The Nacra 17 - A History Lesson...

The Nacra 17 is the new kid on the block at the Olympic Games and is set to make its debut at Rio 2016. Wednesday 10 August will see the first ever Nacra 17 race in the Olympic Sailing Competition, but before the Nacra makes its bow, find out more about the fast and furious Multihull below…

Previous Olympic Medallists 

The Mixed Multihull Nacra 17 is a brand new class in a brand new event for Rio 2016 so history will be made on August 16 when racing is scheduled to meet its epic conclusion.  
 
Recent World Champions

Billy Besson and Marie Riou (FRA) are the dominant crew in the Nacra 17 having won every World Championship title in the Rio 2016 quadrennial. The undefeated pair are the ones to beat in Rio in just one week’s time.
 
Life as an Olympic Event

The Nacra 17 is entirely new to Olympic competition for this quadrennial, but four years of World Championships and Sailing World Cup competition have shown this small, semi-foiling catamaran to be an agile high-speed machine. Expect thrilling close racing and – if the wind gets up – a few spectacular spills. 
 
What’s it like to sail?

Nacra 17 sailing is fast and furious. The catamaran is a lively and physically demanding boat to sail whatever the conditions; challenging in the light and a beast in a breeze.
 
Crews do a lot of forwards and backwards movement to keep the bows down so have to be agile on their feet, while helms need a steady hand and great technique to get the boat lifting onto its foils. Compared to other classes there is a lot of rope and, with its highly technical rig, having the boat set up exactly correct is critical to speed.
 
Short History of the Class and Key Specs

The Nacra 17 was designed from scratch to meet the specific criteria set out by World Sailing for an Olympic mixed multihull event. It was selected in May 2012 as the equipment for Rio 2016.

This latest Olympic catamaran is designed to be strong, stiff and light for performance and longevity but, crucially, it also features many details that speak of its racing pedigree. The Nacra 17 is the brainchild of design studio Morrelli & Melvin, known for their high performance multihulls including world record breakers and America’s Cup boats, and it shows! The unique shape of The Nacra 17’s two 5.25m hulls, allow it to maintain a more constant high speed than conventional catamaran designs. Its curved foils make the boat simultaneously easier and more exciting to sail. On top of this the Nacra 17 boasts a very modern rig; a powerful carbon mast and 20.1 m2 high aspect ratio cut sails engineered by one of the most experienced multihull sail makers in the world plus a 19 m2 Spinnaker for an added speed boost downwind.

The most unique thing about this class however, is the crew. The Nacra 17 is the first sailing class to mandate a mixed gender crew, so every boat at the Games will be sailed by one man and one woman. While the previous multihull class – the Tornado – was open to both men and women, the enormous strength needed to control the immensely powerful boat meant very successful mixed crews were the exception rather than the rule. Although other crews saw results on the international stage, only five women – Trine Elvstrom (DEN), Cristina De Borbón (ESP), Anette Ree Andersen (DEN), Helene Raagaard Hansen (DEN) and Carolijn Brouwer (NED) – competed at the Olympic Games. Unlike the Tornado, the Nacra 17 is custom designed for a mixed crew with lower sheet-loads and an optimum combined crew weight a relatively svelte 135kg.
 
Famous Faces

The Nacra fleet is packed with past medallists, Olympians and World Champions from other classes so the list of famous faces is long. At the top has to be the French pairing of Billy Besson and Marie Riou, one of only two crews across all classes to take every World Championship in this quadrennial.
 
Behind Besson and Riou are the ever present threat of Australian team Jason Waterhouse and Lisa Darmanin. The Australian cousins are blisteringly fast and will be serious medal contenders in Rio, especially as they beat Besson and Riou at the 2015 Aquece Rio Test Event.
 
If you’re looking for multihull experience at the very top level, Santiago Lange (ARG) is your man. Lange has competed in five editions of the Olympic Games and taken bronze twice (Athens 2004 and Beijing 2008) in the previous multihull event, the Tornado.  He’s also stood on every step of the Tornado World Championship podium so he knows how to get a catamaran around a course fast. Sailing with Cecilia Carranza Saroli, he will no doubt be looking to put his experience to use on the waters of Guanabara Bay.
 
Other famous names to look out for are; Mandy Mulder and Coen de Koning (NED), Vittorio Bissaro and Silvia Sicouri (ITA), Matías Bühler and Nathalie Brugger (SUI), Allan Norregaard and Anette Viborg Andreasen (DEN), Fernando Echavarri and Tara Pacheco (ESP), Ben Saxton and Nicola Groves (GBR) and Michalis Pateniotis and Sofia Bekatorou (GRE).
 
Did you know…
The Nacra 17 is one of only three events at the Olympic Games where mixed gender pairs compete together. The other two are mixed doubles Tennis and Badminton.

RIO 2016 OLYMPIC SAILING COMPETITION USEFUL LINKS
World Sailing Olympic Website – http://www.sailing.org/olympics/rio2016/home.php
Rio 2016 Schedule – http://www.sailing.org/olympics/rio2016/about/schedule.php#.V5Yw346BLqM
Rio 2016 Olympic Sailors – http://www.sailing.org/olympics/rio2016/qualification/sailors.php#.V5Yw946BLqM