The Nacra 20 is a

catamaran A catamaran () (informally, a "cat") is a watercraft with two parallel hull (watercraft), hulls of equal size. The wide distance between a catamaran's hulls imparts stability through resistance to rolling and overturning; no ballast is requi ...

sailing dinghy Dinghy sailing is the activity of sailing small boats - usually for fun, learning necessary sailing skills (often also within family), and competition. RYA lists Five essentials of sailing dinghies as: * The sails * The hydrofoil, foils (i.e. t ...

that was designed by Gino Morrelli and Pete Melvin as a

one-design One-design racing is a racing method which may be adopted in sports using complex equipment, whereby all vehicles have identical or very similar designs or models, avoiding the need for a Handicapping, handicap system. Motorsport One-make racing ...

racer and first built in 1998. The design is a development of the Nacra F18 Infusion, using the same rudders, mast, inter-hull beams and other small parts and fittings, but with new, longer hulls. The design was originally marketed by the manufacturer as the Nacra Inter 20 and later as the Nacra 20, more recently it has been developed into the Nacra F20 Carbon and the

hydrofoil A hydrofoil is a lifting surface, or foil, that operates in water. They are similar in appearance and purpose to aerofoils used by aeroplanes. Boats that use hydrofoil technology are also simply termed hydrofoils. As a hydrofoil craft gains sp ...

-equipped Nacra F20 Carbon FCS. The Nacra F20 Carbon is a recognized

World Sailing World Sailing is the international sports governing body for sailing (sport), sailing; it is recognized by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the International Paralympic Committee (IPC). History The creation of the International Yac ...

international competition class.

Production

The design was initially built by

Performance Catamarans A performance is an act or process of staging or presenting a play, concert, or other form of entertainment. It is also defined as the action or process of carrying out or accomplishing an action, task, or function. Performance has evolved glo ...

Santa Ana, California Santa Ana (Spanish language, Spanish for ) is a city in and the county seat of Orange County, California, United States. Located in the Greater Los Angeles region of Southern California, the city's population was 310,227 at the 2020 census. As ...

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

, but that company is out of business. Since 2007 the design has been built by

Nacra Sailing Nacra Sailing is a Dutch company that manufactures a line of small catamaran sailboats, or beachcats. NACRA was founded in 1975 to tap into the market created by Hobie Alter the founder of Hobie Cat, and several other companies offering smal ...

Scheveningen Scheveningen () is one of the eight districts of The Hague, Netherlands, as well as a subdistrict () of that city. Scheveningen is a modern seaside resort with a long, sandy beach, an esplanade, a pier, and a lighthouse. The beach is popular ...

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

, and it remains in production as the Nacra F20 Carbon and Nacra F20 Carbon FCS models.

Design

The Nacra 20 is a racing catamaran

sailboat A sailboat or sailing boat is a boat propelled partly or entirely by sails and is smaller than a sailing ship. Distinctions in what constitutes a sailing boat and ship vary by region and maritime culture. Types Although sailboat terminology ...

. All models have fractional sloop rigs with rotating masts, vertical transoms, transom-hung

rudder A rudder is a primary control surface used to steer a ship, boat, submarine, hovercraft, airship, or other vehicle that moves through a fluid medium (usually air or water). On an airplane, the rudder is used primarily to counter adverse yaw ...

s controlled by a

tiller A tiller or till is a lever used to steer a vehicle. The mechanism is primarily used in watercraft, where it is attached to an outboard motor, rudder post, rudder post or stock to provide leverage in the form of torque for the helmsman to turn ...

and retractable

daggerboard A daggerboard is a retractable centreboard used by various sailing craft. While other types of centreboard may pivot to retract, a daggerboard slides in a casing. The shape of the daggerboard converts the forward motion into a windward lift, co ...

s. They are normally sailed by a crew of two and the design is equipped with two trapezes for balance.

