New guy with recently bought Nacra 5.2!!

I think there are more 5.2 owners on this forum than just about anywhere else. At least 5 others I can name off the top of my head. Any questions or tips needed do a quick search and you will probably find them. If not ask a question. Between all of us we have probably solved every problem, worked out the proper things to do and fixed every part of that boat. I have a reasonable boat gallery here http://www.thebeachcats.com/pictures/?g2_itemId=74145&g2_GALLERYSID=3331e599cf85743bac2794bc51f5d886

There are a number of others in teh members gallery. Welcome aboard! Now I`m off to go sailing for another week!

That is good news because I am not entirely sure what goes where. My boat has the old style antirotation bar under the boom. The hulls are in good shape and as I said I want to repaint them to be nice and white. I have a good friend who is gonna help me with some applied graphics to the hulls and I am working on getting some sail graphics done. Other than that the boat is in good order. We took it out like four times now and even in a pretty nasty squall that crept up on us it has held together. It sure was flying with that wind man I gotta say. Compared to the Hobie 14 I used to sail this thing is like a formula one race car....

I need to rig up some sort of sideloader for the daggerbaords like you did. I was thinking about using some heavy bungees wrapped in surgical tubing and then laced into the grommets in the tramp or maybe pop rivet some eyelets into the hull next to the daggerboard slots. I also need to find some way to put bungees on my trapeze wires and find some harnesses. Anyone made their own harnesses? I want to get this boat looking real sharp and learn to sail it properly. My wife and kids love going out on it and I really love that I can get out on the lake and not use any gas or oil... Just the pure beautiful power of the wind... Amazing really. What is the fastest anyone has gone on an 5.2 nacra? ANy idea? Peace and thanks for the kind welcome and picture gallery...peace

Pete

For the side loaders I have a pvc pipe inside a clear hose. I painted the pvc to match the graphics. My bungees are secured with bolts through the tramp track. I like the grommets on the tramp better. The bungee for the crew trap runs through the front beam. Wolfman is right, I know I have asked every question imaginable and everyone has been patient with me. I have moved the jib leads under the tramp and removed the bar.

Hey thanks man, pics or it didn't happen!! peace

Pete

😎 😀 😆

Hey.. A California guy also got a new (to him) 5.2 this year. Had lots of questions and was bold enough to put them out here. He was amazed how helpful this site staff and guys were.. Check out my string starting in Feb -11.

http://www.thebeachcats.com/forums/viewtopic/topic/12306/start/0

Great tips from all of the crazies here !! I wanted to up grade all the stuff right then.. But someone said.. PATIENCE GRASSHOPPER.. SAIL HER FOR A WHILE.. Been doing that since June 1.. Glad I did !! But.. and tomorrow I will.. install new Pivmatics for the rudders... Over the winter I will.. 1. Put the jib block tac lines under the tramp. 2. Gromits in the tramp for the trap lines.. 3. cradles for the hulls on the trailer.. 4.Move the boom mount UP on the mast up 6 inches where the dimond wires tac. (and re-mount the rotation arm above the boom so even a fat guy can switch sides quickly).... 5. Going to put on the captive base type mast base... (Look on line cuz they are not to be found new)!! 6.. New sheets and lines ect.. I like the stock bungi set up for the daggers. (I single and they are not in the way for me) and (Positive pull and only pull one way to free up). My son has a 5.8. Dont like that set up.. Not sure about the pole fron xmember to xmenber. Only lost a pint or two of blood going over it but like it for a foot rest cuz I am tall.
My girl has ony a RED 5.2 on a huge great white sail so NO DECALS on the sail for me !! Classey.. Perhaps a BIG ASs* RED "Nacra 5.2" on the hulls.. I did replace the rigging. Got a new set from Calib on the east coast from a 5.0. Bridals were weird but stays and fore-stay worked. Might try to find a set of rudder casting that are adjustable unless someone her has an idea how to get them to tuck in a bit farther..
Might post in the Tec blog. Might get more info/ advice/feedback if you need it Cheers Hal

Mine are just a piece of PVC pipe with some foam wrapped around them (pipe insulation). One word of advice, round off the the inside of the pipe or the edge will cut through the bungee. You need pretty good tension on them, so a couple of hammok hooks rivetted into the tramp rail (or grommet in the tramp work best. Also the stock shock cord is doubled 1/4" shock cord, enough to span between the hooks plus about 4-5" unstretched.

petefromtn wrote:
Anyone made their own harnesses? What is the fastest anyone has gone on an 5.2 nacra?

i use an old windsurfer waist belt, not good enough for trapezing hours on end but good enough for small lakes

can be seen at the start of this video

http://www.vimeo.com/5075989

solo on my 5.2, 15knot reaches are common, more than that very rare....
at 15knots 170lbs? on the wire off the back corner is only just enough to keep the almost fully submerged leeward bow from digging in

another 170lbs next to me on the other trap, and stronger winds, would lever that bow up a few inches allowing another couple of knots but those loads are killing 30 year old cats...

