I was just out in 30 knot winds in my Nacra 5.8. The dolphin striker just sheared off the v-bar. The front crossbar was sliced in half by the force, and the mast step ball was squished. Was wondering if anyone had the same experience and if their is a way of reinforcing the Dolphin Striker, V-bar connection. Also would love picks of a fully rigged one.

Thanks

That sucks, did anything else happen to the boat, mast fall or anything like that.

I'm having difficulty picturing what failed....can you describe differently?

I had this happen on my Nacra 6.0 once. The little metal piece that keeps the dolphin striker in the center of the v-strap beneath the front crossbar broke, which allowed the striker to fail. The mast went through the beam, and that's all she wrote.

There's a N5.8 that lives about 5 miles away from me in Los Gatos. I could take a picture of that and post it if needed.

D. Ho
TheMightyHobie18 1067

Heres a pic of what happened, What did you do when it happened to you?

This is a pic, What did you do when this happened to your nacra?

Heres another pic. Also is there a good place to get nacra parts ( im from mass if it matters)

Rick Bliss is a Performance rep, in Mansfield I think. He has a great reputation, and knows just about everything about Nacras. Sorry I don't have his contact info handy, but he should be easy to look up. Best of luck with the replacements! Brian

Here it is: 508-339-5580 rickbliss@verizon.net www.new-englandcatamarans.com

Actually - http://www.new-england-catamarans.com/

The previous owner of my 5.0 put a stainless steel plate between the upper nut of the dolphin striker rod and the beam, basically a much bigger washer, to better spread the pressure (the plate is square and curved like the beam). The reason why he did that is because the beam was slightly compressed, because he didn´t apply correct tension to the V-bar. The tube that goes inside the beam is not there and I don´t think I could put another one, because ot the beam deformation. Anyway, it has worked fine for me, I just make sure that there is enough tension on the V-Bar. But one day I sailed over a buoy that had a carabiner that hooked right on the V-bar, making the boat stop instantly and bending the rod and loosing the cast iron piece that supports it to the v-bar. I even sailed for a while after that, because I didn´t realised what happened, I wasn´t going really fast as I was just leaving the shore, and a swimer helped me unhook it, so I didn´t see the v-bar at that time.

After that, I notice that the rod had some play against the beam, the perforations of the beam were probably deformed. My plan is to rivet the square stainless steel plate to the beam to make the connection tight again. Probably I should get a new beam, I know, but I will try that first. It might be a good idea as reinforcement, even for a new system, to avoid failures like what nacra5.8 is showing.

Nacra5.8, I am very curious of how that happened, the mast obviously went down, do you think you or your crew were close to get hit or get caught by a shroud or something like that?

Thxs a lot i just emailed him. Im hoping he can tell me how to reinforce it so i can take it out in even stronger winds ^^. Was wondering if anyone had a picture or two of a full rigged nacra. Im not sure if im setting uop the trap system right.
Thanks again matt

In looking at the photo there not really much I can see to determine what happened for fact so let me take a guess at it.

I know with my 5.8NA when I replaced the main beam a few years back, it was done at the factory here in Santa Ana. The original had failed due to corrosion where the dolphin stricker rod had come in contact with the main beam. When I picked it up, I had noted that there was a slight camber in the beam upward. The folks at the factory had mentioned that it was important for two reasons, keeps torque on Dolphin Striker casting, and when rigged will allow for the beam to flex back to a level position, not concaved. They had told to keep an eye on that; very important, and make sure it was torque tight the first couple of time I had it out and to check it regularly. Also, they had put sleeves in the main beam it self, but from what I understand this was due to an issue with the NA rig vs. the standard rig.

Also, in on of the pixs I noted there is allot of rust on the underside of your dolphin striker. Making an assumption here, I would tend to believe that underside of you main beam or the compression tube inside the beam may have failed similar to what happened to me on the topside giving enough “wiggle room” to start the chain of events that lead to you mid-sailing breakup. Take a look down there and make sure the holes going through are not elongated, and/or the compression Tube (part#2506) doesn’t have corrosion on either end. Oh, when you do replace the beam, the only parts I would even think of reusing are the bolt plats (Part #2508) if you can get them out – other than that replace everything else.

Contact me off list c152 X roadrunner Y com (x=@ and Y=.) I may have a line on a set of beams for you – there is a 84 5.8 over here in Santa Paula with thrashed hulls I may pick up for extra parts and the trailer, maybe we can work something out on the beams.

Good luck and glad to hear your safe back on the beach

And, here is a pix of how my trap system is set up

Looks like there was not enough tension in the striker post and it has jumped off of the striker bar. Any cat needs enough tension in the set-up to give a slight arch to the front beam.

P

Thanks for that contact he is getting me the replacement parts, maybe i can still get some good fall wind ^ ^

The "failure point" being the striker bar attachment point. <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif" alt="" /> Glad nobody was hurt or killed. <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif" alt="" />