hi all,
now my, new to me, cat's all in parts for the next 5 months it's time for a big clean up and any repairs or mods

my nacra is pretty standard and doesn't have any jib lead travelers or barber haulers that i've seen on other cats and i'm wondering if i can make a simpler system for solo sailing that does the much the same thing

the idea comes from rick white's 80's book "catamaran racing, solutions, secrets speeds" (very good value 2nd hand, often less than 50c!) where he points out that the jib line between the beams would be better set at an angle so that the jib blocks could be adjusted out and forward, downwind, or in and back, upwind, at the same time

have attached a pic of what i'm thinking of and am interested in any comments

in the pic

- the green lines are the new jib block hold down lines, nylon instead of the original wires, (probably the aft attachment point needs to be closer to midship

- the red line is the jib block, orange, control line. controlled on the rear beam by the blue cleat after it has rounded the yellow block

- the black rubber hoses are covering the current jib lines and both will be removed. as they also act as hiking straps they will be replaced by the purple straps in a better position for my legs

- the light blue lines are going to the jib, not fitted

a problem might be that sailing solo in light air i need to be well forward and so the mod could make it too cluttered up there

Forget it: Install a spi instead, and you won't need a barberhauler anymore. The spi bring the wind so much forward, there is no need for it <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

On my boat the jib blocks are fixed, permanently attached to the (dyneema) lines going along the trampoline. Downwind without a spi I sit leeward on the front of the tramp and hold the jib manually where I want it to be.

Before I got the spi I was thinking about a simple barberhauler. The solution I was going to use was a couple of plastic rings around the jib sheets and a line going from them to blocks on the end of the front beam. I was not planning for a cleat, just to have a loop long enough to hold it downwind from anywhere on the tramp. One line, two blocks, two plastic rings. Done.

Actually I may try to do that anyway as I made a small rip in my spi this week-end: I may not have my spi back for two weeks... (Long story short: Don't let the tiller go while you are raising the spi with the main cleated in 15knts of wind. The cat *will* turn around sharply, and capsize instantly...)

Eric, that lake is plenty big for a spin, just add it and you will never look back!

still in my first few months of cat sailing and a spin that doesn't cost more than the whole boat would be next to impossible to find here....so spin plans can wait a bit

but as i never have to trailer the boat and now i've found that the 1st nacra 18sq cats used 5.2 hulls what would be a very interesting project is using the beams off 1 of those to widen the boat

anyone know of some nacra 18sq beams for sale?

sounds like you want to do alot of modifications for someone in their "first few months of cat sailing"... my advise would be to not modify anything and really learn to sail the boat as designed.... after 200 or so times out... then really consider changes.

Are you calling for creativity? How about this autoadjustable system... Just the jibsheet (yellow) but attached differently, and with a different kind of block (violet).
The "equivalent" block position would be somewhere on the imaginary line between the violet block and the yellow sheet end, and would move forward as back in the way that it is supposed to, wouldn´t it?
It would be slightly less than 2:1, but not too bad.

yeah, you're right andrewscott. fitting wider beams would need at least a new tramp and rigging etc. and change the boat's handling in ways i couldn't reference yet

can put my hands to better use on the cosmetics. yesterday resprayed the rudder castings and the pivomatic clamps black.&#12288;next task is to lightly sand the alloy rudder tubes with 2000grit wet'n'dry to make them look like new. even though it's one of the oldest beachcats the nacra 5.2 still looks very modern with those high volume symmetrical hulls and high aspect daggers and rudders. just needs a little love and it pass as a new boat!

in fact after seeing all these new cats on the web it's old school white dacron sail looks out of place

andinista, will study your jib lines pic. that kind of tinkering is easily reversible midseason

Yeah, the old main is the oldest looking part on the boat, which I will soon be using a nice square top from whirlwind sails if my plans all work out so mine will look new with the spinnaker kit and the new main.