Dart Hawk F18

Never heard of the Dart Hawk, but the F18 in general is not a great boat to solo. Your weight is slightly heavy on the Prindle but fairly light on the F18. The sheeting loads will be higher on the F18 and the boat would be a little heavier IRC.

I would try www.catsailor.com there are more sailors on that site that would be familiar with the Dart catamarans

have 2 dart 18s( i believe same cat you referred to); winds over 12 knots required for speed, dart 18 has what i call a doily sized jib, very tiny by all standards, but properly designed for high wind sailing (sail great evan in 25 knot winds), so single handed you may have to furl it in high wind conditions to avoid burying a hull. had my dart 18 out this past weekend with crew - our combined weights varied from 175 plus 150 to 175 plus 230, the cat still performed and as long as wind exceeded 17 knots we outperformed nacra 570 with comparable crew weights. not use to sailing prindle 18s but still have 2 p16s and dart faster in high winds BUT hobie 16 walks away from dart 18 in winds less than 12 knots! can be very frustrating. am experimenting with prindle 16 jib for low wind conditions, the jibs on both cats literally hook up the same way, but if winds increase hull buries with larger jib. ( FOR UP TO MINUTE WIND CONDITIONS IN U. S. I RELY ON WIND ALERT AP FOR SMART PHONE) i found out a lot about Dart 18s on this site reviewing all old beachcat forums listing darts , i also discovered a lot of relevant info on line on dart canadian site and european site entries including videos, check them out, p.s. i love my darts

Hi André!
I have a friend named Bob Martinez who posts here as Dartman.
He owns and races his P 18-2 and his Darts - they are all 18s and he has four of them.
He has been sailing these cats for 3 decades.
If anyone can answer your questions, he can.
He solos both a lot in the open ocean off Ventura, California.
He has won the 40 mile TriPoint race three years running, once on the P 18-2 and twice with the Dart.
He calls the Dart his heavy air cat. It is lighter and a little smaller sail area than the Two.

Hey Dartman, you listening?

have 2 dart 18s( i believe same cat you referred to);

Dart 18 is a very very different boat than the dart f-18

The dart 18 is a 1975 One Design Class by Rodney March, who was also responsible for the design of the Olympic Tornado class catamaran with skegs

The Formula 18 class, abbreviated F18, is a formula-design sport catamaran class. It was started in the early 1990s with wave piercing hulls

My guess is that the Dart Hawk is a lightweight racing machine for a competent sailor and not one that will do well hitting docks or landing on the beach. The Dart 18 works well in medium to high wind conditions but will also do quite nicely in light air with a light crew or skipper. However, I've done well in light conditions with an overweight combined skipper/crew (365 lbs.) The Dart 18 would be my choice as it sails well and is very balanced with or without the small jib. It's tough construction will allow it to live for many years. My Darts are all over 30 years old!!! The Dart Hawk might have a longer learning curve but if you are willing to go out and practice as often as possible, it could be the boat to have. I like to keep things simple and concentrate on sailing as opposed to messing with all available controls on a boat. Bob Martinez

Dartman wrote: My guess is that the Dart Hawk is a lightweight racing

397 pounds
http://usf18.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/f18classrules20130101.pdf

Edited by MN3 on Aug 05, 2014 - 05:19 PM.

Thank you all for the replies, one thing, I'm considering a DART HAWK F18.
The normal Dart 18 is to small, to slow (outpaced them all on my p18-2) but a
very good day-sailer, brilliant design.

HULLFLYER wrote: I would try www.catsailor.com there are more sailors on that site that would be familiar with the Dart catamarans

Thanks, I will try to post my question there.

Dartman wrote: My guess is that the Dart Hawk is a lightweight racing machine for a competent sailor and not one that will do well hitting docks or landing on the beach. The Dart 18 works well in medium to high wind conditions but will also do quite nicely in light air with a light crew or skipper. However, I've done well in light conditions with an overweight combined skipper/crew (365 lbs.) The Dart 18 would be my choice as it sails well and is very balanced with or without the small jib. It's tough construction will allow it to live for many years. My Darts are all over 30 years old!!! The Dart Hawk might have a longer learning curve but if you are willing to go out and practice as often as possible, it could be the boat to have. I like to keep things simple and concentrate on sailing as opposed to messing with all available controls on a boat. Bob Martinez

The Dart Hawk hulls are rock-solid, early F18 design, they are still proper beach-cats.
As for the learning-curve, I ran out of options on my P18-2, instead of investing in a fathead
main and self tacking jib, I'm looking to take one step up on the ladder.
The Dart 18 remains a brilliant design.

MN3 wrote:

have 2 dart 18s( i believe same cat you referred to);

Dart 18 is a very very different boat than the dart f-18

The dart 18 is a 1975 One Design Class by Rodney March, who was also responsible for the design of the Olympic Tornado class catamaran with skegs

The Formula 18 class, abbreviated F18, is a formula-design sport catamaran class. It was started in the early 1990s with wave piercing hulls

Thank You, MN3

All I wanted to know, if any of You had any sailing experience on a Dart Hawk,
seems that I have to investigate harder over-here.

Regards, André