Multihull sailing becomes more common in Croatia. Since early 2000s few individuals started to sail multihull. Today they have a fanatic group of sixteen sailors and seven Formula 18 catamarans already and numbers keep growing every year. We had a chat with Draško to tell us more about what’s happening in Croatia.
Recently we launched the Facebook page and got our first exposure on Cat Sailing News. We are very happy with that because we are very young and growing F18 community and we just made it as an official NCA. It all started in 2008 with only one Hobie Tiger and since then we’ve been growing with one boat each year. This year we aim to get two or three more boats in our fleet.
F18 sailing is kind of ‘new’ in Croatia. Many people know our country from beautiful environments with charter boats (monohull), but multihull sailing didn’t exist here at all. Some of us had the chance to sail an Formula 18 and are now addicted. Today we have several basecamps where our boats are located. Because they’re all pretty close to each other we can easily team up and have some small regattas for already 7-8 years. You can find them in Jezera Village on Island Murter where they have F18 base but also in Pakoštane, Šimuni (Island Pag) and in Primošten. The multihull sailing conditions in Croatia are ‘perfect‘! We can always choose to sail on open water (heavy seas) or in more sheltered water. Wind conditions mostly are between 10-18 knots and steady. So it’s not only very nice to sail a regatta, but also perfect if you combine sailing with a family holiday. You will be surprised to find out how many activities we can offer you.
Most of our regattas are not held during the summer season. Main reason is that some of the organizers work during the busy summer months. Because of the Mediterranean conditions we can sail all year round (except for the really cold and windy days in January and February). Normally, the water temperature in those months doesn’t go below 11C and the air temperature is usually the same. In September (24-25) we’ll have our Croatian F18 Nationals in Primošten. The F18 Europeans is one of the bigger events where some of us will try to attend, but for sure it will be the F18 Worlds in Denmark in 2017 where we will try to proudly represent our colors. We also have a great ambition to host a Formula 18 Worlds on the first free date possible.
Social program
It’s not only about sailing, the social part is also very important. At each event we always have some nice social activities. At the beginning of 2015 we had our closing party with the famous Croatian spareribs (with a ‘secret’ American recipe). If you’re around or plan to visit Croatia please feel free to join us, we would love to hear your opinion!
Croatian Calendar 2016:
- Biograd 1.5. 2016
- Pakoštane 7/8. 5. 2016
- Murter 21/22. 5. 2016
- Primošten 24/25. 9. 2016 (Croatian Nationals)
- Šimuni 1./2. 10. 2016
- Podstrana 15/16. 10. 2015
- Šibenik 3/4. 12. 2016
If you want to learn more about F18 sailing in Croatia check out their Facebookpage. The official website is under construction but will be ready in a few weeks.
