Testing foils on Nacra 17s
The International Sailing Federation (World Sailing) asked the Nacra 17 class in early October 2016 to study the potential of foils for the 2020 Olympics. The current version is equipped with very thin C foils, which teams occasionally use to balance the boat when it flies over the water, but in an unstable manner.
The design firm Morrelli & Melvin has been appointed to work on the design of the boat, in collaboration with the main builder, Peter Vink. With the modification of the rudder and daggerboards came a host of structural improvements. The daggerboard well has been moved 4 inches (10 cm) forward and a smaller spinnaker pole and gennaker allow better anticipation of high speeds downwind.
Two boats are currently being tested in the Netherlands, in the hands of the best sailors in the Nacra 17 class. A modified mk1 boat, with C-foil daggerboards moved forward. The other boat is an mk2 with Z-beam daggerboards and T rudders.
Adoption of foils by majority
On October 19, 2016, the members of the Nacra 17 class met for an extraordinary general meeting. Three topics were discussed, including the implementation of Z foils and T rudders for the next Olympic Games.
After a presentation and a series of questions and answers, 89 members of the class were able to vote in favour of the foils by 59% (48 votes to 33). The class therefore sent a letter to the International Sailing Federation with this new recommendation. It will be presented at the annual World Sailing conference, which will be held next month in Barcelona, when it will be known if the foils are definitively adopted on the Olympic support.
