18HT

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Notation
Character does not exist
Boat dimensions
Length above : 5.52 m
Width above sea level : 2.50 m
Weight (ready to sail): 130 kg
Sail area
Sail area close to the wind : 20 m²
Mainsail : 20 m²
Gennaker : 20 m²
Others
Yardstick number : 0.97
Class : open
construction class

The 18HT (18 High-Tech ) is an open construction class for sport catamarans . The two-handed sailed boats are characterized by their light weight, their high speed potential and the use of the most modern materials. 18HT are often referred to as the A-Cat for two people.

history

The main idea was related to speed. The X class catamarans should be quick and easy. In 1990 Raymond Cattin from Biel (multiple champion on Hobie and Tornado) came up with the idea of ​​building a tailor-made sports catamaran without paying attention to the often all-too-restricted class measurement rules. The maximum length of 20 to 21 feet seemed imperative, both with regard to transport and storage options in winter.

The story began in 1990 with Reg White's 6.5 Hurricane Olma. Under the strong impression made by Christian Favre and Gino Morelli's new Ventilo 20, the idea of ​​building a fast catamaran that could be trailered without dismantling germinated. In 1995 Christian Favre reduced the width of the Ventilo 20 from 3 to 2.5 meters. Since there was no carbon fiber reinforced plastic (KFK) rig for this ship at the time , he took a 10 m Hobie Miracle mast.

The boat was very fast on all courses, but the A-Cat still made significantly more speed on upwind courses. Giorgio Zuccoli's A-Cat sail was extrapolated to the Ventilo, and so this high-tech Ventilo won the Multilario on Lake Como in 1996, ahead of over 80 other boats.

After various tests and a few mast breaks, the Swedish company Marström built two new, stiffer masts, and Christian Favre constructed two new hulls made of KFK, each 15 kilograms lighter than their predecessors. The new Ventilo was trimmed with the help of GPS. The Ventilo was a fast catamaran. In practically every race he left the competition behind, which led to his being kicked out of class by the F20 Association.

The various developers did not give up and wanted to develop the boat further. The goal was to design the fastest 20-foot catamaran ever built. For this reason, the boats were again widened to 2.70 and 3.05 m.

From this development, mixed with the broad experience that one had from the A-Cat scene, the new 18HT catamarans were finally created.

Manufacturer

  • Bimare (Italy)
  • Eagle (Germany)
  • Stealth (UK)
  • Tomcat (France)
  • Ventilo (Switzerland)

See also

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Design of the boats . Swiss 18HT Association. Archived from the original on June 11, 2013. Retrieved April 21, 2017.