quote]So wondering what is the status of the F20 group in the US? Are people getting into it, or is the F18 the new area [/quote]

The F18 formula rule is tried and true in the EU and catching on in the US for teams that don't want all of the horsepower of a 20 foot boat. Michigan, Syracuse California and perhaps the South East have several boats racing. Slight modifications to the EU F18 rule operate in the US to avoid measurement issues. Three builders supply boats for this class in the US. The class members would love to change your mind about racing an 18 footer even at 370 lbs.

We also have a F18HT formula rule which is also growing in popularity mostly on the east coast. This formula creates a faster lighter 18footer and one builder supplies boats for this class right now. This design was chosen for the Little America’s cup match racing revival. These class members would also like you to consider a lighter 18foot design even at your team weight of 370.

The equivalent F20 euro rule does not operate in the US. Nor for that matter do we have a generally accepted NA F20 rule by either builders or by sailors. Since much of the racing is regional anyway... fleets have developed in specific areas for three popular 20 footers.

The US I20 is not Euro F20 legal because it uses a larger mainsail then allowed by the EU F20 rule. The US sailors are not interested in a smaller mainsail and see no advantage to conforming to the EU formula rule because we really don't have another popular 20 foot class that would measure into the EU rule and show up on the race course to compete against with their I20's.

So the bottom line is. The Nacra I20 is the most popular 20 foot spin design in the US market and is widely sailed in distance and buoys races around the country. The Nacra 6.0 has some regions like New England where its the boat of choice and the sailors have agreed on a formula chute. However, nationally the class could not reach a consensus about racing as a spin class at nationals and remains a sloop class at the national level.

The 20 foot spin boats that are raced in the US include the I20 and the Nacra 6.0 with the NE class spinaker and the Tornado. These boats are essentially level rated around the buoys but do not conform to a formula rule. Portsmouth ratings are used to handle the performance differences due to wind speed. The Tybee 500 raced three designs as level rated, :I20, N6.0 and F18HT: Small differences in performance are magnified after 12 hours on the water and opinions vary as to which design is faster for a Tybee 500 or any distance race.

I have read rumors that the EU F20 sailors are considering a move to a larger mainsail in order to match the Tornado on the water but haven't followed up on this development.

A new design is on the drawing board for a 20 footer which would be significantly lighter then the existing F20 rule or the US versions of 20 footers. This design does not intend to match any formula rule at all. Their goal is an optimized distance racing machine that is 8.5 feet x 20 feet.

Carl Roberts has campaigned for a North American Formula 20 rule that he has developed and I will leave it up to Carl to fill you in on his progress with gaining acceptance of this formula. He has written extensively on his program.

I sail a Tornado and believe that the future of the 20 foot racing scene will stay as level portsmouth racing with one design fleets scored out. Many others vigorously disagree.

My advice would be to determine which of the 20 footers are actively raced in your area and consider this boat first. Secondly, consider how much traveling are you willing to do to go racing and what fleets are active in this region and what mix of buoys and distance races are you looking for. Finally, I would reconcile myself to the fact that quite of bit of the racing scene will be portsmouth or handicap racing against similar but not identical 20 footers because we simply don't have the density of sailors that the EU does and we all like slightly different boats. For example, The C100 had spin fleets of 3 Tornado's, 3 F18HT's and 11 I20's and 1 Supercat 20 1P19MX. This turnout looks quite small compared to 63 Tornado's racing in Sardinia Italy for the EU championships.

Good luck and where do you plan to sail?
Mark