regatta_stories [3]

Pete Melvin and Nacra A2 "Team Up" to Sweep A-Class Championships with 7 Bullets!

September 23, 2004 - The new Nacra A2 catamaran, with Pete Melvin at the helm, swept the A-Class North American Championships with 7 bullets out of 11 races! 28 top sailors from North America competed for the championships but were defeated by Melvin on the A2 who¹s total score was only 13 points.

The boat I sailed was a stock Nacra A2, built with the latest materials and production processes, fresh out of the box and included a Hall Spars mast and Ullman sail. "It's performance was outstanding!" says Melvin. The A2 was very fast in all conditions sailed, including the 20 knot+ conditions experienced the first two days, as well as the more moderate conditions at the end of the regatta.

Click on "Read More" to see full story and results.Results
Division: A-Class Catamaran (28 boats)

1   US 69  Melvin, Pete       1   2    [4]    1    1    1    1    4    1    1    DNS    13.00    1 

2   US 110 Kinder, Phil       2   [4]    2    2    4    4    2    [19]    2    2    1    21.00    2 

3   US 99  Hall, Ben          4   5    1    5    [7]    3    [6]    3    3     4    5    33.00    3 

4   US 197 Marshack, Eric     7  [DNF]  7    4    2    5    4    2    [8]    5    6    42.00    4 

5   US 200 Johnstone, Peter   3   1   [OCS]    3    3    6    3    [9]    7    8    9    43.00    5 

For more information about the A-Class North American Championship, go to www.usaca.info

Winning the prestigious A-Class North American Championship has been the singlehanded catamaran sailors goal since the inception of the class.  A-Class sailing has always been an individual effort until now.  This year¹s champion, Pete Melvin, credits his entire ³team² with this win.

About the Nacra A2:
The Nacra A2 has low profile wave piercing bows to reduce pitching and wind resistance upwind, and low wetted surface area hulls to reduce resistance on all points of sail. The boat tacks and gybes very quickly and without losing much speed due to the rounded sections and carefully sculpted rocker line.

Designers:
Morrelli & Melvin Design & Engineering with Jeremy Laundergan of Askeland Engineering.

Manufacturing:
The all-carbon production hulls are manufactured by Morrelli & Melvin, utilizing a resin infusion process that creates very stiff and strong laminates. In addition to higher quality, this process is a closed-molded, which eliminates airborn pollution associated with curing resins.  

The production daggerboards, rudders, and rudder housings are also manufactured by Morrelli & Melvin using more closed mold processes that produce very high quality parts with more exacting tolerances.

Assembly:
Performance Catamarans utilizes a computer cut assembly jig for the platform, assuring that all boats are assembled accurately and consistently.  The seaming, assembly of centerboard wells and finishing of the hulls will be performed at the Performance Catamarans manufacturing facility.  And, all components will be shipped to Performance Catamarans for the final assembly/disassembly and shipping.   

Distribution and Support:
Using the Performance Catamarans sales and distribution channels to efficiently transport boats along with their other products to their dealers worldwide, the Nacra A2 has the factory support like no other A-Class Catamaran.

Stay tuned and continue to watch the Nacra A2 performance.  The penultimate regatta in the A Class is the World Championships to be held June 18 through 24 in Sanguinet, France.

For more information, please contact:  

Performance Catamarans, Inc., 1800 East Borchard Avenue, Santa Ana, CA 92705 (714) 835-6416 phone, (714) 541-6643 fax, pcat@performancecat.com or check out their website at www.performancecat.com.

Morrelli & Melvin Design and Engineering, Inc., 4952 Warner Avenue  Suite 205, Huntington Beach, CA 92649 (714) 861-1320 phone, (714) 840-0538 fax, info@morrellimelvin.com or check out their website at www.morrellimelvin.com.