United States A-Cat Association (USACA)

There is a new A boat sailing. This probably comes as no surprise to many of you as we haven’t kept it a secret and photos are on the web. The idea of building another boat was generated about a year ago when my son, Ian, thought “we” should build a new boat. The last A I built was 18 years ago and sailed it in the 1988 Worlds. Ian always liked that platform and thought that todays, more powerful rigs could drive it to potential. I had to contact the designer of that boat, Richard Roake, to see if he had any ideas to improve that design. Little did I know he would put all his energy and hours of computer time into a brand new boat. The question was “If I design it will you build it?” My answer was “yes” and we were off and running. The combination of Roakes computer and my epoxy and sandpaper had worked twenty years ago and has worked well again. Ian knew what was good and what was bad from his sailing experience in A boats, 18 squares and a variety of other boats. Dad listened and since we had a brand new design we came up with a very unique build method for the boat. We strip planked a hull shape with 3/8” thick foam. The shape was achieved by using female building frames CNC cut from Roakes design. The shape was carboned with WEST System epoxy and we came out with an exceptionally stiff platform. New boards and rudders were designed and built as well. We used an existing rig of Hall Spars and Glasier sail so we could evaluate the new platform independent of a rig change. So far the performance has exceeded expectations. This boat just feels different underfoot. There is almost no pitch, great stability downwind, and excellent windward VMG. We believe the design premise of a more responsive hull has been achieved. We have built two boats (one has gone to Fred Smith, who gambled with us, right from the beginning) and will have a third built in time for the Worlds.

Contact:
John Lindahl (jlindahl_lcd@yahoo.com)
Ian Lindahl (ian_lindahl@yahoo.com)