nacra infusion ; my first impression. Sadly I didn't sail it yet, but had a very goo luck at one today. Two friends just picked their one up.

I figure that when I'm critical on some topics that I also need to be congratulatory when it is deserved. So here goes.

I had a good look at the Nacra Infusion #5 with a race package upgrade. I'm told that I've seen something that the Americans didn't see yet. I recognised it immediately. This nacra Infusion has a true wingmast just like the Capricorn F18 and the Taipans/A-cats. Now THAT I appreciate.

The wing mast looked exactly the same as the AHPC wingmast with even the scribed lines in the same places. The mast is setup with a significant amount of prebend and is black anodised. The masts are produced in Europe and I'm told the American boats used the Nacra F18 (teardrop shaped) mast profile. The Europeans ones all come with a true wingmast. This is going to make a difference on the water. It has been an extremely long wait till wingmasts made their intro into the F18 class, 15 years, but now they are here. Capricorn F18 was first but Nacra Infusion is right on its heels. Tiger watch out !

The race package sees a 1:12 external 2-stage cascaded downhaul system ( 1:3 x 1:4 ) with what looks like 4 mm shift cord for the first stage and 3 mm D12 line for the second stage. This will work well.

The freeboard is very high and the rearbeam is set high as well. The deck in front of the main beam has been faired into the mainbeam. No troubles expected here.

The finishing on the hulls is excellent. No seem is visible. Two halves construction (no glued on decks). Stiff sides on the hulls and the hulls feel very solid. One can debate their overall shape, but future race results will be the definitive judge on those.

Mast rotation has a nice gimmick. Implemented simple but effective. One line to fine-tune the upwind rotation trim. and a seperate line to switch from upwind setting to downwind setting (loose). So when rounding the leeward mark you can retrieve your earlier upwind setting but just pulling a line taught.

Daggerboards are much lighter then the ones of previous models. A big improvement in my personal opinion.

I really do appreciate the way the implemented the diamond wires tensioning. Finally a system that is both simple (cheap) and effective. Near the bottom of the mast two slots are cut into the mast sides. The diamond wires pass to the inside of the mast through these slots and connect to a single Eye bolt that is fitting through the mast base plate. On the underside of the base plate a bolt head is protruding and by turnign this one you can slacken or tightening the diamond wires. It looks really clean and it will give excellent control with the most simple setup possible. I really respect the beauty of simplicity of this setup. Things like this win my respect.

Boom is a little narrow for my taste (30 mm by something) but will work well while sailing, just don't hit it during a capsize.

The the optional race package sees all kinds of tricks to stow away lines and take up excess line while sailing. The trapeze bungee tunnels are angled towards the rear so they are more in line to where you will be standing. Good foot straps and a chickline are fully installed. This boat look fully race ready to me !

On this boat the spi halyard cleat was moved from the front of the mast to the starboard side (not by request of the owner) so I guess they are still debating its best position. But this is not a major point.

Older style spreader arms (tubes with threading). Mast rotation controllable from the trapeze. The spi ratchet blocks are forward of the sidestays and near the inner gunwhales, as most F18's seem to be converging to nowadays.

Good solid spacers inside the beams.

In summary the boat looks to be very well fitted out with eye to details (race package) ; On this subject along I expect good things.

The jury is still out on the hullshapes themselfs but with the first racing tomorrow we'll see the verdict on that soon enough.

Good boat from what I could see on land.

Wouter

Thanks for the report! Just one point, when I priced one of these F18s with my area dealer. The mast was one of my concerns, he assured me that the mast would have the new wing mast.
Please let us how the racing went.
Ted

Yes, wingmast, while supplied from Europe, is standard on the U.S. boats as well.

I should clearify this. I was told the US prototype still used the old Rig (Dan ?). I didn't mean to say that the production US boats would maitain the older mast section. I fully expect all to be fitted with the wingmasts from Europe.

I can't give any judgement before I test sailed her, but if the new wingmast on the nacra is anything like the Superwing I have on my own boat then this is going to be a major selling point of the Nacra infusion with respect to all others except the capricorn.

