Nacra 17

The Nacra 17 is a performance catamaran, exciting to sail and to watch in action, and became the first mixed sailing discipline on the Olympic sailing programme in 2016.

It is a one design class where athletes compete with identical equipment built by the same manufacturer.

For Tokyo 2020 and beyond, the Nacra 17 has been converted to a sailing hydrofoil.

It was designed by Gino Morrelli (USA) and Pete Melvin (USA) in 2011, to meet the specific criteria set out by World Sailing (then ISAF) for the Olympic multihull to be introduced for Rio 2016.

Around 17 feet long – hence its name – the Nacra 17 features hydrofoil daggerboards and winglets on the bottom of the rudders. Light in weight, it has been designed to cut through the water with minimum drag and maximum stability, it is an agile but challenging boat to sail.

When fully foiling, a fleet of Nacra 17s soaring above the water as they race around the course is a sight to behold.

At Rio 2016, the Nacra 17’s only Games so far, Santiago Lange & Cecilia Carranza Saroli (ARG) won gold by just a single point. Jason Waterhouse & Lisa Darmanin (AUS) and Thomas Zajac & Tanja Frank (AUT) finished level on points, but the Australians took the tiebreak to place them second overall for silver.

Only five out of these six sailors will be vying for a return to the podium at Tokyo 2020 – Frank is now competing in the 49erFX class, so Zajac will be sailing with Barbara Matz this time out.