Australian A Class Catamaran Association first official YouTube video
by Michael Kopp on 16 Aug 2009
2009 A-Cat World Champion Glenn Ashby Sail-World.com /AUS
http://www.sail-world.com
The Australian A Class Catamaran Association is pleased to release our first official promotional video on YouTube, with interviews, action footage, and a rocking soundtrack. The newest designs are featured, including first race from the latest prototype.
The video was released to generate interest from other classes, by showcasing the A Class as dynamic, high performance, competitive, and fun.
The A Class Catamaran, often abbreviated to A-Cat, is a developmental class sailing catamaran for singlehanded racing.
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. This single sail rig (just a mainsail) allows these boats to truly excel when sailing upwind. Their lightweight and time tested sailing techniques make these boats very fast on reaches and downwind legs as well.
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 to improve the design and performance for a competitive edge. Because of this general character of the class, the A-Class is often leada 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: carbon mast, foils, and beams, squaretop mainsail, wave-piercing hull design and in general the use of exotic materials for the hull.
The A Class Australian Championships will be held at Safety Beach Sailing Club, less than an hour from Melbourne, from December 28th 2009 - January 2nd 2010 - spectators and families welcome.
Official website: www.a-cat-org.au
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