Variants

;Nacra 20 :This model was introduced in 1998 as the Nacra Inter 20 and later called the Nacra 20. Production of this model ended after three years, in 2001. The hulls are built from a

fibreglass Fiberglass (American English) or fibreglass ( Commonwealth English) is a common type of fiber-reinforced plastic using glass fiber. The fibers may be randomly arranged, flattened into a sheet called a chopped strand mat, or woven into glass c ...

foam sandwich. It has a length overall of , a beam of and displaces . The hulls have

plumb stem The stem is the most forward part of a boat or ship's bow and is an extension of the keel itself. It is often found on wooden boats or ships, but not exclusively. Description The stem is the curved edge stretching from the keel below, up to ...

s and a

draft Draft, the draft, or draught may refer to: Watercraft dimensions * Draft (hull), the distance from waterline to keel of a vessel * Draft (sail), degree of curvature in a sail * Air draft, distance from waterline to the highest point on a v ...

of with the daggerboards extended and with them retracted, allowing beaching or ground transportation on a trailer. ;Nacra F20 Carbon :The hulls on this model are built predominantly from a

carbon fibre Carbon fiber-reinforced polymers (American English), carbon-fibre-reinforced polymers ( Commonwealth English), carbon-fiber-reinforced plastics, carbon-fiber reinforced-thermoplastic (CFRP, CRP, CFRTP), also known as carbon fiber, carbon comp ...

foam sandwich with

epoxy Epoxy is the family of basic components or Curing (chemistry), cured end products of epoxy Resin, resins. Epoxy resins, also known as polyepoxides, are a class of reactive prepolymers and polymers which contain epoxide groups. The epoxide fun ...

resin. It has a length overall of , a beam of and displaces . The hulls have reverse

raked stem The stem is the most forward part of a boat or ship's bow and is an extension of the keel itself. It is often found on wooden boats or ships, but not exclusively. Description The stem is the curved edge stretching from the keel below, up to ...

s and the rudders are a "kick-up" design. The rudders and daggerboards are made from

pre-preg Pre-preg is a composite material made from "pre-impregnated" fibers and a ''partially cured'' polymer matrix, such as epoxy or phenolic resin, or even thermoplastic mixed with liquid rubbers or resins. The fibers often take the form of a weave ...

carbon fibre. The spinnaker is made from

nylon Nylon is a family of synthetic polymers characterised by amide linkages, typically connecting aliphatic or Polyamide#Classification, semi-aromatic groups. Nylons are generally brownish in color and can possess a soft texture, with some varieti ...

. ;Nacra F20 Carbon FCS (Flight Control System) :This

sailing hydrofoil A sailing hydrofoil, hydrofoil sailboat, or hydrosail is a sailboat with wing-like hydrofoil, foils mounted under the hull (watercraft), hull. As the craft increases its speed the hydrofoils Lift (force), lift the hull up and out of the water, gr ...

model commenced production in 2014. It shares most of its parts with the Nacra F20 Carbon, including hulls built predominantly from a carbon fibre foam sandwich with epoxy resin. It has a length overall of , a beam of and displaces . The hulls have reverse raked stems. The pre-preg carbon fibre hydrofoil daggerboards and rudders are unique to this model. The daggerboards are L-shaped and the rudders T-shaped. The spinnaker is made from

polyester Polyester is a category of polymers that contain one or two ester linkages in every repeat unit of their main chain. As a specific material, it most commonly refers to a type called polyethylene terephthalate (PET). Polyesters include some natura ...

Operational history

In a 2012 review of the Nacra 20 Carbon in ''Sail magazine'', reviewer Jeremy Evans wrote, "the Nacra 20 Carbon is a spectacular new one-design that is very light—20 pounds lighter than the smaller Formula 18—very stiff and very powerful, with its all-carbon wave-piercing hulls and a superb carbon/Kevlar mainsail ... Sailing in a light to moderate breeze, I found the boat to be stable, predictable and effortlessly quick .. All in all, this is a beautiful boat capable of blistering speed and a truly thrilling ride in a wide range of conditions."

References

External links

Official F20 Carbon websiteFormer website archives
on

Archive.org The Internet Archive is an American non-profit organization founded in 1996 by Brewster Kahle that runs a digital library website, archive.org. It provides free access to collections of digitized media including websites, software applic ...