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International A-class catamaran

October 29, 2023

"A Cat" redirects here. For the pet, see cat. For other uses, see ACAT.

The A-Class Catamaran, often abbreviated to A-Cat, is a development class sailing catamaran for singlehanded racing.[1]

The A-Class Catamaran

Background edit

The class was founded during the late 1950s and was part of the 4-tier IYRU (now World Sailing) approach to divide up the sports catamaran sailing scene into 4 separate groups. These A, B, C and D classes were governed by a very small set of class rules to which each design had to comply.[2] In the beginning it was just:

  • Maximum hull length
  • Maximum overall width
  • Maximum sailarea

All boats designed and built to these specs would be grouped into one fleet and race each other for crossing the finish line first.

The A-Class is the largest remaining of those 4 main classes. The ‘B’ class was a 20 ft twin hander with 235ft2 of sail and developed into the Tornado and a few offshoots such as the F18.  The ‘C’ class was another twin, but at 25 ft with a 300ft2 rig, has become a super sophisticated monster and the pinnacle of small cat design that races for the Little America’s Cup.  The ‘D’ Class was 32 ft and a sail of 500ft2 with three crew, but rapidly dwindled away. As a result, the 'A' class is the smallest, but still maintains its status as the ultimate sailing catamaran single handed design.

Specifications edit

The official organisation for the A-Class catamaran is the IACA (International A division Catamarans Association).

The A-Class rules were expanded over time to prevent the cost of these boats from rising too high and to ensure fairness in racing.

Currently the main A-Class rules are:[3]

  • Min overall boat weight : 75 kg / 165.3 lbs
  • Max overall boat length : 5.49 m / 18.3 ft (= still the old IYRU rule)
  • Max overall boat width : 2.30 m / 7.5 ft (= still the old IYRU rule)
  • Max sail area incl. mast : 13.94 m2 / 150.0 ft2 (= still the old IYRU rule)

In handicap racing, the A-Class catamaran uses a Portsmouth Yardstick of 681 in the UK[4] or a D-PN of 64.5 in the USA.[5]

Current situation edit

The A-Class design has over time converged to a single sail rig using a lightweight carbon mast of about 9 meters length and using lightweight pentex or Kevlar sailcloth. The hulls and beams are often made out of carbon fibre as well, although homebuilt wood or composite materials are still seen on the race circuits. This single sail rig (just a mainsail) allows these boats to truly excel when sailing upwind. Their lightweight and time tested sailing techniques make these boats very fast on reaches and downwind legs as well. They were often unbeatable on the race course and only with the introduction of the asymmetric spinnaker on other catamarans have they lost this position a little bit.

In the decades since their foundation, the A-Class has gathered a significant international following and it has class organisations in many countries around the globe. Their world championships often attracts around 100 boats and sailors. It is also a class that still contains a significant portion of homebuilders, although their numbers are decreasing with every year due to the skills required to make a competitive boat. However, nearly all A-Class sailors tinker with their setups and boats. As it is a developmental class and the rules do allow so much variation, it is paramount that a top sailor keeps experimenting with new setups and generally tries to improve the design even more. Because of this general character of the class, the A-Class is often leading over other catamaran classes in terms of design development. Over time these other classes copy new findings for their own setups. Examples of such developments are: the carbon mast, the squaretop mainsail, the wave-piercer hull design and in general the use of exotic materials.

In 2017 with the advent of practical foiling designs, the IACA divided the class into an Open (Foiling) division, and a non foiling Classic division for boats with straight or C shaped foils, and with different class rules to prevent foiling. The two have slightly different SCHRS handicaps, the Open being 0.978, the Classic being 1.008. This allows close racing to continue, and many older boats are still competitive on the Classic circuit particularly.