I dunno about all of those mods, but the moving the boom up a few inches would not hurt. Up at the front it gets pretty tight and while I do not consider myself FAT, I am a big guy at 6'0 230 lbs... It is all I can do to pop from side to side without getting my life jacket caught under the boom rigging. Also the idea of putting the jib sheets under the tramp I do not understand completely. I know my rig is setup with some slits in the tramp on both sides. There are steel cables coming from the back of the boat and secured to the little pulley blocks that control either side of the jib sheet lines. There are also several bungees underneath the tramp. Two large blue ones that kinda go diagonally to the front outer edges of the little triangular brace underneath the mast. There is also a pair of bungees that go to the jib sheet blocks. This is all difficult to describe without pictures. I need to take some. I am gonna pop some pics if you guys can forgive the chalky worn look of my hulls until I can get them painted. This is after all an older boat.... peace

Pete

Okay guys,
I just posted some pics of the nacra in a photobucket account for the boat. I will post pics there from now on as I could not figure out how to post them here... You can see the rigging and the mast and the whole boat as it currently sits. Any ideas or suggestions on this would be MOST appreciated. Thanks and peace

Pete

http://s150.photobucket.com/albums/s83/matospeter/Nacra%20catamaran%20album

If you were to raise the boom a few inches how do you make the mainsail work then? I know when my sail is all the way up the bottom of the sail might be an inch or two from the top of the boom. IS there a trick I am not seeing here or do you need to cut and sew the sail? It does sound like an appealing idea. Also how difficult would it be to add another set of trapeze lines to the port and starboard sides. MIne appear to be sorta woven into the stanchion cables and into the rings at the top of the mast..? It would be nice to not have to have just one on each side if my wife ever gets the courage to fly out on the side of the boat like that. I am also considering sewing up my own webbing harnesses. When I was a firefighter our high angle rescue instructor showed us how to fab a quick harness from webbing and that was just tied up but I think a fellow could sew a nice harness easily that would fit under the life preserver pretty easily. I also noticed that you can buy the steel harness hook seperately. Some of the nicer harnesses are in the $200,00 range. I am gonna need at least two... plus I am kind of a DIY guy...peace

Pete

If your trap wires are swagged into the shrouds you may have the originals. Captain Kirk at Key Sailing told me that was the stock set up. You may want to replace those shrouds and of course buy new trap wires, Moving the boom leads to more problems. the least of all you would have to recut the main. The slits are for running the jib leads under the tramp. This makes the boat much more friendly. Just attach an eye under the tramp in the same place the eye is above the tramp. Your wife will love the space. I removed the bar and glad I did. I agree with some of the other guys here about the age of the boat. I do not sail mine hard, double trapping on a 30 year old boat could put alot of stress on the hardware.

Nice boat. I noticed the tramp is a newer/replacment with the slits for the jib blocks. I am curious as to your future graphics. I eventually want to reproduce the NACRA 5.2 decal or something similar.

I also have an old Nacra and have made some reference pics: http://www.thebeachcats.com/pictures/?g2_itemId=71663

I bought 2 decals "Nacra 5.2" 56 inches by 6 inches for $15 apiece last summer at a print shop. One color. I assume they could have done whatever I wanted. they put it on computer and the next day wallah! Here is a picture http://www.thebeachcats.com/pictures/?g2_itemId=76228

Gamick,
Hey man that is some beautiful rebuild you did on that boat. I am really liking the front trampoline you did, I saw a video of a hobie getaway that had something similar and there were little kids like mine riding in it getting wet. I have an old trampoline here ya know a round jumping trampoline that I bought a new tramp surface for it that has not been used. I was kinda hoping I could cut it up and then sew it into something like what you have there. How did you attatch the forward crossmember to the hulls? How strong is it? I do not expect to be able to have ME walk across it but I would love for the kids to be able to ride up there and be out of the way of the boom and enjoy getting splashed as we crank along. Also what did you paint your hulls with?

Golfman,
Hey man do you have a source of a file for the Nacra logo? Perhaps a .DXF? Peace

Pete

My 5.2 is an older one.. There is 6 to 8 inches between the top of the boom and the bottom of the main.. The rotation post is the old single post type mounted 4 in above the tramp. My mast is the same as yours however I have been using a sail from a newer boat. It may be shorter. Going to measure this weekend.. I did replace the old style shrouds. A bit tight for the trap conections up top.. First time out this weekend with the new rigging.
News at 11..he he Hal

What is the new style shrouds look like? I am actually not displeased with the boom setup. If I can get this thing painted in some durable white color and get some graphics on it as well as rig up some kinda bungee for the trapeze setups and then get ahold of or make some harnesses I think I will really be enjoying this boat. Getting it out on the lake last time was a lot of fun and I love that it does not really cost me anything. I only have around $900.00 in the whole boat and trailer so far.... Peace

Pete

petefromtn wrote: Okay guys,
I just posted some pics of the nacra in a photobucket account for the boat. I will post pics there from now on as I could not figure out how to post them here...

