New F18 from Italy: ‘Banga F18’ by Luca Filippi

With this new F18 Luca Filippi experienced a similar process that I went trough in 2005.We built the initial model with frames and wood strips, just like Luca did. Hard work indeed but really a pleasure to work if you like building like us.

On the looks similar to the Open Project he points out, is not that much coincidence as I’ve said many times all new designs converge to a proven shape and volume distribution, not many areas left to play until the next big development.

The alu extrusions of choice is from Cirrus , and with Ullman sails Luca will offer a solid base to have another alternative in the F18. For more info about the project contact him at  zilliliuk(at)gmail.com

Great work Luca!  All the best for this season, I’ll try to attend to Grossetto F18 Worlds to sail the boat, but I will have to choose over going to SF for the ACup.

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The Banga F18 Story by Luca Filippi
I started sailing multihulls in 2003, I tried them and I’m loving it since then. At the same time, I have always worked in composite materials in my job and as a hobby, so I could dedicated time to make some changes from the boat that I was using before, a Bimare X4, a very fine and fast boat in flat water, but with a extreme ride on chop, specially downwind.

In 2005 I built 1.80mts carbon daggerboards, innovative at the time ,  they immediately proved to be a success. In 2008 I went to Round Creolia with Sorrentino and I mounted a sprayrail on the X4 trying to survive in the ocean, it really worked!

I remember the question of Cammas, “Who designed those moustaches?” , there was a great laugh … We finished the race fourth behind him, Cammas was 2nd at Nigran worlds. The following year CSN published a picture of our sprayrail at Garda.

For 3 years I race with Infusions, a complete boat and very safe in harsh conditions. In Autumn of 2011 I decided to build a new boat myself to see if my ideas about the water lines and the type of construction would be successful. I built the male mold the old fashioned way, by hand with wooden dime …

I saved a lot of money but I assure you that I had very much to do!!
Luckily I had a lot of help from two friends of mine, Aldo and Giorgio.
In April you released the rendering of Skorpion F18 Open Project, my friends and I have seen that you had chosen the same general choices of my boat, I would say that the side view is the same, we may have been influenced by Luna Rossa, Max and I are very friends and we did a lot of races before he came in the cup, we are in the same city.

The boat has little rocker, I prefer to have little drag to light conditions, I think how to solve the problem to dive in downwind with great volume and flat bottom forward. The stern is quite large and flat with a negative inflection as shown by the latest design trends.

The construction is made all with vacuum system. The beams and the mast are Cirrus, I think the best choice on the market at this time. The sails are Ullman.

The name Banga comes from my son was two years old in the past year and everything was happening around him said “banga” as an exclamation.

Unfortunately, at the same time, we had the game of Mr. Berlusconi, Bunga Bunga with the girls, but that’s another story …

If all goes well we are going to Carnac, Sorrentino and I, to make a first test comparison against the best, who is at the helm of my wife Laura on the Nacra 17 for Olympic campaign.

Later we will be participate at the Italian nats Riccione 20 days before the World Cup at Grosseto.
If the boat runs well and fast I’m going to do a small series at a shipyard here in the area, specializing in the manufacture of composite materials.

Luca Filippi.
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