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The A-Class Catamaran, often abbreviated to A-Cat, is a development class sailing catamaran for singlehanded racing. [1]
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The A-Class Catamaran, often abbreviated to A-Cat, is a development class sailing catamaran for singlehanded racing. [1]
The class was founded during the late 1950s and was part of the 4-tier IYRU (now World Sailing) approach to divide up the sports catamaran sailing scene into 4 separate groups. These A, B, C and D classes were governed by a very small set of class rules to which each design had to comply. [2] In the beginning it was just:
All boats designed and built to these specs would be grouped into one fleet and race each other for crossing the finish line first.
The A-Class is the largest remaining of those 4 main classes. The ‘B’ class was a 20 ft twin hander with 235ft2 of sail and developed into the Tornado and a few offshoots such as the F18. The ‘C’ class was another twin, but at 25 ft with a 300ft2 rig, has become a super sophisticated monster and the pinnacle of small cat design that races for the Little America’s Cup. The ‘D’ Class was 32 ft and a sail of 500ft2 with three crew, but rapidly dwindled away.
The official organisation for the A-Class catamaran is the IACA (International A division Catamarans Association).
The A-Class rules were expanded over time to prevent the cost of these boats from rising too high and to ensure fairness in racing.
Currently the main A-Class rules are: [3]
In handicap racing, the A-Class catamaran uses a Portsmouth Yardstick of 681 in the UK [4] or a D-PN of 64.5 in the USA. [5]
The A-Class design has over time converged to a single sail rig using a lightweight carbon mast of about 9 meters length and using lightweight pentex or Kevlar sailcloth. The hulls and beams are often made out of carbon fibre as well, although homebuilt wood or composite materials are still seen on the race circuits.
In the decades since their foundation, the A-Class has gathered a significant international following and it has class organisations in many countries around the globe. Their world championships often attracts around 100 boats and sailors. It is also a class that still contains a significant portion of homebuilders, although their numbers are decreasing with every year due to the skills required to make a competitive boat. However, nearly all A-Class sailors tinker with their setups and boats. As it is a developmental class and the rules do allow so much variation, it is paramount that a top sailor keeps experimenting with new setups and generally tries to improve the design even more. Because of this general character of the class, the A-Class is often leading over other catamaran classes in terms of design development. Over time these other classes copy new findings for their own setups. Examples of such developments are: the carbon mast, the squaretop mainsail, the wave-piercer hull design and in general the use of exotic materials.
In 2017 with the advent of practical foiling designs, the IACA divided the class into an Open (Foiling) division, and a non foiling Classic division for boats with straight or C-shaped foils, and with different class rules to prevent foiling. The two have slightly different SCHRS handicaps, the Open being 0.978, the Classic being 1.008. This allows close racing to continue, and many older boats are still competitive on the Classic circuit particularly.