On one hand it will be more difficult, accurate trim is important for these masts, but on the other hand the sailors will appreciate its performance and handling. These masts talk to you. If you change some trim then the mast will often immediately give a change in feel. It will nearly always be (immediately) clear whether the change was a good one or a bad one. With this it is easier to experiment and find good trim. At least this is my experience with my own Superwing (wingmast) on my F16.

I hope this clearilfies things.

Wouter

I'm pretty sure that the one at spring fever has the wingmast.

I'm only waiting for the NACRA F16.
Then I buy one..

It does - the boat that Nigel and Alex have has a wingmast and I know there was a large shipment of wingmasts headed to the U.S. for the Infusions (I would assume that since the masts are supplied in Europe that they wouldn't send the masts here to just be sent right back again.)

The first time out on the prototype we sailed was the same mast at the older F18s. We were trying to compare apples to apples as we were pacing with another of those boats. We were narrowing down hull design comparisons.

The number one production boat went out with the winged mast. It was not anodized just painted black. I am pretty sure that is the mast that Alex and Nigel are with right now.

I am anxious to see what they are doing with the "race" rig. I am curious if there is anything different than the boat that I was on. Aside from relocation of the spin halyard.

Dan

The F18s race on Sunday, I heard there about 15 boats, no result posted that I could find. Just a statement


Maybe Mr. Wouter could find more info?

More pictures here: http://www.devanneaux.net/YAMAHA%20NACRA/index.htm

The official results are not online yet, I had a quick peek at the preliminaries though and if I recall correctly they where 4th, 5th, and 11th. I only saw it very briefly so I could be completely wrong (/coverass)

Sorry guys, I wasn't at this event myself. I'm still working on a design assignment I really should have finished last week.

I'm waiting for the official results as well. Of the two infusion teams that are currently at my club (will have more later when the boats are ready) I know that one didn't go, the other was planning to go but I don't know how that worked out for them. I seem to remember both picked their boats up last saterday afternoon.

When I know more then I will post on this forum. I have to be a little bit careful though, I don't think the boys like it when I sort of fall out of line with their media presentation. And truly, I really do not want to harm the infusion launch or the product as a whole.

Personally I feel that a little bit more relaxed attitude to the infusion launch is best for both the boat and the dealer. I fear that when expectations are pumped up very high and the first performances are not stellar that the boat will get less credit then it may deserve. I sense that my befriended crews do feel some pressure to sail it well straight from the get go. But they are realistic enough to say that they probably need a season to get their act sorted out on this new boat. I feel that we should give these crews some more time before eyeballing their every move. Personally I'm not willing to pass judgement on the performance before finishing this first real race season.

On this account I sometimes find myself rolling my eyes when I read up on the latest news. I'm maybe best to not have wrote down the above, but I feel that I should inform everybody of my feelings in this matter so you can judge my future comments better.

So, please remember that I find myself often uncomfortable with the more extreme statements that are put out. I also find myself sceptical in some other aspects. As a result I occasionally have to counteract an urge to directly go against several statements. Please take note of that. My comments will be conservative in basis.


Okay,

We have 2 spring cup race series in the Netherlands at the same time :

one in hellecat and one in muiderzand (roerkoning)

The results of the hellecat event are available at :

http://www.bigmick.nl/wedstrijden/uitslagen/2006/voorjaarsbokaal09042006.html

I'm familiar with several crews and I personally do not spot an Nacra Infusion among this fleet. To me this suggests that all the infusions were racing at Muiderzand.

Now lets wait for the official Muiderzand results.

till then these preliminary info :

it appears that the teams at muiderzand were :

Mischa Heemskerk / Sander de Boer (NED 112) Red Yamaha boat
Charles Devanneaux / Tim Hulsman (FRA 11) Blue Yamaha boat
Peter Vink / Koen de Koning (NED 5) white infusion without obvious markings

But this data is preliminary till we see the official results.

I'm expecting a 4th crew to be out as well, but I haven't seen any sign of them yet.

