New Olympic Multihull Nacra 17 – Update
The production of the Nacra 17, which is the new Olympic multihull for Rio 2016, is continuing at pace at the factory.
By the end of the week boat number 70 will be laminated and the first containers are on their way to Europe.
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Nacra 17 in the fit-out. |
Since the Nacra 17 was chosen as the multihull for 2016 a lot of work has been done, the production of the Nacra 17 is spread over three continents and has been fine-tuned and the quality control has been optimised with the expectation to develop a class with a high one-design integrity and the best possible reliability. The progress also includes a fully revised version of the well know Nacra rudder-system with CNC-milling technology and a Q-bond system to glue the sail panels together before they are stitched, for a durable high strength.
“This is an exciting time for us,” said Peter Vink, technical director of Nacra, “The last couple months we invested a lot in order to get a fine product up to Olympic sailors’ standard on the market. The Nacra 17 will be out of the box ready to go sailing, to put it simple plug and play with equal equipment for every sailor. The Nacra 17 one-design class rules will be published soon to make sure the class will keep its strict one-design integrity.”
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Testing the NACRA 17 at Nacra HQ in Scheveningen. |
Apart of the fact that the Nacra 17 is a strictly one-design class the sailors will still be able to trim their rig to their preference. To give the sailors a better pathway to find their own optimum rig setup Nacra has introduced three optional sail batten stiffness’s. The top 4 battens of the 7 mainsail battens may be changed to the manufacturer supplied, relative to the standard (medium) supplied battens, harder or softer battens. Clearly coloured certification labels will make sure the battens can be identified by others while sailing.
The table below gives the particulars of the Nacra 17 in comparison with other popular multihull classes the F18 and F16.
| Particular |
Formula 16 |
Nacra 17 |
Formula 18 |
| Hull Length |
5.00 m |
5.25 m |
5.55 m |
| Beam |
2.50 m |
2.59 m |
2.60 m |
| Mast Length |
8.50 m |
9.00 m |
9.00 m |
| Total upwind sail area |
18.70 m2 |
20.10 m2 |
21.15 m2 |
| Spi Area |
17.50 m2 |
19.00 m2 |
21.00 m2 |
| Average crew weight |
130 kg |
±135 kg |
150 kg |
| Relative Righting Moment with average crew weight |
681 kg*m |
754 kg*m |
881 kg*m |
More information of the boat, the class and the upcoming events can we found at www.nacra17class.com
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Nacra 17 platform alignment, in CNC cut Jig. |
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Nacra 17 in the fit-out. |
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Nacra 17 Rudder upper-casting in CNC-milling machine. |
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Nacra 17 bow bulkhead. |
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Nacra 17s Flush deck. |
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Final QC-Check in the fit-out. |
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Q-bonding of Nacra 17 Jib panels for a durable high strength. |
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Few Nacra 17 jibs. |
