Exciting things are happening in the US for A-class sailors these days. Pete Melvin winning the 2005 World Championship this past summer was an incredible achievement and validation of the US designed and built combination of the A2 platform design, Hall Spars carbon mast, and Glaser mainsail.
There are now two suppliers in the United States for A-class sailboats: Performance Catamaran and Vectorworks Marine.
The evolution of the NACRA/Performance Catamaran A2 design continues. The hulls, beams, and foils are being built by Morelli-Melvin. The mast is supplied by Hall Spars. The stock trampoline and mainsail are supplied by Glaser Sails. Assembly, marketing, and distribution are handled by Performance Catamaran. Pete Melvin is constantly working on tuning and technique to get the most out of this design and has been extremely open with other A2 owners in helping them get the most out of their boats.
Vectorworks Marine in Titusville, FL is now a licensed builder for the Italian BIM XJ A-class. The company received not only the builder plugs and tooling but also four complete boats this past summer. All the boats have been sold and the company is in the process of manufacturing the first US built boat. We hope they will be in production and taking orders early next year.
The US is scheduled to host the 2007 World Championship and will be testing a proposed site for this regatta in January. The event is our annual midwinter race week. The site is the Islander Resort in Islamorada, FL. The dates are January 6-13. We will race two events that include the Cocoanut Grove Classic (sponsored by Cocoanut Grove Sails) and the Midwinter Championship (sponsored by the Islander Resort). Most sailors are staying at the Islander Resort with their boats and bringing their families. At the time of this post, we have over 30 sailors committed to participating with four coming from Sweden (including Goran Marstrom) and Andy Landenberger coming from Germany. We're also excited that we will have at least 4 boats from California including current world champion Pete Melvin and Pease and Jay Glaser. Past NA champ Ben Hall will be there as well as 2004 Tornado Olympic silver medalist Charlie Ogeltree. The racing will be HOT. There will also probably be some sailors who will stay over in Key Largo and race the Tradewinds Regatta that follows immediately after this event concludes.
Last year, we implemented a district structure for the class nationwide. The goal is to build more participation with more district events. This seems to be working based upon the growth we have seen in the class and the very high interest level. In 2007, three districts will have multi-regatta district championship series to further encourage sailors to race their boats. We are also looking forward to the 2006 North American championship to be hosted by the Bristol Yacht Club in Bristol, RI.
Please visit our website at
www.usaca.info. Mike Wallace, our new webmaster, has done a fantastic job in posting more information and pictures.
It's a great time to own an A-cat. The racing is world class in this country and the boats are a joy to sail. We hope to welcome more new sailors in the coming year.
Bob Hodges
USACA President
USA 230