Wouter

I'm on the west coast for two days for business and had some free time this morning. I made a visit to Performance Catamarans where Jack was grasciouly willing to show me around the place. My timing was good as, among a lot of other activity, they were infusing a set of hull halves for one of the new boats. I took a bunch of pictures and will upload them to www.teamseacats.com Unfortunately I didn't plan ahead for this and didn't bring my digital camera - had to get a disposable so it will be a day or so before I can get access to the pictures.

Thanks for the review Wouter

Bill

My pictures from February

GARY

Source : http://home.wanadoo.nl/roerkoning/2006/vjb06.html

29 boats in total ; 10 in the small boat score fleet; 5 in the I-20/A-cat fleet and 14 in the fleet with the infusions. Quite a modest fleet size for the Spring cup. We've seen larger in the past. But I wasn't there neither so I have no right to blame anybody.


The current standings are


-1- Geijssen, Willem / Jongeneel, Wouter NED246 Capricorn F18 at 5 points
2 1 2

-2- Bruijne, Kathelijn / Bogaards, Diana NED1712 HobieTigerF18 at 15 points
7 3 5

-3- Cok, Eric / Bergen, Vincent va NED22 Hunter F18 at 16 points
4 4 8

-4- Larsen, Sascha / Boer, Sander de NED112 Nacra F18 [color:"red"] (INFUSION) [/color] at 17 points
11 2 4

-5- Deuanneaux, Charles / Hultman, Tim FRA11 Nacra F18 [color:"red"] (INFUSION) [/color] at 18 points
6 5 7

-6- Vink, Peter / unknown NED5 Formule 18 [color:"red"] (INFUSION) [/color] at 22 points
3 OCS(=18) 1

also -6- Boers, Eelco / Boers, Tjidde NED34 Capricorn F18 at 22 points
1 DNC(=18) 3

also -6- Hololtcheff, Boris / Schoten, Derk van NED 517 Nacra F18 at 22 points
5 6 11


-9- Tadema, Maayke / Tadema, Sybren NED 438 Formule 18 at 24 points
9 9 6

-10- Elhorst, Mathijn / Schouten, Peter NED 1284 HobieTigerF18 at 25 points
8 7 10

-11- Steggerda, Robbert / Boonstra, Ritsert NED135 Formule 18 at 35 points
DNC(=18) 8 9

-12- Haanraads, Bas / Beurden, Marc van NED690 Formule 18 at 39 points
10 11 DNC(=18)

-13- Becker, Wim / Becker, Rob NED1233 HobieTigerF18 at 45 points
DNC(=18) 9 OCS(=18)

-14- Mels, Tony Hobie Fx One at 48 points
12 DNC(=18) DNC(=18)


We are missing some good teams in this fleet like Remco Kenbeek / Paul Brouwer on the Capricorn and Wouter Samama / Jeroen van Leeuwen on old Nacra F18. This fleet is decent but not one the best we can form out of Dutch sailors. Result should be viewed accordingly.

Peter Vink (infusion); Geijssen, Willem (capricorn) and Boers, Eelco / Boers, Tjidde (capricorn) are with some distance the highest ranking sailors in this fleet. Their results reflect this in my opinion. So only comparison between these teams is dependable in my personal opinion. A rather small data set.



Wouter

Anybody else notice the head on the mainsail on the Infusion? Fairly big head, little roach.

This pic illustrates it well. Its shows the Older Hobie F18 main vs the Infusion main. IMG_7296.jpg

Then look at this http://www.ullmangz.it/ENG/Product_F18.asp

Wouter mentioned the hull shape and the mast, I would argue that the hull shape changes are insignificant compared to the rig and sail changes.

Changes in terms of importance in my opinion
1. mast
2. sail
3. race ready setup
4. hull shape

Bill

Was that an all women team in second place on the Tiger? That would be awesome.

tigeroxj - get ready for some flak! you may be getting a bumpy ride

Hey Gary, looks like an Infusion has your name on it...

My Infusion is on the Ferry from Holland at the moment and should be with me today ready to get wet this weekend. YES!!!
More later - too excited!