hi all,
as a newbie beachcat owner with an old nacra 5.2 i'm interested in what replaced it and why?

i've done a bit of net research and come up with 3 possible reasons and would now like to ask you experienced sailiors your thoughts

a) simple business decision. it was an old boat, past it's prime and people stopped buying them in large enough numbers to keep it in production

b) it was replaced by the better? inter 17 which offered more efficient hulls for racing, a carbon mast and a spin

c) as it was nacra's 1st boat it was pretty much designed to be a do anything beachcat.
as the nacra range broadened to include smaller more recreational boats, like the 4.5 and 5.0, and bigger faster crewed racing boats, like the 5.8, nacra didn't really need a 13 year old middleweight anymore but there was nothing really wrong with it that a spin package wouldn't have fixed

I am pretty sure it was phased out before the I17 came into being but I can't be sure. But the I17 definently is the the N5.2's modern version.

Sometimes as has been seen a spin package just doesn't fix things. Many times it kills a class that is already on it's way out.

ALso I believe the 5.2 doesn't have a class to race in other than a one design class or an open class. I don't think it quailifies for the F17 class which included the I17 and Hobie's FX1. But if you look it is really close to both those boats for single handing. If you look at the portsmouth numbers a turboed 5.2 with a new squaretop main and a spinnaker should be rated really close to both those boats. Can it be sailed to that? That is to be seen next summer!

Also, Performance still has the molds for the 5.2, and I would be willing to bet if you threw down enough money you could get one, but I think it would be better to find and old one in good shape.

as i study mine with an eye to improvements the 1st thing that comes up is the downhaul/cunningham. the 2?to1 original system doesn't do much at all and anything more powerful need to be run all over the tramp to make it useful for solo sailing. how do they get it out on the wire?

just looking at the texel and SCHRS ratings and it's hard to see the inter17 was any advancement at all!

texel SCHRS weight
5.2 111 1.065 155kg
inter17 116 1.125 1.073 155kg

i know the ratings aren't everything but really hard to see where the advance was. anyone find them easier to sail, point higher etc?

Now that was pretty funny! Thanks erice!

I am sure that the Inter17 is much easier to sail to that rating and it will be much better balanced with the spin than the 5.2 because it was designed for it. A stock 5.2 would get killed by an I17 most of the time.

The downhaul is easy, I have recently upgraded mine and will take a few pictures tomorrow. It only took me about 20 minutes to get mine rigged for 5:1 and it has really helped me getting the sail shape better.

the 5.2 was designed as a 2 hander for light/medium weights, the I17 was designed as a single hander with a gap of about 10 years in between.
During that time the factory came out with the 5.5 and the prindle 18.2. then the 3 F18 entries to the market. so there has always been a lightweight 2 hander available.

In North America / Europe, the 5.2 was replaced with the 5.5Sl & in Australia the boat was replace by the Australian Inter 17. Not the same boat, as the F17, that's sold in US, Canada & Europe.

I-17, F17, and F17R are not the same boats. And apparently there really isn't a formula 17 class. Nacra just uses it as a sales pitch. A fellow FXone owner and I have been discussing this lately.

Nacra built two models the I-17 (N17) & I-17R (F17) both were rename in 2005. Never heard of a F17R? The N17 has been replaced in Europe with the F17 model. I heard rumors that a special upgrade package is being offered to N17 owners. a history of the F17 is located at F17 Class


Being a class member & also receiving a lot of the F17 Class news in the Great lakes, I have never heard any mention of the Formula 17 Class. But if enough FX-1 ones wanted to come out in play?

I believe the "R" Model is the carbon mast. Just more marketing crap.

Nope.....

Inter 17R (Longer Carbon mast), 17 sqm kite (I think) - NOT in the EU (I asked and Nacra quoted silly money to import one into the UK).

Inter 17 EU - Alu mast with 17 sqm kite (in mainland EU I think) and 19sqm in the UK
Inter 17XL - Same mast as the I17EU but longer boom and so larger mainsail (again UK 19sqm, EU 17sqm I think)

F17 - Essentially the same as the I17R except (I think) 2 kites, 17 and 19 (or maybe 21) sqm based on the helms weight.

Scooby

What configuration of each boat would allow level racing for the one up F16, Nacra F17 and a one up FX1.

Inter 17 and FX One??

Karl maybe we could find a time near the Hobie 16 Open in Iowa next year to get together with our FX Ones and the Inter 17 guys in the midwest and sail a regatta together with them. See if there is any way the Solo 17s can get together for a regatta next year.
Find out if they are compatable.

Just a thought.

There's probably only one or two N17(I-17) in the US. Contact Eric kennedy erickennedy55@aol.com He's the 2008 F17 Flt. Capt for the Great Lakes, maybe ya'll can setup a regatta.
no sign of a F17R model on the NACRA Web site ( www.nacra.us )
Karl, let us know where the reference to the F17R came from?

None, they all rate slower than a F16 single handed. (SCHRS).

F16 is 0.982, Inter 17 EU 1.067 (19sqm), FX1 1.036 and I assume the F17 will rate a little faster than the FX1.

Huh?
Photo from the 2007 F17/N17/I17 (whatever) Nationals in Caseville, MI:

I think he was referring to I-17 in the non-R sense - like those sold in Europe. How many non-carbon-mast *-17s are there in in the US?

Here's where I saw the reference to the R model:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Formula_17_%28Sailing%29

Now Matt's piture is what I'm talking about.

Thats a good size grouop of single hand spinaker boats.
If there were as many FX Ones and a way of combining the groups together like the F18s have, then the single hand market may take off.

Spinaker sailing is soo adictive.

I think Matt Miller himself wrote on this catsailor forum that there are 4 FX-ones in the USA and they are widely spaced apart. Think Washington state, California, Ohio and New York.

Wouter