History
NACRA Catamarans since 1975
(California) 1968, Geoff Prindle decided to get into catamarans. The year that he founded Surfglas with his partner, Sterling Santley. He really got into the catamaran scene heavily and placed second at the USA nationals
1971, Prindle 16 goes into production – light, strong, and fast. The Prindle could cut smoothly through the water because of its fine bow entry and was not as susceptible to pitch poling as other similar designs. Two years straight, the boat won the “Most Efficient Catamaran Trophy” award at the Pacific Multihull Association’s World Speed Trials. 1972, NACRA started out as an Alpha cat besides Prindle, the first boat was the Alpha 18 and then the Alpha 15, which was a single handed boat, was to sail in the One of a Kind regatta in Newport Beach. Within this time frame Tom Roland had made a 18 foot cat that became the Nacra 18 square.
1975, Performance Cat Inc. came up with the NACRA 36 to promote the North American Catamaran Racing Association which is where the name NACRA came from. A 36 foot speed machine that did lot’s of promotion and is still going strong. The NACRA 5.5 was born as one up cat. NACRA in the early 80′s developed the 5.0 to also sell cats in the recreational market and this was quickly followed with the 5.7. and 5.8
1985, Roy Seaman made all the original NACRA hull plugs and developed the 6.0 to be the ultimate boat especially for the Worrell 1000 Extreme race, and won this race numerous times. The first NACRA 6.0’s had a self tacking jib and spinnaker. At the end of the eighties the 5.5 rig was changed into the 5.5 sloop.
1996, The formula 18 class was growing in Europe so NACRA launched the Inter 18. The NACRA Inter 20 was only a matter of time and sometimes sold by the dozen. By now importers and NACRA dealers all over the world were distributing NACRA catamarans; being super successful in racing and recreational sailing cats.
The 21st century, judge for yourself where the history of NACRA has led to up until now. Supplying boats and parts in numbers through the well established dealer network, all over the world. Whatever type of NACRA you like, we will always supply you the best products available.
Since May 2012 NACRA has reached the highest possible standard by being chosen by the elite sailors of the world as exclusive Olympic multihull discipline. We will whitness how the NACRA 17 will shine during the upcoming Olympics in Rio de Jaineiro Brazil 2016.
An old saying of Nacra is: “Nacra! always one step ahead”
In 2015 NACRA will celebrate its 40th YEAR anniversary!!
Read more about this topic: North American Catamaran Racing Association
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