Nacra F20 FCS foiling cat crowned 2015 Concours d'Elegance winner
by Mark Jardine 1 Mar 2015 06:56 NZDT
28 February 2015
The Nacra F20 FCS wins the Concours d'Elegance at the RYA Suzuki Dinghy Show © Paul Wyeth / RYA
The Nacra F20 FCS foiling catamaran has won the 2015 Concours d'Elegance at the RYA Suzuki Dinghy Show. Stacey Clarke, Chairman of the RYA and Mark Jardine, editor of YachtsandYachting.com spent an enjoyable morning looking at all the boats in the show.
The standard of boats on display seems to improve year on year and 2015 proved to be the hardest yet to pick a winner. The final choice was between the Nacra F20, the cruising dinghy 'Avel Dro' in the West Corridor cruising dinghy feature, Ben Archer's Merlin Rocket 'One Love', the National 12 'Indecision' designed in 1987 by Phil Morrison and built by Arnot Dobson and the Solent Whisper foiling catamaran. In the end the judges thought that the 'aspiration' of two boats made them stand out from the other finalists. The F20 for being on the real cutting-edge of what is possible in a performance catamaran and Roger Barnes' 'Avel Dro' (which is Breton for wind shift) for being a fantastic working example of a cruising dinghy that can truly take in visiting the coastlines of Britain and France.
Grant Piggott said after winning the award, "I'm absolutely delighted. I'm not sure the winner has ever been a cat before so that is ground breaking stuff and I'm pleased that the cat has come of age. I've preached the cat word forever, for 20 or 30 years, and the last few years since the America's Cup and having the Nacra 17 in the Olympics mean it's all come of age... at last! Delighted. Boat of the show means a lot actually, really pleased."
The Concours d'Elegance winner is the recipient of three months' worth of skyscraper banner advertising on YachtsandYachting.com worth £600 and the Concours d'Elegance trophy.
The RYA Suzuki Dinghy Show takes place at Alexandra Palace, London over the weekend of 28 February – 01 March. For ticket details and more information about the RYA Suzuki Dinghy Show visit www.dinghyshow.org.uk or follow the show on Facebook and Twitter.