Builders edit

Apart from the list below of some of the commercial builders, the A-Class catamaran can be home-built:

Events edit

World Championships edit

Year Gold Silver Bronze Ref.
1981 Bontan Bay   Bill Anderson (AUS)
1982 Cesenatico   Alberto Babbi (ITA)
1984 Wellington   Allan Goodall (AUS)
1985 Spray Beach   Allan Goodall (AUS)   Greg Goodall (AUS) Massimo CORBARA ITA
1986 Brenzone   Scott Anderson (AUS)
1987 Blairgowrie   Brad Schafferuis (AUS)
1988 Turkey Point   Greg Goodall (AUS)
1990 Napier   Greg Goodall (AUS)
1991 Grömitz   Paul McKenzie (AUS)   Allan Goodall (AUS)   Greg Goodall (AUS)
1992 Silvaplana   Paul McKenzie (AUS)   Egidio Babbi (ITA)   Scott Anderson (AUS)
1993 Sanguinet   Egidio Babbi (ITA)   Paul McKenzie (AUS)   Scott Anderson (AUS)
1994 Lake Cootharaba   Mitch Booth (AUS)
1995 Andijk   Egidio Babbi (ITA) Dario MINELLI Roman STROBI
1996 L'Estartit   Glenn Ashby (AUS)   Scott Anderson (AUS)   Egidio Babbi (ITA)
1997 Long Beach   Pete Melvin (USA)   Scott Anderson (AUS)   Francesco Marcolini (ITA)
1999 Port Phillip   Nils Bunkenburg (GER)   Scott Anderson (AUS)   Cameron Owen (AUS)
2000 Cesenatico   Nils Bunkenburg (GER)   Glenn Ashby (AUS)   Egidio Babbi (ITA)
2001 Castelldefels   Steven Brewin (AUS)   Glenn Ashby (AUS)   Scott Anderson (AUS)
2002 Martha's Vineyard   Glenn Ashby (AUS)   Scott Anderson (AUS)   Steven Brewin (AUS)
2004 New Plymouth   Glenn Ashby (AUS)   Scott Anderson (AUS)   Steven Brewin (AUS)
2005 Sanguinet   Pete Melvin (USA)   Glenn Ashby (AUS)   Steven Brewin (AUS)
2006 Västervik   Glenn Ashby (AUS)   Scott Anderson (AUS)   Manuel Calavia (ESP)
2007 Islamorada   Glenn Ashby (AUS)   Lars Guck (USA)   Pete Melvin (USA)
2008 NOT HELD
2009 Belmont (AUS)   Glenn Ashby (AUS)   Steven Brewin (AUS)   Andrew Landenberger (AUS)
2010 Cesenatico   Glenn Ashby (AUS)   Steven Brewin (AUS)   Jack Benson (AUS)
2011 Århus (DEN)   Steve Brewin (AUS)   Scott Anderson (AUS)   Jack Benson (AUS)
2012 Islamorada Key   Mischa Heemskerk (NED)   Scott Anderson (AUS)   Jack Benson (AUS)
2013 NOT HELD
2014 Takapuna NZL   Glenn Ashby (AUS)   Blair Tuke (NZL)   Peter Burling (NZL)
2015 (ITA)   Glenn Ashby (AUS)   Mischa Heemskerk (NED)   Manuel Calavia (ESP) [6]
2016 Medemblik (NED) [7]   Mischa Heemskerk (NED)   Darren Bundock (AUS)   Steve Brewin (AUS)
2017 Sopot (POL)   Steve Brewin (AUS)   Tymoteusz Bendyk (POL)   Jakub Surowiec (POL) [8]
2018 Foiling   Glenn Ashby (AUS)   Mischa Heemskerk (NED)   Blair Tuke (NZL)
2018 Classic   Andrew Landenberger (AUS)   Scott ANDERSON (AUS)   Graeme PARKER (AUS)
2019 Foiling[9]   Mischa Heemskerk (NED)   Dave Shaw (NZL)   Tymoteusz Bendyk (POL)
2019 Classic   Andrew Landenberger (AUS)   Scott ANDERSON (AUS)   Andy LANDENBERGER (AUS)
2020 CANCELLED DUE TO COVID|
2021 CANCELLED DUE TO COVID
2022 Foil   Bruce Mahoney (USA)   Steven Brewin (AUS)   Emmanuel Dodé (FRA) [10]
2022 Classic   Michael Todd (ESP)   Ben HALL (USA)   Ken MARSHACK (USA)
2023 Foil   Jakub Surowiec (POL)   Mischa Heemskerk (NED)   Darren Bundock (AUS)
2023 Classic   John Scott Anderson (AUS)   Doreste Blanco Gustavo (ESP)   Andrew Landenberger (AUS) [11]

