number, so...you are looking at about $1000 to mount anything like this on a P18-2. If your boat cost a couple of thousand, then maybe for a joy ride it is worth it. If it is any more I would encourage you to find a used F18 which is already designed to take such stresses. We have some used Tigers on the West Coast for $8000 or less. A used Nacra I-18 or F-18(second generation) is even less.

I do not know about shipping to Chile but unless there are P-18-2s down there to buy I think you should reconsider what you are looking for.

Later,
Dan

The spi is not really a decisive factor now. I´d rather get a newer and nicer boat without one, I´m just checking the potential for a future inclusion. I got tempted of getting the whole package at once, but I went quickly above budget. My most committed crew is my 10 years old daughter, but I don´t want to force things too much. I already crossed the line with my older daughter and now she only sails with me on easy days.

When I installed a spin on my P19MX I also installed a N6.0NA Bow Foil ..... this has helped w/ the tow-in loads and translated a percentage of them into vertical loads .... the downside is that I have to carry my spin pole very lowwwww .....

Now I've been using a P19MX Mainsail and a P19MX Jib thats constructed w/ a 6" shorter luff length then the max spec'd by Randy Smythe .... if I went back to the "standard" P19 Jib I could raise the bow-foil up ===> raising the spin-pole a bit .... now I use "crossed" 1/8" spectra lines tied from bridle tang to opposite bow-foil corner to keep the bowfoil centered .... the spin-pole is attached to the underside of the bow-foil ....

You can make your own bow-foil .... my friend made his from a broken mast section (I/N20) .... the Nacra Bow-foil is made from standard "spreader" alum stock ....

Harry
H18Mag/P19MX

Yes it would but there is more to the cost then just the spin. You'll need to upgrade the rudders to the second generation set up and that can be another $700