Ronstan was designed to challenge for the Little America’s Cup – a race for high tech C Class Catamarans that began over forty years ago. With design rules aimed to encourage as much experimentation as possible within simple boundaries (ie. a catamaran 25 ft long, 14 ft in beam and with 300 sq ft of aerodynamic sail area), there has been revolutionary development over the years, from the original boats which resembled large beach catamarans thorough to boats with wings complete with multi element flaps (to develop the maximum possible lift). With no minimum weight, these cats are always on the edge of what is possible in terms of design and technology.
Designing a competitive C Class Catamaran from scratch is an immense design and construction challenge, and in this case was compounded by the fact that the designer had never actually seen or sailed on one of these very rare beasts. Using advanced computer aided design techniques, Damien Smith created a cost effective design that incorporated a revolutionary monocoque twisting wing which won an Engineers Australia Excellence Award in 2003. While Ronstan didn’t come home with the Cup in 2004, it successfully raced on a shoestring budget of only one fifth of that spent by Cogito during its 1996 campaign (when it won the Cup back from Australia), and convincingly defeated the British catamaran Invictus which was sponsored by the aerospace giant, Airbus
Length 25 ft
Beam 14 ft
Sail area 300 sq ft