Class websites edit

See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ . Archived from the original on 2010-03-07. Retrieved 2010-01-13.
  2. ^ . Archived from the original on 2010-02-21. Retrieved 2010-01-13.
  3. ^ . Archived from the original on 2012-04-18. Retrieved 2012-09-05.
  4. ^ "Portsmouth Number List 2012". Royal Yachting Association. Retrieved 31 July 2012.
  5. ^ . US Sailing. Archived from the original on 16 August 2012. Retrieved 30 July 2012.
  6. ^ . Archived from the original on 2016-05-16. Retrieved 2016-07-23.
  7. ^ http://www.acatworlds2016.nl/
  8. ^ . aclassworlds2017.pl. Archived from the original on 2017-01-14.
  9. ^ "Sailwave results for A-Class Catamaran World Championships 2019 at Weymouth & Portland National Sailing Academy17th to 21st August 2019".
  10. ^ https://www.regattanetwork.com/clubmgmt/applet_regatta_results.php?regatta_id=23423
  11. ^ https://www.manage2sail.com/en-US/event/Aclass#!/results?classId=Acat

October 29, 2023
international, class, catamaran, redirects, here, other, uses, acat, this, article, uses, bare, urls, which, uninformative, vulnerable, link, please, consider, converting, them, full, citations, ensure, article, remains, verifiable, maintains, consistent, cita. A Cat redirects here For the pet see cat For other uses see ACAT This article uses bare URLs which are uninformative and vulnerable to link rot Please consider converting them to full citations to ensure the article remains verifiable and maintains a consistent citation style Several templates and tools are available to assist in formatting such as reFill documentation and Citation bot documentation August 2022 Learn how and when to remove this template message The A Class Catamaran often abbreviated to A Cat is a development class sailing catamaran for singlehanded racing 1 The A Class Catamaran Contents 1 Background 2 Specifications 3 Current situation 4 Builders 5 Events 5 1 World Championships 6 Class websites 7 See also 8 ReferencesBackground editThe class was founded during the late 1950s and was part of the 4 tier IYRU now World Sailing approach to divide up the sports catamaran sailing scene into 4 separate groups These A B C and D classes were governed by a very small set of class rules to which each design had to comply 2 In the beginning it was just Maximum hull length Maximum overall width Maximum sailareaAll boats designed and built to these specs would be grouped into one fleet and race each other for crossing the finish line first The A Class is the largest remaining of those 4 main classes The B class was a 20 ft twin hander with 235ft2 of sail and developed into the Tornado and a few offshoots such as the F18 The C class was another twin but at 25 ft with a 300ft2 rig has become a super sophisticated monster and the pinnacle of small cat design that races for the Little America s Cup The D Class was 32 ft and a sail of 500ft2 with three crew but rapidly dwindled away As a result the A class is the smallest but still maintains its status as the ultimate sailing catamaran single handed design Specifications editThe official organisation for the A Class catamaran is the IACA International A division Catamarans Association The A Class rules were expanded over time to prevent the cost of these boats from rising too high and to ensure fairness in racing Currently the main A Class rules are 3 Min overall boat weight 75 kg 165 3 lbs Max overall boat length 5 49 m 18 3 ft still the old IYRU rule Max overall boat width 2 30 m 7 5 ft still the old IYRU rule Max sail area incl mast 13 94 m2 150 0 ft2 still the old IYRU rule In handicap racing the A Class catamaran uses a Portsmouth Yardstick of 681 in the UK 4 or a D PN of 64 5 in the USA 5 Current situation editThe A Class design has over time converged to a single sail rig using a lightweight carbon mast of about 9 meters length