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NACRA A2 Catamaran

A2 Wins Big - Philpott Takes the 2006 Title

Murray Philpott wins 2006 New Zealand A Class Catamaran Nationals for second consecutive year on his NACRA A2 with all first place finishes! Click here for results (pdf). Congratualtions Murray!

In addition to winning the 2005 World Championships and 2004 North Americans, the A2 has been winning at many other National and local level regattas in the hands of an ever growing group of sailors.
  • 2006 New Zealand Nationals - Murray Philpott on the NACRA A2
  • 2005 New Zealand Nationals – Murray Philpott won counting all first place finishes
  • 2005 ABYC Memorial Day Regatta – Pete Melvin won with all firsts and a second
  • 2005 Southern California Midwinters – Pete Melvin won with all firsts
  • Eric Willis from Santa Cruz, CA and Kevin Grice from Houston, TX are new to the A Class but have been making steady improvements in their new A2’s.
  • Howard Hamlin from Long Beach, CA has been sailing his A2 in the Long Beach fleet informal Friday afternoon races and is getting to be very competitive. Watch out for this multiple 505 and 18’ Skiff World Champion in future events!
Pete Melvin Nominated for 2005 US Sailing Rolex Yachtsman of the Year

December 2005. US Sailing announced the nominations for the 2005 Yachtsman and Yachtswoman of the year. Click here to see the full story.

2005 ACAT North Americans

Pete Melvin competes in ACAT Nationals at "The Gorge" in the Hood River. Lars Guck and Pete Melvin were competing for first place right to the end.

   

We have received a lot of excellent feedback from A2 sailors around the world and have made numerous incremental rigging and systems improvements. These types of improvements will be a continuous ongoing effort and will be phased in on new production boats. As a result of these improvements, and continuous tuning and sailing technique development, we have seen the performance of the A2 improve markedly over the last year. We are still in the “early days” of this type of development and will see additional gains as more sailors get experience with the boat.


Photo:International A Class Catamaran Association http://www.a-cat.org/id71.htm, downloaded 08/09/2005

We have an ongoing tuning and technique development program in place in our Long Beach fleet. This includes dedicated tuning sessions, informal Friday night races, and scheduled regattas. Howard Hamlin and Pete Melvin have nearly identical A2’s and sail together at least once a week. With this arrangement, we are able to test one variable at a time and determine if a different tuning setup, sail, foil, or other component is faster or not. Within the last year we have tested a variety of sails, masts, daggerboards and rudders, tuning setups, and also sailing technique. We keep a log of these items and periodically update the A2 Setup and Tuning Guide, which is available to all A2 owners.

The A2 product development team has been hard at work making product improvements and streamlining production systems in order to be able to deliver boats at a faster rate. Major components and fittings have been improved and refined, and suppliers are now up to speed supplying components.
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Recent improvements that have been made are:

  • New rudder and daggerboard shapes have been designed. Morrelli & Melvin have used their broad experience with foil shapes, and have acquired new CFD foils analysis software, which was used to develop the new foils. These new foils were used on the A2 that won the 2005 Worlds. An investment in computer milled aluminum molds was made to ensure the accuracy of the designed shapes. The new foils are coming out extremely fair and straight with thin trailing edges. Finish is clear coat carbon fiber.

  • A new rudder housing was 3D modeled, and computer milled aluminum tooling produced. These parts are now made with prepreg carbon fiber, increasing strength, stiffness, and consistency compared to the previous wet epoxy laminates used.

  • New trampoline design that eliminates the need for a bolt rope groove in the hull. This makes the hull lighter and stiffer. The trampoline is very clean and uncluttered.
  • Continuous improvements in the resin infusion laminating system have yielded lighter hulls. Total rigged boat weights are now consistently two to four kg (4.5 to 9 lb) under minimum weight.

  • Beams have been upgraded to prepreg carbon fiber. The older style beams have proven to be strong but the cosmetics and stiffness were not as good as the newer prepreg beams.

  • Daggerboard cases are now prepreg as well, and produced from aluminum tooling that was 3D modeled and computer milled. The new cases are lighter, stiffer, and less prone to leakage than the previous versions.

As you can see, we have been busy upgrading the A2!

 
   

 

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M O R R E L L I . & . M E L V I N . D E S I G N . & . E N G I N E E R I N G, . I N C.
.4952 WARNER AVE., STE. 205, HUNTINGTON BEACH, CA 92649 USA
.info@morrellimelvin.com | TEL: 714.861.1320 | FAX: 714.840.0538