Probably to far for you to go but Coastal Watersports on Bradenton Beach used to have a rental fleet of G-Cats. A couple of years ago I scored some ru...

My G-Cat will "hove to" very nicely. (Jib backwinded, main completely loose and fastened hard a-lee.) It just sits there and gives me an opportunity...

I personally think mast floats look ridiculous but if they keep the boat from turtling and give you peace of mind that's what's most important. I hav...

The cast aluminum back up bars in the cross tubes don't look too bad in the pic. Spray with WD-40 and remove the cross tubes and bed them with silico...

I just saw you were based in Queensland. The Prindle I mentioned is a little far!

It sounds to me you're more likely to be a recreational sailor so why fool with centerboards and dagger boards. We all agree they can be a source of ...

A good case for rails and back up bars. What you see is what you get.

Many years ago I had an 18ft cat shipped from CA to FL. I used one of the major movers, Allied I think, but had to wait a short time till they had so...

I once had a boat that had sets of both dacron and mylar. The difference in stretch was very noticeable with the downhaul. The mylar would tighten s...

They've been around a long time. I first used them in the 80's and a couple of times a few years ago. Even with the shipping they were a little more...

I saw a guy solo stepping a mast on a H18. He had the boat on the trailer backwards and two mast yokes, one attached to the original but to the side ...

NACRA 570 ??? Boards? I thought they're a Boat with Boards, now not sure. Definitely boardless. Little or no rocker, cut away aft of skeg, much less ...

Modern catamarans are mostly built for racing (a few exceptions but the recreational market is dead in the USA, replaced with rotomolded boats) Too ba...

Most legacy cats are not fast and overbuilt compared to modern designs Are Tornados, Nacra 5.8s and Prindle 19s legacy cats?

If money is no object, get a Nacra 570. (They're still in production.) The 5.7 Nacra is an earlier version, they've been around a long time so there...

I have only owned G-Cats and Nacras and I have to agree with Shawn about the 5.7. I have owned 6 of them and have sort of made a hobby out of restorin...

absolutely not. an unsheeted main can pay out all the line and you have a swinging main and the boat will heat up and start to dance around the moor /...

main centered and sheeted i don't like to attach anchors to my bow tangs/bridals because: at anchor, waves and wind will be addingforces against th...

The tendency to sail happens when you attach the line to the front beam. If you attach it to the bridles it goes away. I keep forgetting that most cat...

The beach where I launch my boat has rocks so I always anchor. 2 feet of water makes it easier to deal with the boat and eliminates the necessity of l...

Don't do it! There are clearly better boats out there for that price. Remember the old adage, "the sum of the parts is greater than the whole". Eve...

One thing I found very troublesome about my N500 was the jib. I used to do it the factory way, running the halyard down through the zippered luff, cl...

Was grateful i had the smaller rental rig setup while sailing solo. Maybe having the smaller rig is not the worst thing since i am trying to ease my w...

Though it has been done, Dacron is not recommended for a square top sail.. When I got my new sails done for the Prindle 18-2 I wanted to go Dacron, th...

Unless you're racing, get dacron. Cheaper and will last for decades.

You should consider a Nacra 500 as well. They've been making them since around 2000 I think, and they have substantial improvements over the 5.0. I ...

Cross tubes should always be bedded. Salt water and grit likes to accumulate in the saddles where you have stainless steel bolts in contact with alum...

Wearing glasses and having a steel dog bone flailing around is not a got combination. I found these small shock cord hooks at a hardware store. I be...

For the 21 you'll want a double. A continuous wire for each side might be preferable. Don't bother with an adjustable unless you are racing. Just g...