and using lightweight pentex or Kevlar sailcloth The hulls and beams are often made out of carbon fibre as well although homebuilt wood or composite materials are still seen on the race circuits This single sail rig just a mainsail allows these boats to truly excel when sailing upwind Their lightweight and time tested sailing techniques make these boats very fast on reaches and downwind legs as well They were often unbeatable on the race course and only with the introduction of the asymmetric spinnaker on other catamarans have they lost this position a little bit In the decades since their foundation the A Class has gathered a significant international following and it has class organisations in many countries around the globe Their world championships often attracts around 100 boats and sailors It is also a class that still contains a significant portion of homebuilders although their numbers are decreasing with every year due to the skills required to make a competitive boat However nearly all A Class sailors tinker with their setups and boats As it is a developmental class and the rules do allow so much variation it is paramount that a top sailor keeps experimenting with new setups and generally tries to improve the design even more Because of this general character of the class the A Class is often leading over other catamaran classes in terms of design development Over time these other classes copy new findings for their own setups Examples of such developments are the carbon mast the squaretop mainsail the wave piercer hull design and in general the use of exotic materials In 2017 with the advent of practical foiling designs the IACA divided the class into an Open Foiling division and a non foiling Classic division for boats with straight or C shaped foils and with different class rules to prevent foiling The two have slightly different SCHRS handicaps the Open being 0 978 the Classic being 1 008 This allows close racing to continue and many older boats are still competitive on the Classic circuit particularly Builders editApart from the list below of some of the commercial builders the A Class catamaran can be home built Bimare Italy https web archive org web 20120823064200 http www bimare org Aicher Egner Technologie GmbH Germany http www flyer acat de Marstrom Composite AB Sweden http www marstrom com Scheurer Design amp Eng Switzerland https web archive org web 20130424015358 http www d3 a cat com Scheurer Bootswerft AG Switzerland https web archive org web 20120705062433 http www scheurerwerft ch scheurer VectorWorks Sail USA Wingfox Poland http www wingfox pl DNA Netherlands http dnaperformancesailing com Vision Netherlands http www catamaranparts nl Nikita Germany Exploder Poland http www exploder info Events editWorld Championships edit Year Gold Silver Bronze Ref 1981 Bontan Bay nbsp Bill Anderson AUS 1982 Cesenatico nbsp Alberto Babbi ITA 1984 Wellington nbsp Allan Goodall AUS 1985 Spray Beach nbsp Allan Goodall AUS nbsp Greg Goodall AUS Massimo CORBARA ITA1986 Brenzone nbsp Scott Anderson AUS 1987 Blairgowrie nbsp Brad Schafferuis AUS 1988 Turkey Point nbsp Greg Goodall AUS 1990 Napier nbsp Greg Goodall AUS 1991 Gromitz nbsp Paul McKenzie AUS nbsp Allan Goodall AUS nbsp Greg Goodall AUS 1992 Silvaplana nbsp Paul McKenzie AUS nbsp Egidio Babbi ITA nbsp Scott Anderson AUS 1993 Sanguinet nbsp Egidio Babbi ITA nbsp Paul McKenzie AUS nbsp Scott Anderson AUS 1994 Lake Cootharaba nbsp Mitch Booth AUS 1995 Andijk nbsp Egidio Babbi ITA Dario MINELLI Roman STROBI1996 L Estartit nbsp Glenn Ashby AUS nbsp Scott Anderson AUS nbsp Egidio Babbi ITA 1997 Long Beach nbsp Pete Melvin USA nbsp Scott Anderson AUS nbsp Francesco Marcolini ITA 1999 Port Phillip nbsp Nils Bunkenburg GER nbsp Scott Anderson AUS nbsp Cameron Owen AUS 2000 Cesenatico nbsp Nils Bunkenburg GER nbsp Glenn Ashby AUS nbsp Egidio Babbi