Hi All

I believe or I'm under the impression, when Boyer made break away from AHPC, the prices seemed to jump. A pair of taipan centreboards now are $950 Oz including covers, from memory a couple of years ago they were around $750 Oz.

I guess that it would have been expected from the split.

Regards

Comes from AHPC being in contact with the EU market.

Over here Nacra and Hobie don't even blink when they charge you 750 EURO'S for a single daggerboard.

Wouter

Great feedback guys. Lot's of good options now I just need to select: 1. I am not likely to take this boat to a major A-cat competition, only true amateur regattas; 2. I am in the EU and would need to pay VAT and duty on the price and shipping from USA or Australia.

I am tempted to go with the Dutch or German ones. Wouter, any thoughts? (You would be in a similar situation)

Matt

Well, I have the AHPC setup myself (from) Aus. And shipping/paying internationally was not a problem for me. And of course back in 2003 I payed halve the amount they are charging now. No amount of VAT could make that deal unattractive. Additionally, you can ask the non-european supplier to deduct his local taxes from the product.

I don't know what to think of this German setup. I do know that a well made rod system will keep your rudders down. The trick to a well made rod system is that the pin has a rounded tip that falls into hole made in a stainless steel plate. And it has to have a sufficiently long handle (beyond the pin). Stainless steel is extremely wear resistant so it won't wear out in use. Also the rounded tip to the little pin will make the pin drop into the hole even if you misaligned the pin. What I do is put the pin on the stainless steel plate and then wiggle my hand a little bit and it'll drop in. I don't even look anymore. I'm quite handy at it now. The long handle (about 100 mm) you need so that if you press down the rod is bend into a curve making the pin slide in easily into the hole which then allows the rod to straighten out and tuck the rudder well under. These three things make engaging the system really easy.

Diengaging is done by lifting the rod by pulling on its middle section. The rod will bend and the pin will pop out.

I think www.catamaranparts.nl makes really nice stocks. Light, simple, stiff and not too expensive. They are made of aluminium square tube and can be left out in the sun without degrading. They do sometime skim on the rod setup which can make engaging the system needlessly more difficult, so I would place an order with the demand to satisfy the above key points.

I think I would recommend www.catamaranparts.nl to you. The fact that you can keep your old rudder boards will seriously cut down on cost. You can even send in your old rudder boards and have them rebuild your setup.

I will place some details pics of my setup on this forum over the next couple of days. The rod system I got now (AHPC) is by far the best I have ever seen and works perfectly.

Matt, www.catamaranparts.nl is run by a fellow member of the catamaran sailing club where I sail, so I know the guy personally and I know his work first hand. He even reads thsi forum so I probably get flamed for the next comment. I will say that his boards and stocks are excellent but that my rod setup is better then his standard rod version. But my rod setup can simply be used on his stocks and boards without any significant modification. So if I were to order a new setup from him (and this a serious possibility in the future) then I would demand he made the rod system to the specs I give him.

So that is it. The die has been cast.

Wouter

Bill,
Use the PBO for it's low stretch? Where can I get that pivoting blk (mfgr, model #)? PBO tied or spliced to single blk? Is that a pivoting (releasable) clam cleat (mfgr, model #)? What about that small amount of line released as it settles into the cleat? Thanks!

Dave

PBO (Samson Amsteel) is nice because it doesnt stretch at all once the knots are set and you've gotten the mechanical creep out of the line - it gets stiff like wire, and its slippery, its cheap and lasts forever and doesnt absorb water. It wont cleat, so you need to slice in a cover or use a differient line where it gets cleated. Its also not abrasive, so it wont tear up carbon or fabric if you use it to lace a tramp or run it over carbon/aluminum fittings. If you run it through the Bimare rudder fittings it wont wear the cast aluminum and that stuff is pretty soft. If you used Marlow racing it would "saw" through the cast aluminum or carbon. Its easy to splice or you can tie it. Its great stuff, I use it all over the boats I own.

The small amount of line that is release as the line "settles" into the cleat didnt seem to make a differience when I did my rudders. YOu might want to plan for the line having a slight slack when it settles so plan your rudder fore/aft settings slightly forward.

As far as the blocks check out www.apsltd.com, that picture isnt my boat, so I cant give you part#'s, but there are lots of blocks that will work, a cheek block would do it, or you can drill through the aluminum casting and forget the blocks, the friction isnt going to make a differience.

Bill

Bill,
Amsteel IS PBO? Great! I'm pleased to hear it's good for tramps too, what dia is appropriate? So, a tiny piece of cover where it cleats? Yeah, a cheek blk would be fine. Thanks so much!

Dave

We've got 7/64" diameter on the trampoline lacing on the I20.

Amsteel is what you want. I call it PBO, I'm not sure if thats right or they are the same thing.

Amsteel works great for tramps. I have fabric loops on my tramp that tie off to the sides of the boat, and I used Marlow and it chaffed the webbing. Amsteel doesnt chaffe.
3mm is plenty strong.

Amsteel loops make great replacements for eyestraps. Drill a hole, pull a piece of Amsteel through with a knot on one end or pull the middle through of a piece with both ends knoted.

Amsteel is SK60/Dyneema. Abrasion resistant, holds up to UV well, very little creep.

PBO is great stuff, but will degrade very quickly when exposed to any type of light. Not very good for this application.

-Mike