Hi there, new to cat sailing and new to the forum. I'll update my profile another time, I just need to get a couple of answers ASAP.
Been having the time of my life sailing an '06 Nacra 500 that I bought from a guy back in March here in Vancouver, BC. My wife and I took our CANSAIL 1 course, and we've been loving this boat since.
A couple of questions
1.) The shock cord for the traps is worn and needs replacing. I'm a heavy guy (240lbs), and I'm wondering if I need to get a beefy diameter replacement? What diameter is ideal? Also, about how much length would I need for each trap wire?
2.) Last weekend I had my wife put the battens in the mainsail. She didn't push them in far enough, or tighten them enough and so they weren't sitting all the way in the pocket when we went out. When we took the main down, 3 of the battens had punched through the sail right beside the pocket (the wind had put too much pressure on them). Should I take that to a sailmaker for repair? Can those types of sails be repaired? Any idea on a ballpark cost to fix? They're just three small holes on one side of the sail at each batten, and I'll make damn sure that those battens are pushed all the way in from now on. To a rookie, it looks like some tuck tape over the holes would be fine...but something inside me tells me that's pretty stupid.
Any help and direction you can give me is very much appreciated.
Thanks!