Did you find these instructions in the FAQ?
http://www.thebeachcats.com/faq/Forums/pictures-in-forum-faq/
You can still post the actual pic here, even using the Photobucket account pics. But if you have your own members album it makes your pics easier to find.

Pete take them a picture of whatever style you like. They will be able to reproduce it. The new shrouds do not have the trap swagged on. Ergo you have to buy new trap wires also and hook them up to the shackle on your mast hound.

when the 5.2 came out it had just the single trap line swagged to the sidestays

so there were only 3 ends at the D? shackle at the single mast hound

later when they haded the 2nd trap line from the factory i think they also added a dedicated mast hound for the 4 trap lines

if you have a single hound boat, pre-1984? there isn't much space up there for 3 stays and 4 trap lines, so you may have to get creative with shackles and things to make them all fit

i gave up and simply removed 1 set of trap lines

never gets windy enough here to need 2 on the trap anyway

That is a good point eric, I had not considered that there is not that much wind here either. I know down in florida there is a lot of wind and the windsurfers love it there. Once we move back down there I will probably revisit the trapeze thing. Also I FULLY intend to fabricate some wing seats for the boat because if nothing else it is a way to hang out there and balance the boat and in the least thing it is somewhere for my kids to sit and jump off of when we are just cruising. I wonder if anyone on here can give me some dimensions on the distance out from the side of the boat and the height off the top of the boat that the tramp seat is set to..? I think I will make them from aluminum tubing and tig weld some cross beams to the top spars. I figure a vertical that is kinda S shaped and the crossbeams notched and tig welded into them. I will also need to notch the tubing to go around the little obstruction inside the cross tubes on the boat. I am figuring a couple stainless steel bolts down thru with some lathe turned insert sort of nuts to accept the bolts and support the weight. Then I plan to contact cement some neoprene material to the seat area and hopefully use some matching color to complement the boats graphics. Anyone out there done a nacra wing seat? Peace

Pete

Wife and I are off tomorrow, gotta take care of some stuff in the AM but gonna try to take out the boat in the afternoon. PRAY FOR WIND!! That is without thunderstorms.... haha Hoping for a nice day out on the lake with some good speed. Hope all of you can get wet tomorrow too!! peace

Pete

Pete,
That front tramp you see in the pics is from a Hobie Gateaway we sailed in Jamaica. Lots of fun in 30kts.

Gcamick,
Oh it looked like you adapted it to fit your nacra. That is precisely what I am gonna do. We went out on the boat today and it was kinda nice and windy. Actually got some speed out of her a few times. Still not enough wind to hang a hull but pretty nice nonetheless. I did have a damn mishap tho. When we were lowering the mast the darn boom alignment rod or whateveryoucallit got turned sideways and punched a small hole in the trampoline. I think I can repair it enough to use it for the rest of the season but it was a real heartbreaker. I am sure now gonna plan on moving or somehow removing that thing. It really is a menace and can actually hurt someone. Another thing that would make for a nicer sailing experience is for the boom to be a little higher. When the wind is kicking it is not really a problem because the angle is kinda up and out but when it is slow it really hangs down and is difficult for my wife and I to get underneath.

Other than these small issues we had a blast and that boat can make it clear across the lake and back in no time at all when the wind is blowing. It was really throwing a nice wake a few times. I swear when you get the sail just right and my wife is getting really good at setting the jib up and that boat starts to take off it is just a beautiful thing!! I also would love to hear about how some of you guys have moved the jib rigging underneath the trampoline? That would make for a much nicer sailing experience with the kids on board. I may machine some wide brackets on my CNC mill to accept a crossbeam from aluminum to take the span across the hulls at the bow to accept the trampoline material. I think I can also attatch something to the front main tube to accept the rear end of the additional trampoline. That would really help make the boat more useful for my family and a lot more fun. Getting the cooler and other stuff off the main tramp and allowing the kids to ride up there would really free up the rear tramp for more space and move-around-ability. The boat is just a lot of fun and we are anxiously awaiting for the day when this oppressive heat goes away and some real wind comes back into the area. I know that landing we have been taking the boat to has seen some serious winds and I cannot wait to hang a hull on a day like that. Most of the people there say it is normal to get a lot of wind in that particular area.

