Completely different boats. The 18 is a boardless asymetrical bannana hulled all around boat, the 18-2 is a higher performance boat that some fans call a mini-Tornado since it has similar lines and centerboards.
Prindle 18
Shows Prindle 18 flat sided asymetrical hulls.
The Prindle 18-2 and 19 are so much alike they use the same assembly manual.
Need some good pictures of the 18-2, couldn't find any in the albums that show the hull shape and centerboards.
The two are like night and day! I sail an 18-2. It's a Prindle 19 that's 1 foot shorter in length. Rotating centerboards, symetrical hulls, no deck lip, not prone to pitch-poling, lots... make that LOTS of floatation up front in the hulls! I've plowed head-on into 8-foot waves and the bows just pierce through. But it also means that your crew will be sitting literally on the front crossbar. Crew weight must be forward on the 18-2.
It's a fairly fast boat, but a little heavy at 375lbs. Certainly no F-18 or Inter or Tiger, etc. I bought it because it's very forgiving and easy to sail. I often solo sail mine. Lots of sail control lines. For what it is - it's a fast boat. No "serious" racer, but one of the fastest of "family cats". It'll do circles around Hobie 18's and 18 magnums.
Downsides with the 18-2: The stock downhaul sucks. Set it and forget it. That's the first thing to be upgraded. No stock roller-furling jib and factory sails have no windows in them. Stock mainsail isn't square-topped like the 19MX. The biggest downside to the 18-2... If you want to race, you'll probably always be open-class. There aren't a lot of them and certainly no one-design fleets like a Hobie 16 or Wave.
Actually 'damonAdmin', you are RIGHT! It IS all about the sailor! Maybe that is the reason why I'm always sailing circles around other cats with ratings so close, if not better, than that of my boat. And all this time I thought it was in the boat. Silly me!
Absolutely! I sail a lot of Portsmouth regattas with a mixture of boats, once you seperate out the spin boats it's anyones ballgame.
Maybe you are just good?
I've been beat boat-for-boat by excellent Hobie 16's and I've beat faster rated boats. Who gets around first on triagles has a lot more to do with not making mistakes and sailing the correct course (finding the wind and keeping the boat moving).
On long distance races the faster bigger boat will usually prevail if it's not carrying too much weight. (which is usually my problem)