ITA 2001 Castelldefels nbsp Steven Brewin AUS nbsp Glenn Ashby AUS nbsp Scott Anderson AUS 2002 Martha s Vineyard nbsp Glenn Ashby AUS nbsp Scott Anderson AUS nbsp Steven Brewin AUS 2004 New Plymouth nbsp Glenn Ashby AUS nbsp Scott Anderson AUS nbsp Steven Brewin AUS 2005 Sanguinet nbsp Pete Melvin USA nbsp Glenn Ashby AUS nbsp Steven Brewin AUS 2006 Vastervik nbsp Glenn Ashby AUS nbsp Scott Anderson AUS nbsp Manuel Calavia ESP 2007 Islamorada nbsp Glenn Ashby AUS nbsp Lars Guck USA nbsp Pete Melvin USA 2008 NOT HELD2009 Belmont AUS nbsp Glenn Ashby AUS nbsp Steven Brewin AUS nbsp Andrew Landenberger AUS 2010 Cesenatico nbsp Glenn Ashby AUS nbsp Steven Brewin AUS nbsp Jack Benson AUS 2011 Arhus DEN nbsp Steve Brewin AUS nbsp Scott Anderson AUS nbsp Jack Benson AUS 2012 Islamorada Key nbsp Mischa Heemskerk NED nbsp Scott Anderson AUS nbsp Jack Benson AUS 2013 NOT HELD2014 Takapuna NZL nbsp Glenn Ashby AUS nbsp Blair Tuke NZL nbsp Peter Burling NZL 2015 ITA nbsp Glenn Ashby AUS nbsp Mischa Heemskerk NED nbsp Manuel Calavia ESP 6 2016 Medemblik NED 7 nbsp Mischa Heemskerk NED nbsp Darren Bundock AUS nbsp Steve Brewin AUS 2017 Sopot POL nbsp Steve Brewin AUS nbsp Tymoteusz Bendyk POL nbsp Jakub Surowiec POL 8 2018 Foiling nbsp Glenn Ashby AUS nbsp Mischa Heemskerk NED nbsp Blair Tuke NZL 2018 Classic nbsp Andrew Landenberger AUS nbsp Scott ANDERSON AUS nbsp Graeme PARKER AUS 2019 Foiling 9 nbsp Mischa Heemskerk NED nbsp Dave Shaw NZL nbsp Tymoteusz Bendyk POL 2019 Classic nbsp Andrew Landenberger AUS nbsp Scott ANDERSON AUS nbsp Andy LANDENBERGER AUS 2020 CANCELLED DUE TO COVID 2021 CANCELLED DUE TO COVID2022 Foil nbsp Bruce Mahoney USA nbsp Steven Brewin AUS nbsp Emmanuel Dode FRA 10 2022 Classic nbsp Michael Todd ESP nbsp Ben HALL USA nbsp Ken MARSHACK USA 2023 Foil nbsp Jakub Surowiec POL nbsp Mischa Heemskerk NED nbsp Darren Bundock AUS 2023 Classic nbsp John Scott Anderson AUS nbsp Doreste Blanco Gustavo ESP nbsp Andrew Landenberger AUS 11 Class websites editInternational A Division Catamaran Association IACA https www a cat org Australia http www a cat org au Austria http www aaca at Belgium http www baca be Brazil https web archive org web 20131214165019 http www abca esp br acat default por asp Denmark http www a cat dk Germany http www a cat info Great Britain http www a cat co uk France http www afcca org Italy http www classeaitalia it New Zealand http www a class org nz Netherlands http www a cat nl Poland http www katamaran sopot pl aklasa htm Sweden http www a cat se Switzerland http www saca ch Spain http www adecat com United States of America http www usaca info See also editList of multihullsReferences edit BACCA BACCA British A Class Catamaran Association Archived from the original on 2010 03 07 Retrieved 2010 01 13 Australian International a Division Catamaran Association Archived from the original on 2010 02 21 Retrieved 2010 01 13 Danish A Class Association Archived from the original on 2012 04 18 Retrieved 2012 09 05 Portsmouth Number List 2012 Royal Yachting Association Retrieved 31 July 2012 Multihull Classes US Sailing Archived from the original on 16 August 2012 Retrieved 30 July 2012 Home Archived from the original on 2016 05 16 Retrieved 2016 07 23 http www acatworlds2016 nl A CLASS WORLDS 2017 A Class World Championship 2017 Sopot aclassworlds2017 pl Archived from the original on 2017 01 14 Sailwave results for A Class Catamaran World Championships 2019 at Weymouth amp Portland National Sailing Academy17th to 21st August 2019 https www regattanetwork com clubmgmt applet regatta results php regatta id 23423 https www manage2sail com en US event Aclass results classId Acat Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title International A class catamaran amp oldid 1176954173, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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