Anyways I would be very interested in hearing about any of these modifications others have done on their cats. Another thing that we had a little problem with was the daggerboards have a thick rope with two knots on either side and the port one is apparently not thick enough to keep the daggerboard from popping thru and getting stuck in the hull. We had a helluva time getting it back out when we were getting ready to put her back on the trailer. What a blast sailing that boat is... my kids love it and love jumping off into the lake and swimming underneath the tunnel they call it even more... peace

Pete

If you want to put a forward tramp on a 5.2 I would look for another boat. The 5. 2 doesn't tolerate much weight. I hate to sail with my buddies who weigh 200 plus. Putting the jb wires underneath is easy since you have the cutouts. Also the boom alighment thing, are you talking about the mast rotator control?. Just tilit it towards the mast when raising or lowering. Never thought much about it. PM me ifyou want some more info on moving the wires. I did mine this spring.

Actually my wife and myself and both my kids had plenty of room and the boat seems to float and handle the extra weight really easy... I do not see why you could not put the extra tramp in front at all. It would mostly be for having somewhere else to put stuff and occasionally have the kids who are four and nine years old riding up front laying down on it. The boat is plenty large enough IMHO for that. The question is has anyone ever done it before? I may have to be the first. I would do it if nothing else just to have somewhere to store my crap and cooler while sailing. I am also not talking about a heavy duty tramp as the main tramp, more like a lighter version with a webbed fabric. The anti-rotation thing is a real pain and is gonna hafta be moved up to the top of the boom somehow. I was looking at pics of the ones on the later models and I think I could fab up something like that relatively easy. The boat was pretty quick yesterday in less than desireable winds. I think if I can get her out in a nice windy day things would get real interesting. Nevermind if we move back to florida soon I KNOW there is wind on the water there having lived there most of my life... I would love to talk to you about how you rigged your jib blocks underneath the tramp. Where are you located? I am in East Tennessee...peace

Pete

petefromtn wrote: The question is has anyone ever done it before? I may have to be the first. I would do it if nothing else just to have somewhere to store my crap and cooler while sailing. I am also not talking about a heavy duty tramp as the main tramp, more like a lighter version with a webbed fabric.

Pete

Pete, throw us a paragraph every once in a while! :-O

Lots of folks have rigged front tramp/cargo-nets on cats not designed for it, but each one is a unique engineering project. You may be the first for the 5.2 who knows. There are pictures of a number of these in the photo albums. One of these days I'll gather them all into one area, here's a couple.

http://www.thebeachcats.com/pictures/?g2_itemId=81260

http://www.thebeachcats.com/pictures/?g2_itemId=19005

to do a full front tramp like the G-Cats you'd need to add a new front beam at the bows. I've seen this done on a Prindle 18, I'll see if I can get some pics.

Damon,
That is exactly what I am planning. I cannot see how you could do a reasonably strong front tramp without another beam up near the front of the boat. What I am planning is to machine some rivet plates on my CNC and then get maybe some aluminum extrusion like material for the crossbeam and tig weld them together. Then using the slot in the extrusion sew up a rectangular trampoline with a beaded edge like the sail with a piece of rope in it to keep it locked inside the slot. That way it can be slid out when you do not want it in there. Then the back near the main crossbeam might be either another piece of extrusion or some fancy sewing with grommets and shock chord going into or around the main beam to make the tramp taught. It really seems like it would be pretty easy to fab this up on my boat looking at it. I would think getting something underneath the glass on the front of the hulls would be difficult since the access port is quite aways back from there so I suppose some large rivets of some sort would have to do or maybe some sort of expanding grommets. I am up for hearing anyone else's ideas about how to secure these CNC plates to the hulls safely.

THose pics are nice but they are not what I am looking at making. Basically if you look at a hobie getaway that is what I am wanting. I think in some ways the additional front crossbeam will strengthen the boat. This will not be for having a whole bunch of adults on it I do not think just a spot for the kids to ride on and an additional place to put your junk... Coolers, extra lines, maybe a small anchor, things like that...

I will need to look at a G-cat since I do not know what that is. I would be interested to see the pics of that prindle so equipped. Peace

Pete

petefromtn wrote: maybe some aluminum extrusion like material for the crossbeam and tig weld them together. Then using the slot in the extrusion sew up a rectangular trampoline with a beaded edge like the sail with a piece of rope in it to keep it locked inside the slot.

If you use an actual beam (from a donor boat) it will already have the correct type slot for a tramp and probably be cheaper since you could probably use one with a damaged end or otherwise not perfect.

I thought about you today while on the water. IMHO the 5.2 will not take the weight up front. It is not buoyant enough. A cargo net maybe for some gear. But I'm sure Edison was told that an electric light was impossible.