F18 Tuning 9.1 Intro

• January 07, 2026 by Joseph Bennett |
• Language: EN
• Play Time: 00:02:36
• SAILING YOUTUBERS

It’s Joe here for Joyrider TV, and welcome to Module 9 of the Joyrider Academy Classroom Series.
In this module, we’re diving into a complete tuning guide for tight-rigged catamarans.

When we talk about tight-rig boats, we’re looking at performance catamarans that sail with high rig tension and use spreaders primarily to control mast pre-bend. This includes boats like the Formula 18, Formula 16, Nacra 15, Tornado, Hurricane 5.9, Prindle 19, Prindle 18-2, and other similar designs.

While the focus here is firmly on tight-rig platforms, there will still be valuable takeaways for sailors of other boats. However, if you sail a loose-rig boat like the Hobie 16, the previous Hobie 16 tuning module will be more directly applicable—though this lesson will still give you a deeper insight into how high-performance catamarans really work.

We’ll start by breaking down mast setup, laying the foundations for everything that follows. From there, we move into four distinct modes of sailing, looking at both upwind and downwind performance:

Sailing while looking for power in lighter conditions

Sailing while shedding excess power and converting it into speed

Finally, we’ll finish the module with a comprehensive look at crew positions across all points of sail and wind strengths. This section is designed to remove the guesswork entirely, answering the question every sailor asks: “Where should I actually be sitting on the boat?”

If you haven’t yet joined the Joyrider Academy, now’s the perfect time to get involved.
If this sounds like your kind of sailing, let’s jump in and get these bad boys rigged up and ready to sail.

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Joyrider TV is one of YouTube’s leading channels for catamaran sailing tutorials, maintenance guides, Q+As, race strategy, and real-world beach-cat sailing action.

Whether you’re on a Hobie, Nacra, A-Class, Prindle, Hurricane, Dart, Windrush, Tornado, Unicorn, F18, F16, Topcat, Hobie Getaway, Dragoon, or even a Minicat — you’ll find clear, practical videos here to help you sail faster, safer and with more confidence.

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Joseph Bennett

Coming from Vassiliki on the Greek island of Lefkada, catamaran sailing tutorials, demonstrations and live commentaries. Boat maintenance and reviews, and the occasional something for the monohull sailor. .

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• GR
• Language: EN

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