Oympics: F18 Class Official Submission to ISAF

Photo Copyright: Eric Bellande – www.direct-image.com – Erquy F18 Worlds July 2010
–The Formula 18 Class Association Submission to ISAF on Olympic classes makes a strong statement: The IF18CA fully support the Multihull comeback but does not want to become an Olympic Class itself. Lots of debates on the class about this submission, but it was finally agreed a text that reflected the class position and discussions at Erquy , where last F18 Worlds were held in July 2010. Tornado class members were present at that meeting too.-
First mission is to have Multis back, then start to discuss which boat, in my personal opinion, the Tornado Class is in a good position for a comeback in 2016, but we need to start working for the future as soon as the Multis are selected again (hopefully)
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Reporting Committee – Events Other Committee – Equipment Submission: 101-10

Proposal
1. The International Formula 18 catamaran association (IF18CA) support the re-introduction of multihulls in the Olympic Games.
2. The IF18CA does not support selection of any current F18 design as Olympic Class.
3. The IF18CA support the selection of a 20 foot catamaran for men events and/or a 16 foot for women or mixed events.

Current Position
As the leading and fastest growing multihull Association, the IF18CA fully support the reintroduction of the multihull into the Olympic regatta. The Association believe that the multihull offers a distinct discipline, different from other monohull class and is worthy of inclusion to the Olympic regatta.”

The IF18CA support the selection of a 20 foot catamaran for men and a 16 foot catamaran for women or mixed, both designs would be tailored for the medal race show and producing the best impact for the spectators and media.

Reason
A lot of harmony currently exists in the multihull scene. The selected design for the Olympics will represent the pinnacle of our sailing community, with top sailors sailing the best one design catamaran. They will be “our heroes on the top of the multihull pyramid”

The F18 fleet is a great class for thousands of club sailors and some professional sailors, mixing different kind of events such as long distance races or ’round the cans’ races where various boat designs compete on elapsed time. The open design rule is strongly powered and is promoted commercially by many manufacturers on each continent which is developing the class. The F18 class is definitely the development class for builders and the “rendez vous point” for all kinds of sailors.

One of the major reasons unanimously shared by the class is that if one F18 design is selected as Olympic support, it will definitely give a technical and commercial advantage to the selected manufacturer and therefore threaten all other builders and sailors using other designs.
The F18 box rules allow any builder, even non professional builders, to enter the class on a fair basis. This is clearly expressed in the F18 class rules introduction guide line and principal.
The box measurement rule allows manufacturers to develop catamarans that are competitively priced yet allowing freedom to builders to develop higher levels of performance. Being open to any manufacturer allows many builders and sail makers to compete and so keep costs to a minimum.
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Submission as sent to ISAF by IF18CA Gral Secretary, James Baeckler-
Link to ISAF Doc https://www.sailing.org/tools/documents/10110F18fortheOlympics-%5B9385%5D.pdf