MORE POPULAR THAN EVER
(The Daily Sail subscription website talked with Formula 18 UK Class
President Don Findley about this growing class and their upcoming World
Championship. Here are a few excerpts.)
One of the world's most successful dinghy classes at present is the Formula
18 catamaran. This year the class will be holding its World Championship at
the Hoek of Holland from 9-16 July and this for this entries are having to
be capped at a whopping 160 boats - up from 153 last year. Internationally
Hobie are the dominant force in the class, but they do not have it all
their own way. While Hobie had just over half the hardware at the Worlds in
Puntala last year, 18% sailed the French Cirrus, the Nacra F18 14%,
followed by the Italian Mattia, the new Martin Fischer-designed
Dreadnought-bowed Capricorn from Australia, the Flyer from Germany, the KL
Phenix from France and the Dart Hawk. At present there are more than 14
different designs of Formula 18 in existence.
That the Formula 18 is a box rule with so many different manufacturers does
make for a slight administrative headache, says (UK Class President Don)
Findley. "We aren't a class like the Tornado and the RYA have had
difficulty grasping this. We are an association of classes. The Hobie Tiger
is a class, as is the Sirrus and the Nacra F18 is a class. So we are an
association of classes working on the same box measurement." Interestingly
despite the Formula 18 being a box rule - no one has pitched up at the
Worlds in a fully custom-built boat. However a small amount of
customization of production boats does go on within what is allowed under
class rules. - The Daily Sail,
www.thedailysail.com