1976 Sol-Cat 18

Check the picture section - beachcat identification this site
also I believe your jib is a hank on style - similiar to a
Hobie 16 - not sure if that helps.

http://www.thebeachcats.com/index.php?module=pictures&g2_itemId=46857

Good Luck

edited by: ghhm43, Mar 27, 2009 - 01:07 PM

Hello,
If there is a batten at or near the bottom of the sail, more than likely it is a loose fitted main sail. If you know of someone who has a Prindle 18, borrow the jib and see how it fits your boat. It should be close.

I take back what I said about the P18 jib. After looking at the pictures I noticed that the jib was a fully battened sail and the P18 jib has just 3 small battens in the leech.

I have actually had P18, Solcat 18 and Hobie 18 sails at the same time and put them on top of eachother to see the difference. They are all so close, I would say they are interchangeable.

The Solcat jib did have full battens and I think it has a wire luff. The Prindle and Hobie 18 jibs have zippers, so you may have trouble swapping them out.

The jib on a solcat 18 has "JIB SAIL HANKS" on the luff edge which is also use on the hobie 16 jib to attach it to the forestay, so a jib with a zipper about the same size sould work just fine. I don't know how much of a different they would preform without battens but it should work.

Thanks for the knowledge and input everyone much appreciated.

It is for sure a loose foot....you can find the original broschure on-line and in the text, it mentions the "loose footed" main sail. I sail my sloop and Sol cat using the loose foot, and I love it!! Much easier to adjust as needed.

Have fun and good luck!!

Lance

Sorry I?m new to sailing and curious to know what loose footed boom means? Any advantages or disadvantages?

Right on brother! I just purchased a 1978 Sol Cat 18 myself! A "loose foot" simply means that the foot of the mainsail is NOT attached to the boom. Its connection points are only on the clues of the sail. One at the mast end and one for the out haul (tension). It helps the sail hold a better shape....Have fun and post some pics.!

Sincerely,

Lance

edited by: ouride12, Apr 23, 2009 - 08:23 PM

Just to help out a little on sailing terms, the bottom rear portion of the mainsail is called the "CLEW" and the forward part at the bottom is called the "TACK"

Thanks for the info guys. I bought a few months ago and know it's in a 100 pieces. Should be painting the hulls some time in the next 2 weeks. Will post pics soon. Thanks again for the info.

When I purchased my SOLCAT 18 (don't recall if it was 74 or 75) The The jib came in 2 styles, one had a Wire in the luff, they other had the Hanks for attaching it to the Fore stay. I went with the hanks, but had problems getting the luff tight enough in heavy air. The guys with the luff wire didn't have that problem.

Also with the jib battens, I cut mine as short as possible so they wouldn't catch on the mast and make it difficult to tack in light air. In heavy air there was never a problem.

kcampers wrote: Sorry I?m new to sailing and curious to know what loose footed boom means? Any advantages or disadvantages?

I've found that the outhaul works differently that I expected, compared to, say, a hobie 16. On my boat, with the clew pulled all the way to the end of the boom, the foot is still loose. The outhaul will never get tight when you're fiddling around on the beach. Once you're sailing and you sheet in, the main sheet starts to act like a vang, and the boom is pulled down. Then the foot of the sail gets tight, and you can see the outhaul tension flattening the sail. Unfortunately, it's rather hard to fiddle with in any sort of wind, so better too much than too little if you're worried.