Nacra turns 30. This speedy little catamaran, which Tom Roland initially
designed, built and first sailed in Santa Barbara, California in 1975 has
come of age — from the agile 17-foot Nacra 5.2 that quickly attracted
fellow sailors to the state-of-the-art models offered by the current builder
Performance Catamarans, Inc. And, Nacra has proven time and time again to be
OAlways One Step Ahead.¹
The popularity of the first Nacra geared the staff towards introducing more
catamaran designs including the 18 sq, 5.0, 5.7 and 5.8 models. Over the
years, it was necessary for Nacra to move from Santa Barbara to Carpinteria
then to the Catalina Yachts facility in Woodland Hills in 1985. In 1988,
Performance Catamarans was created combining Nacra with the Prindle
catamaran line and moved to Santa Ana, California where it still exists
today.
After a second design, the 18 sq., was released in 1978, new Nacra designs
were released beginning in the early 80’s-, the Nacra 5.0 (16′), 5.7
(18.5′)and 5.8 (19¹) designs became the new standards following the Nacra
5.2 in multihull racing. Most open class regattas welcomed the Nacras until
their own One-Design race circuit was formed and then Nacra fleets began
sprouting up all over the United States, (with the help of the European and
Australian distributors) Europe and Australia. More and more Nacra designs were released in the early 80s through the early
90s including the popular 6.0 (20′) and 5.5sl (18′). The Nacra Inter series
was introduced with new hull designs (17 18 & 20 footers) including the new
spinnaker packages that set the catamaran performance world on fire These
new concepts proved fast and comfortable at the same time, mixing tradition
with new technology.
Now, Nacras can be found racing worldwide and the Nacra name continues to
grow with the release of the Beach Series (Nacra 450, 500, 570 and 580)
models and the Racing Series completes the Nacra line with the Nacra 20,
F18, F17 and the newest Performance Catamaran, the Nacra A2.
Nacra Accomplishments
- Nacra was the first to use the stringer and bulkheads structural systems
then developed
into the high density foam cores in the mid-80s. - Nacra has been a leading force in the Formula 18 class development and
design - Nacra has a proven track record by winning and dominating nearly every
long distance and open multihull event worldwide - Nacra is the most decorated catamaran line winning 4 prestigious “Boat of
the Year” awards – the Nacra 20 , Nacra 17, Nacra F18 and Nacra A2 all carry
these honors. - The Nacra A2 is the first catamaran to utilize a new production of all
carbon infusion process - The Nacra A2 is the first A-Class Catamaran to have factory and dealer
support
Manuals and Literature for Nacra, Prindle, and Inter Catamarans available here.
For more information about Nacra and Performance Catamarans, go to
www.performancecat.com.