Here's a quick summary of my trip to get that Nacra 450:

Left Bellingham 10AM Thursday, overnighted in Vacaville around midnight. On the road Friday 6AM, got to Santa Cruz around 8 or 9. Found the boat on the beach, checked it out, called Bob at Performance Cat to double-check my checklist.

11AM to 6PM: with the owner fixing the trailer wiring, putting on 12" tires, rigging cat, preparing cat for transport.

Overnighted in Pleasanton, then drove 900 miles home yesterday, dawn to dusk.

Suprises:

It came with a jib furler, 2 trap lines, and no harness. 2 rollers at top of mast seem seized, making main halyard wire tightening tough.

I realy hate how the main halyard wire is secured at the top of the mast. There's a copper slug near the end of the wire. I'm supposed to pull the halyard down past a Y-bracket on the mast and hook it there, 20-some feet up. I failed in all of my tries doing that. The seller made maybe 1 of 4 attempts. I'll practice, but isn't there a better way? I've seen a ring and hook mechanism on some Nacras. Is that easier? If so, I might be able to convert mine?

Time to unpack.

Thanks for all the help,
Danno

Yes - you can convert the halyrad catch. However, that system should be the easiest of them all. It was replaced only because the wire cable has a tendency to bread at the bead that's pressed on it. I had the same setup on my 5.2 and found it very easy to operate.

I had that setup on my HC16 with a 26' mast and on my current GCat18 with a 28' mast. You'll get used to it and be able to hook it pretty easily, especially since your mast is shorter and you can see the Y more easily. It might also help to paint the Y and the bead bright colors.

Hmm... Stepped the mast for the first time at home today. Had absolutely no problem getting it to catch. Weird.

But I do see a problem stepping the mast by myself. I'll review my searches for solo mast stepping.

Thanks,
Danno