Apart from the list below of some of the commercial builders, the A-Class catamaran can be home-built:
| Year | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1981 Bontan Bay |  Bill Anderson (AUS) | |||
| 1982 Cesenatico |  Alberto Babbi (ITA) | |||
| 1984 Wellington | Allan Goodall (AUS) | |||
| 1985 Spray Beach | Allan Goodall (AUS) | Greg Goodall (AUS) | Massimo CORBARA ITA | |
| 1986 Brenzone | Scott Anderson (AUS) | |||
| 1987 Blairgowrie | Brad Schafferuis (AUS) | |||
| 1988 Turkey Point | Greg Goodall (AUS) | |||
| 1990 Napier | Greg Goodall (AUS) | |||
| 1991 Grömitz | Paul McKenzie (AUS) | Allan Goodall (AUS) | Greg Goodall (AUS) | |
| 1992 Silvaplana | Paul McKenzie (AUS) | Egidio Babbi (ITA) | Scott Anderson (AUS) | |
| 1993 Sanguinet | Egidio Babbi (ITA) | Paul McKenzie (AUS) | Scott Anderson (AUS) | |
| 1994 Lake Cootharaba | Mitch Booth (AUS) | |||
| 1995 Andijk | Egidio Babbi (ITA) | Dario MINELLI | Roman STROBI | |
| 1996 L'Estartit | Glenn Ashby (AUS) | Scott Anderson (AUS) | Egidio Babbi (ITA) | |
| 1997 Long Beach |  Pete Melvin (USA) | Scott Anderson (AUS) | Francesco Marcolini (ITA) | |
| 1999 Port Phillip |  Nils Bunkenburg (GER) | Scott Anderson (AUS) | Cameron Owen (AUS) | |
| 2000 Cesenatico | Nils Bunkenburg (GER) | Glenn Ashby (AUS) | Egidio Babbi (ITA) | |
| 2001 Castelldefels | Steven Brewin (AUS) | Glenn Ashby (AUS) | Scott Anderson (AUS) | |
| 2002 Martha's Vineyard | Glenn Ashby (AUS) | Scott Anderson (AUS) | Steven Brewin (AUS) | |
| 2004 New Plymouth | Glenn Ashby (AUS) | Scott Anderson (AUS) | Steven Brewin (AUS) | |
| 2005 Sanguinet | Pete Melvin (USA) | Glenn Ashby (AUS) | Steven Brewin (AUS) | |
| 2006 Västervik | Glenn Ashby (AUS) | Scott Anderson (AUS) |  Manuel Calavia (ESP) | |
| 2007 Islamorada | Glenn Ashby (AUS) | Lars Guck (USA) | Pete Melvin (USA) | |
| 2008 | NOT HELD | |||
| 2009 Belmont (AUS) | Glenn Ashby (AUS) | Steven Brewin (AUS) | Andrew Landenberger (AUS) | |
| 2010 Cesenatico | Glenn Ashby (AUS) | Steven Brewin (AUS) | Jack Benson (AUS) | |
| 2011 Århus (DEN) | Steve Brewin (AUS) | Scott Anderson (AUS) | Jack Benson (AUS) | |
| 2012 Islamorada Key |  Mischa Heemskerk (NED) | Scott Anderson (AUS) | Jack Benson (AUS) | |
| 2013 | NOT HELD | |||
| 2014 Takapuna NZL | Glenn Ashby (AUS) |  Blair Tuke (NZL) | Peter Burling (NZL) | |
| 2015 (ITA) | Glenn Ashby (AUS) | Mischa Heemskerk (NED) | Manuel Calavia (ESP) | [6] |
| 2016 Medemblik (NED) [7] | Mischa Heemskerk (NED) | Darren Bundock (AUS) | Steve Brewin (AUS) | |
| 2017 Sopot (POL) | Steve Brewin (AUS) |  Tymoteusz Bendyk (POL) | Jakub Surowiec (POL) | [8] |
| 2018 Foiling | Glenn Ashby (AUS) | Mischa Heemskerk (NED) | Blair Tuke (NZL) | |
| 2018 Classic | Andrew Landenberger (AUS) | Scott ANDERSON (AUS) | Graeme PARKER (AUS) | |
| 2019 Foiling [9] | Mischa Heemskerk (NED) | Dave Shaw (NZL) | Tymoteusz Bendyk (POL) | |
| 2019 Classic | Andrew Landenberger (AUS) | Scott ANDERSON (AUS) | Andy LANDENBERGER (AUS) | |
| 2020 | CANCELLED DUE TO COVID| | |||
| 2021 | CANCELLED DUE TO COVID | |||
| 2022 Foil | Bruce Mahoney (USA) | Steven Brewin (AUS) |  Emmanuel Dodé (FRA) | [10] |
| 2022 Classic | Michael Todd (ESP) | Ben HALL (USA) | Ken MARSHACK (USA) | |
| 2023 Foil | Jakub Surowiec (POL) | Mischa Heemskerk (NED) | Darren Bundock (AUS) | |
| 2023 Classic | John Scott Anderson (AUS) | Doreste Blanco Gustavo (ESP) | Andrew Landenberger (AUS) | [11] |
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