nacra infusion mk2

Already posted on the f18 forum. But anyway look for the new nacra infusion mk2 on www.nacrasailing.com

I can't find anything about a new Nacra F18 on the site?

The video on the front page is of the new infusion. No real details, just an overview, and some pics.

I'm blind as a bat, but does it seem to have more rocker than the OG Infusion?

Blind as a bat. I do not think they changed the hull shape.

ahah. They block the video here at work. Thanks, blind as bat.

What has changed on it?

Whats the lenght of those boards? They seem huge.

EVA progrip on deck
monolithic daggarboard case
infusion vinylester distribution
NACRA sailingteam daggarboards

that's what it said...

Saw one at the Aus f18 Nats. The boards are really long. 2 meters at least and quite heavy to take the extra load I presume. This particular one didn't have the foam decks. The finish on the hulls was the best I've seen on any infusion by a long way.

great avitar Tony!

As an owner of an Infusion I don't want to knock on Nacra to bad but I went to check out their site. They have a cool little tool to help you find the perfect boat. In the tool you list crew size, daggers or not, racing or liesure, advanced or novice and in theory it will tell you what you should by. So for an advanced crew of two racing with daggers what boat does Nacra tell you to buy? The official response on the website was "We are sorry, there are no matches for the criteria that you supplied" I just thought that was funny knowing that there are two boats that fit that model.

They also list them as expert or recreational and have a few of 'em a little mixed up.

Lol. At least they are still building and selling boats!

"infusion vinylester distribution." No wonder the damn boats last about 2 years in the hands of someone racing them hard. I guess thats what the class rules call for in order to keep costs low. I think the overall class would benefit from at least allowing epoxy in the hull layup, the boats would simply last longer in competitive racing shape with $1K more in cost.

The real question is, how long until a log breaks these new ultra-long dagger boards?

You change your boat every 2 years in F18, not because it is worn out, but because it is a development class and new stuff comes along.

As the F16 boys will tell you, F18s are almost over built and the hulls will go on and on.

It sounds extravagant to expect to change your boat every 2 years, but it means that the boat is passed on to someone with lower expectations and the fleet grows. In fact the opposite of what you have found in n20 where the same guys keep refurbishing the same boats and there is no fleet expansion and it eventually falls on its butt!

Is this just a shot from the hip, or do you have any data to back up such a statement? I have a 3 year old infusion that has been raced often and hard. It's got 1 Tybee, 2 Steeplechases and more buoy events than I can count on it. The boat still looks and sails like new, plenty stiff, no issues anywhere on the boat. I am sure most other infusion owners will say the same about their boats.

Except for that pesky "loose nut on the tiller". You'd think they'd have fixed that by now... Maybe after March when that fancy "spacer ring" is inserted...

We sail the Infusion really, really hard in the North East, as do several others. To my knowledge, none of us have had any issue with the infusion process hulls (which by its nature, more evenly distributes resin through the glass, making a stiffer hull. Its lighter too, but there is no advantage there as they often add weight). I've had other issues with Nacra, but the hull layup process ain't one of them.

An A-cat guy once looked over the boat and (upon realizing the thickness of the hull), asked if Infusion hulls were impervious to torpedoes.

The driving factor for selling them, in my experience, is incremental improvements in class design and usually, the added cost of a new suit of sails, and other stuff, that just get a bit tired-but not the hulls, and growing the class.

I have seen a few of them split open on the bottom without hitting anything as well as a bulkhead separate from the inside. So, there were/are some hull issues. I weighed all the boats at the F18 NA's in Galveston and the Nacra Infusions had the BIGGEST difference in weight between one manufacturer. One of them actually weighed 419 lbs.
Sam's post, once again, was a bit out of the park. Where the "2 years" comes from, only Sam knows.

2 years comes from the fact that this is the average selling age of boats, probably more like 2-4 years (2006-2009 are the years of boats I've seen for sale in the past 6 months)). The top guys tend to sell their stuff faster, but that is always the case.

Having worked with both epoxy resin and vinyl ester resin in mass quantities, I would take the epoxy any day, except in this case the class rules forbid it. Vinyl ester resin is typically not compatible with "exotic" materials such as carbon and kevlar. This rule, combined with the minimum weight rule, forces the manufacturer to build relatively heavy fiberglass boats.

I'm glad to hear that the majority of the class feels at little to no disadvantage racing a boat thats been through some stuff vs. a brand new boat, if the old boat has new rags of course. This clearly indicates that the boats are well built and meant for a long life, like the N20. More used boats on the market is always a good thing for class growth.